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FoQ 2012 - Art Quilts

22/8/2012

I saw lots of beautiful quilts when I went to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC, Birmingham, last week, and took lots and lots of photographs. I have decided to list them in order of the different categories - this category is ART QUILTS. This class was sponsored by Madeira. Here you can see which ones were my favourites - I have added the title of the quilt and the name of the person who made it.

60 - ALLIUMS II
Marianne Mohandes, Newbury

52 - GOLDEN DAYS
Janina Moore, Weeley

63 - CANAL COUNTRY
Alicia Merrett, Wells

104 - EYE OF THE STORM
Sarah Welsby, Kingston Upon Thames

And finally the winner of this particular class. Unfortunately this photograph does not do justice to the incredible quilting.
66 - SILENCIS
Olga GonzalezAngulo, Girona, Spain

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FoQ 2012 - Contemporary Quilts

22/8/2012

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I saw lots of beautiful quilts when I went to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC, Birmingham, last week, and took lots and lots of photographs. This category is CONTEMPORARY QUILTS, and as you can see these are very different from the Traditional Quilts that I showed you in the previous blog post! This class was sponsored by Janome. Here you can see which ones were my favourites - I have added the title of the quilt and the name of the person who made it.
213 - INDIA
Bente Schei, Trondheim, Norway

216 - BEYOND DARK SPACES
Stephanie Redfern, Birmingham

221 - RICH REDS
Kirsty Murray, Hove

266 - GREEN FUSE
Sandra Wyman, Leeds

277 - FOREST OF PINE TREES
Hur Soon-Hee, Seoul, Korea

303 - POPPY'S
Marjolijin van Wijk, Blijham, Netherlands

310 - BRANCHING OUT
Jenny Worth, North Kilworth

318 - WILD SAGE
Christine Seager, Devizes

323 - BLUE BLAZE II
Helen Howes, Raveningham

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FoQ 2012 - Traditional Quilts

22/8/2012

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I saw lots of beautiful quilts when I went to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC, Birmingham, last week, and took lots and lots of photographs. I have decided to write a selection of blog posts and list them in order of the different categories - this category is TRADITIONAL QUILTS. This this class was sponsored by British Patchwork and Quilting Magazine. Here you can see which ones were my favourites - I have added the title of the quilt and the name of the person who made it.
363 - BELSTEAD EXTRAVAGANZA
Harriet Wilson, Cambridge

420 - FLYING SWALLOWS WITH FLYING GEESE
Gail Critchlow, London

430 - SLEEPING BEACH
Kate Tribe, Leighton Buzzard

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FoQ 2012 - The Fat Quarters

21/8/2012

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When I went to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC, Birmingham this year, I was able to meet up with an old "friend" - the lovely Kim from "The Fat Quarters". It's always nice to see her, she's always bright and friendly and always make time to stop for a chat. Here you can see some of the lovely Red Brolley patterns that she sells.....

.....her stall was filled with lots of samples of quilts and cushions and bags, and really did give an essence of her quilt shop, which is in Northumberland.....

.....I have a subscription for the Australian "Homespun" magazine through The Fat Quarters, and have often chatted to Kim on the phone, so when I actually met her for the first time a couple of years ago it was great to see her at last.....

.....it was really lovely to see you again this year Kim! Now - maybe I can persuade Mr F to take me on a trip to Northumberland to visit Kim's shop in person - wonder what he would say to that idea!!!

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Festival of Quilts 2012

19/8/2012

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Well I'm home at last - after a very pleasant albeit long train journey to Birmingham (I even took a can of G and T and a glass to have with my sandwiches on the train - I do like to travel in style!) I finally met up with my Norwegian friends Hanne and Eva. We spent a couple of days together at the Festival of Quilts, and after a quick tour of the trade stands, I left Hanne and Eva to continue shopping while I was able to admire the quilts and quilty things on display. It had been a whole a year since I'd last seen my Norwegian friends and it was lovely to meet up with them again. Sadly the days went by very quickly and I had to say cheerio to them this morning. Another long journey home by train today (made much more tolerable with a small bottle of wine with my sandwiches!!), and I will be back to work tomorrow. Luckily Hanne and Eva don't fly back to Norway until Monday, so they were able to have one more day at the NEC - lucky them! oh and of for those of you who are interested, I'll add lots of pictures of the quilts I liked the best to my blog over the next few days.

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Birmingham - Here I Come!

16/8/2012

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Well it's that time of year again - The Festival of Quilts at the NEC at Birmingham - and as you can see my case is packed and I'm ready to set off on my travels. I'm travelling to Birmingham by train, and I'm meeting two very special friends at the airport who are coming to join me - I was so excited when Hanne and Eva said they could come along too! We'll have lots of fun chatting and looking at quilts and chatting and shopping and chatting and feeling fabrics and and chatting and ooohing and aaahing over the threads and chatting and generally having a great time. I hope to see some of my other Norwegian friends there too - are you coming along? If you are it would be great to see you - so if you see me stop and say hello or hei hei. Oh and Mr F is really looking forward to all the peace and quiet while I'm away!!

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More Lovely Lecien Toiletry Bags

15/8/2012

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These small toiletry bags are my favourite small quilted projects, and I've been busy making two more for two very special friends that I am spending some time with over the next few days. I've used 2 different Lecien collections - the first is Durham Anew, and this fabric was purchased last year from Sew and So's in Bungay. I've added some cream vintage lace trimming along the binding and used a lemon coloured zipper. This was quilted very simply in a 2" cross-hatch design, using a variegated pink King Tut quilting thread. The pattern? Well these are based on a pattern by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa called Annas Sminkepung and I have modified the pattern a bit, as I tend to make these little bags different sizes depending on the size of fabric and trimmings I've already prepared.....

