Good morning – I am writing to you from Birmingham in the UK, where the Festival of Quilts is opening tomorrow. I woke up very early and for some reason checked the BBC and saw the surreal news of the earthquake and possible tsunamis in the Pacific Basin. By the time you read this we will know what waves hit what countries and states, so I am just hoping all of our friends and customers in the potentially affected areas are staying safe.
It brings back memories of the tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2011. In partnership with Mission of Love, we collected 3500 donated comfort quilts that were eventually delivered to a devastated coastal community in Japan. In the US as the popularity and community of quilters has grown over the decades, we see local quilt groups stepping up to send comfort quilts to local/state disasters such as fires, hurricanes and flooding. These local and state quilt guilds often meet regularly to sew quilts that are destined to be distributed during emergencies. This is part of why we love being part of the quilting community who are so generous and compassionate.
Here in Birmingham, I arrived 2 days early to hand-deliver my quilt for the exhibit, and to take a class. I got to see the first day of setup when I dropped off my quilt, which is always fascinating. A crew of workers were constructing the walls, and another crew of quilt wranglers followed them, sorting and hanging the quilts. Today the exhibiters are setting up their galleries and booths…..here the vendors are in ‘stands’ full of threads, embellishments, patterns, etc.
Starting Thursday I will be attending the awards ceremony, and then photographing the quilts over the next few days. I look forward to sharing those photos with you soon! There is an army of judges combing through the exhibit today. I had dinner with one of them last night and we always have an interesting conversation comparing quilt festivals on different continents.
I am showing my quilt “Kubota’s Dream” that was made for the Kyoto Quilt Festival. If you are coming to the show, I’ll be spending time with my quilt to meet several of you. It is in the Pictorial category, so look out for the quilt with Mount Fuji!
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