Just a quick hello from the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK, where the quilt exhibit is wrapping up Sunday afternoon. I have photographed the show and will be sharing photos after I fly home on Wednesday.
I am returning full of creative juice, after viewing all different types of quilts, seeing so many kinds of textile techniques, and sharing coffee or meals with a variety of quilting geniuses. I especially like coming to this show because one sees quilts that are so different from what is happening in the US.
The star of the show was the huge textile mural “Cossack Mamay” by the Ukrainian Quilts Association. This huge piece is in several panels, and full of symbolic details. It expresses hope for a peaceful future. The topic of war weighs heavy on those attending the event, and wherever mothers and grandmothers gathered, a desire to end the wars and in particularly the suffering of children, was a constant topic of conversation.
There was a Pakistani wedding tonight in the ballroom of our hotel. We sat in the lobby bar and watched all the dazzling ladies come in, wearing layers of silk, beads, embroidery and sequins. The parade of lavish textiles was the perfect wrap-up of a week full of art, design, and beauty.
sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul
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Travel/Lecture Dates:
Sept 12 – SAQA “Camouflage” reception – Arizona Sonora Desert Museum – Tuscon AZ
Oct 9-12 – Houston Quilt Festival – Soul Stories
Nov 2-6 – Art Quilt Tahoe – Independent Study
Nov 7-10 – Sacred Threads – Indianapolis – Art & Activism lecture
Nov 21-23 – Taiwan Quilt Festival – Taipei
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