I went off with some friends to attend a talk by Kathleen Sage who deals in organza, plastic, machine embroidery and soldering irons. I very nearly didn't go but was glad I did - the place was packed and she had a good slide show, a funny talk and very interesting pieces to show - jewellery, hangings, handbags, short jackets, enormous fans; kits and equipment to sell. Have a look at her website, although I really don't think it does her work justice :
http://www.kathleenlaurelsage.com/
I loved this jacket :
It is surprisingly heavy, amazing how much plastic, beads and thread weighs! I certainly came away from that talk with a head full of ideas - wonder if I will actually get around to any of them. But we thought we might perhaps get our soldering irons out one day if we can book a room at the Centre and have a bash at something different.
The month before we attended a talk by Textile Artist Maryke Phillips who runs Batiks 'n' Beads -
http://www.batiksnbeads.co.uk/. She had come down from Wales in her campervan and was chuffed to bits at the weather being so lovely (not the case today, unfortunately). Another excellent speaker with lots of quilts to show and selling both fabrics and beads separately as well as sets. Here is a detail from one of her quilts
She often beads the edges of her quilts - not something I had ever thought of doing but it seems to improve the hanging and adds a bit of sparkle, but the edges are not the only place to put beads. Maryke's talk was called 'My Quilting Obsession' and a very apt title it was, too.
...and the month before that we were lucky enough to hear Philippa Naylor. I had bought her book on spec not long after it came out, which was a pretty interesting account of her quilting journey and lots of pictures of her award winning quilts and some tips and hints as well. And the talk was mostly the same sort of stuff, which was perhaps a little disappointing if one thought one was going to see her quilts. However, I did find it an interesting talk and slideshow and there were two beautiful quilts to look at and admire - such exquisite quilting; no wonder they are prizewinners - and she was very generous with her knowledge.
Here is her website -
I would have liked to show a pic of one of her quilts but you will have to go there to see them!
And the last two talks were at the Regional day for the Quilters Guild Region 3 which was held in Fleet, Hampshire. There were 2 quilters, one of whom did sterling duty at short notice and very sensibly widened her repertoire so that those who had booked talks around that date weren't stuck with the same talk.
Years ago I used to take my 6 sons camping and one day we went to Worthing Museum where Gail had an exhibition and they were absolutely spellbound by the quilt - sorry can't copy a pic - which was all about the beach - In Gallery 1, Show Quilts. They thought it was fab! And they did look at the other ones as well but the whole experience for me was amazing and I was able to wander round and round the room for ages before they got itchy feet. Also in that Gallery is a quilt of a stags horn sumach, which we used to have in our garden, and that was my favourite piece then. The following month a local quilt group had an exhibition in the museum so I went back on my own and was absolutely gobsmacked by what was on show and got lots of good advice and pointers. If I hadn't seen Gail's quilts, I would never had met such wonderful people and found out how sociable quilters are (though in actual fact it was Pauline Burbidge's quilts
http://www.paulineburbidge-quilts.com/ which set me off in the first place many, many years ago).
The other speaker was Ferret
http://www.ferfab.co.uk/ who is a younger quilter, also very amusing, with partner visibly in tow (yes, he has made a quilt and does the proof reading to boot). I came across her stuff at the Festival of Quilts a few years ago, I think. She had a triptych which I fell in love with, and an electric quilt. Have a look. She is very talented and tends to make big pieces, which I like. I always look forward to seeing what is new.
I feel blessed to be able to see so many wonderful things and hear these very talented ladies talk about their work and experiences, and I would like to extend my thanks to all those marvellous, and tireless, people who arrange such things for our delectation. Between groups such as Meon Valley Quilters and the regions of the Quilters Guild we are fortunate, indeed!
(And as this is a rather long post, I'll shut up for a bit!)
