I arrived home from England a few days ago, and I am still working through my 2000+ photos from the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham.
So far I’ve posted photos from Sacred Threads and my short visit to the village of Broadway in the Cotswolds, but I’ll be uploading the Birmingham photos over the weekend so check out my photostream for those photos of the fabulous quilts!
One of the things that really delights me about the Festival of Quilts (and the Tokyo Quilt Festival) is that children are strongly encouraged to participate in our wonderful world of quilting, because of several kids’ categories, and many prizes awarded to kids. There are many different age categories, plus there are categories for schools to compete with their group quilts. It is absolutely fantastic!
You may recall that 4 years ago I interviewed a 9 year old winner (Lily) telling us about how she made her winning quilt. Her grandma Penny admitted that Lily got some help from the home team, and honestly, how else do these kids get started? Diving into Grandma’s stash was undoubtedly the best part!
This year at the Festival of Quilts award ceremony, several boys won prizes for their quilts, and the ladies around me were all atwitter about “so many boys” making winning quilts. We all thought that was just brilliant! Every year there is a new theme, and this year’s theme was Magic. There were some Harry Potter inspired quilts by the kids, but many other fun and creative explorations.
Many thanks to all the gracious quilters and international friends who welcomed me as a sponsor and speaker during the festival. It is always so exciting to see the unique talent and stunning creativity of the UK and European quilters, when I come to Birmingham.
Our son Sam moves into the college dorms on Tuesday, and Sophie starts 8th grade on Friday, and it will be the first year I don’t have to drive kids to school every day. Yay! I have several quilts in the works in my new studio, and can’t wait to dive in.
My next trip is a lecture and tea at the Dairy Barn in Athens Ohio, as a fundraiser for the organization. Come to see Quilt National before it closes Labor Day!
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