Sunday, June 27, 2010
Showtime!
Hi everyone,
Last weekend I travelled down to London to stay with Nick for the weekend, so that I could spend Sunday at the National Quilt Championships at Sandown Park, in Surrey. It was a return to my home town for me, as I went to my first Primary School in Esher and learned my first stitches, so you can imagine how proud I was to be visiting a national exhibition which, within it, held a small exhibition of my work. My hat has to come off to Grosvenor Exhibitions as they exhibited the quilts and garments beautifully, within the bounds of what must be a difficult exhibition venue. The lighting is always questionable and sometimes totally lacking in parts, but my little corner was lit fairly well and the miniature quilts, in particular, showed up very well. The cream on the cake though was that my current christening gown, which I had entered into the Wearable Art category, had won 1st prize for Hand Quilting and 1st prize for Wearable Art. Astonishingly, it had also won the Championship Trophy which came with a top of the range Bernina sewing machine. So, you can imagine how I felt on that day and I think you will be able to tell from the smile on my face in this photo. I was also interviewed and filmed for http://www.justhands-on.tv/ and those of you who are familiar with this new on-line quilting magazine, will be able to see the video very soon, or so I was told. The day was a complete success and delight and thanks to Nick for being there, especially with his beloved Mini which went home laden with sewing machine and three trophies.
Earlier, in April, I was also very surprised and honoured to hear that my wallhanging 'Wax Lyrical' had won the Visitors' Choice award at 'Quilts in the Garden'. I was delighted to receive a very pretty silver salver and a cheque, sponsored by the Honourable Guild of Needlemakers, which will go a long way to help towards the cost of travel and accommodation for the events I am visiting this year, around the country. Thank you very much!
So, now it is down to earth and back to the book. Another box of projects will be winging their way to my publishers within the next couple of weeks with the final one at the beginning of August. Despite the weather now cheering up and looking a bit more like summer, I have to be disciplined and stay at my keyboard until the work is done. However, I will be released from all of this by the time the Festival of Quilts comes along in August and I look forward to seeing all my friends there again this year. A new friend, Michele Hill (author of 'William Morris in Appliqué), will be visiting the show from Australia. Michele and I share the same publisher and she is well ahead of me in that a second book is due out this autumn. She will be teaching two workshops at the Festival of Quilts as well as giving an evening lecture. So, if you are a William Morris fan and or love machine appliqué, check out the Twisted Thread website to see if there are any spaces left. You can visit Michele's website http://www.michelehill.com.au/ to see her stunning work and read her blog. You will be able to tell that she is quite a character and an authority on the work of William Morris.
Wishing you a good and productive summer and looking forward to meeting up with as many of you as possible in Birmingham this year.
Jacquie
Last weekend I travelled down to London to stay with Nick for the weekend, so that I could spend Sunday at the National Quilt Championships at Sandown Park, in Surrey. It was a return to my home town for me, as I went to my first Primary School in Esher and learned my first stitches, so you can imagine how proud I was to be visiting a national exhibition which, within it, held a small exhibition of my work. My hat has to come off to Grosvenor Exhibitions as they exhibited the quilts and garments beautifully, within the bounds of what must be a difficult exhibition venue. The lighting is always questionable and sometimes totally lacking in parts, but my little corner was lit fairly well and the miniature quilts, in particular, showed up very well. The cream on the cake though was that my current christening gown, which I had entered into the Wearable Art category, had won 1st prize for Hand Quilting and 1st prize for Wearable Art. Astonishingly, it had also won the Championship Trophy which came with a top of the range Bernina sewing machine. So, you can imagine how I felt on that day and I think you will be able to tell from the smile on my face in this photo. I was also interviewed and filmed for http://www.justhands-on.tv/ and those of you who are familiar with this new on-line quilting magazine, will be able to see the video very soon, or so I was told. The day was a complete success and delight and thanks to Nick for being there, especially with his beloved Mini which went home laden with sewing machine and three trophies.
Earlier, in April, I was also very surprised and honoured to hear that my wallhanging 'Wax Lyrical' had won the Visitors' Choice award at 'Quilts in the Garden'. I was delighted to receive a very pretty silver salver and a cheque, sponsored by the Honourable Guild of Needlemakers, which will go a long way to help towards the cost of travel and accommodation for the events I am visiting this year, around the country. Thank you very much!
So, now it is down to earth and back to the book. Another box of projects will be winging their way to my publishers within the next couple of weeks with the final one at the beginning of August. Despite the weather now cheering up and looking a bit more like summer, I have to be disciplined and stay at my keyboard until the work is done. However, I will be released from all of this by the time the Festival of Quilts comes along in August and I look forward to seeing all my friends there again this year. A new friend, Michele Hill (author of 'William Morris in Appliqué), will be visiting the show from Australia. Michele and I share the same publisher and she is well ahead of me in that a second book is due out this autumn. She will be teaching two workshops at the Festival of Quilts as well as giving an evening lecture. So, if you are a William Morris fan and or love machine appliqué, check out the Twisted Thread website to see if there are any spaces left. You can visit Michele's website http://www.michelehill.com.au/ to see her stunning work and read her blog. You will be able to tell that she is quite a character and an authority on the work of William Morris.
Wishing you a good and productive summer and looking forward to meeting up with as many of you as possible in Birmingham this year.
Jacquie