.....and secondly I have used Flower Sugar, again a Lecien print, which I have combined with some white broderie anglais - I think this looks really pretty and fresh. I trimmed the binding edge with white ric-rac and used a white zipper to keep it looking bright and fresh. And labels? I added a label to the inside seam on the first toiletry bag, and as you can see I added a label as a "tab" on the second bag, along with a hanging tab so it can be hung up on a hook in your bathroom or bedroom. I do hope my friends will be pleased with these. Right now these toiletry bags are going to be packed in my case as I'm going on a trip for a few days to Birmingham - more about that tomorrow!

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Patriotic Tote Bag

14/8/2012

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In a previous post I showed you a very patriotic bag that I had made ready for my trip to London last weekend. Well, I had a small piece of the screen-printed canvas left over. What better way to use it up than to make another bag!! I teamed the canvas with a piece of denim and made a tote bag (my own design - whoop whoop!!) and this is the result. This was very simple to make as I decided to quilt the bag and lining all-in-one so just had to neaten the seams with binding rather than make a separate lining. Easy peasy!! Oh and yes I have sewn one of my labels in the bag too - if I get any admiring comments when I'm out and about with this bag I'll be able to say "ohhhh - it's a Nicola Foreman Quilts original"!! And I just love these red leather handles (note to self: next time I decide to sew a pair of leather handles in place, wear a thimble!!) - I've now got a VERY sore finger from attaching these, but I am SOOO pleased with the result. This bag will be going with me to the Festival of Quilts later this week in Birmingham. I think I NEED to buy some more of these handles in other colours. Maybe in navy blue. And lime green. And red - I definitely more red handles!!

Update: I've had several emails asking about the canvas I used (and thanks for your comment too Sheila! - anyway, I bought this fabric a few weeks ago from a local fabric shop called Fabric8 in Felixstowe. I had gone for coffee with my friend Val, and when we saw this in the window of the fabric shop we couldn't resist it! Unfortunately there isn't much info on the selvedge - just Made in Spain by Vilber. It was extra wide so we bought a metre then cut it half - as you can see, I've made two bags with mine, so it was great value for money!

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An Absolutely FAB Day Out!!!

13/8/2012

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What an absolutely FAB day out we had yesterday when Mr F and myself travelled up to London for a day out with friends. I'd got my patriotic bag all packed and ready for the journey! We travelled by train and tube, and were due to meet our friends in a pub in Westminster - the view of Big Ben when we walked up the steps leading out of Westminster underground station was awesome! Anyway, the marathon was on (due to that little sporting event otherwise known as the Olympics!!) and as the route was right by the pub where we were meeting our friends, we even managed to see some of the runners - it was great to have been there and see it in action! The crowds were amazing - very high-spirited and all having a great time cheering the runners on.....

.....anyway, after a glass of Pimms and a quick catchup (oh and me managing to get locked in the loo!! - but that's another story!) - we planned to saunter down to the Thames to catch the clipper boat to Greenwich. It look a little bit longer that planned to get to the pier, but saw lots more runners and the atmosphere was incredible. Once on board the boat, we saw all the sights that a trip along the Thames has to offer, such as sailing under the Milleneum Bridge and past the Tower of London, and we saw the Olympic rings that decorated Tower Bridge.....

.....we finally arrived at Greenwich, and had a very interesting guided walk and heard all about the history of the buildings and the Cutty Sark and Kings and Queens and palaces and famous naval men and explorers - (many thanks to our tour guide, Roger). The buildings were incredible, and the tour was great way to spend the afternoon. The next stop was having something to eat - we went to a lovely Spanish restaurant in Greenwich and devoured plates and plates of Tapas - delicious!! It was great to spend time with our friends, and all too soon the day came to an end. and it was time to say our goodbyes and go our separate ways. The weather was glorious, and strolling across the bridge on our way to the tube station was great - looking down the Thames at all the sights we'd just sailed past. Oh and we even got to see Tower Bridge opening up to let a Chinese Junk pass underneath - what an amazing sight that was! Luckily we were able to get an earlier train home, so got back home just after the closing ceremony had started so watched the rest of it on TV - we'd seen the Olympic stadium when we were on the train, so it was great to think we'd been to London and been part of those crowds on that incredible last day of the Olympics. Thanks Paul and Gill and Vanda and Owen - see you again soon - but how on earth are we going to make our next meeting more exciting than being in London with the Olympics going on!!??

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Lovely Lecien Toiletry Bags...

12/8/2012

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We're off to London today, to meet up with some very special friends, and I decided that I just HAD to make the girls a small gift - they both know that I've got a blog, but hopefully they won't read this until after we've had our day out together!! Firstly I made this toiletry bag - I used some Lecien Flower Sugar fabric for this, and used a plain cream fabric for the lining. This has been trimmed with some white cotton lace and a white zipper to match. I made a larger tag on one side, so it can be hung up in the bathroom - oh and of course one of my labels too!!.....

.....and this was quickly followed by this one - and more Lecien! I think this is from the Durham collection, and it is gorgeous fabric to sew with. I used a couple of different prints for the front and the back, and a third for the tag and the binding. As you can see, again I made a larger tag on one side, so it can be hung up in the bathroom. This has been trimmed with some vintage lace and a pink zipper. And a label?? But of course!

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FoQ 2012 - Art Quilts

FoQ 2012 - Contemporary Quilts

FoQ 2012 - Traditional Quilts

FoQ 2012 - The Fat Quarters

Festival of Quilts 2012

Birmingham - Here I Come!

More Lovely Lecien Toiletry Bags

Patriotic Tote Bag

An Absolutely FAB Day Out!!!

Lovely Lecien Toiletry Bags...

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