The Festival of Quilts is one place where you had better not forget your spare bag sack, I saw plenty of hard-core professionals carting around trolleys and cases. Fortunately (or not so fortunately depending on the way you see it) I was working my book signing table a lot of the time. So my plastic didn't get the airing it could have done - there's always next year my pretty!
So there was so much to see, (check out my other set of Quilt Festival pics), and though I have never been driven to actually make a quilt I've liked the idea of it for some time. Well if like me you could be quilt-inclined but you need just something to actually make you do it. The Festival will make you do it!
So I did a bit o' shoppin'
As I was on signing on The Cotton Patch stand (fine purveyors of all things quilty) I had the benefit of Liz Sewell's (one of the family owners of CP) quilty experience to hand. I explained that I had been utterly ruined by the Festival and I had to make at least one quilt. I asked her to recommend me the gear I would need (besides mat, rotary and big ruler - cos I have them already). So Liz made a bee-line for the above book. She flipped through to various inspiring pages that she had already enjoyed herself and I was instantly sold! I'll be doing a sneak peek of this book soon.
The above gadget is a tack basting gun. I knew I had to have one of them. Dya know why? Well, laid out on my book table was a very pretty quilt (that wasn't sewn together at all! It was flipping held togther by the above tacks! and only one person noticed). Now I'm not going to tack my quilt togther in the hope that no one notices how lazy I am. Naw, these tacks look like a more quick and secure solution compared to heaps of pins and kebabbing my fingers!
Nom-nom! V&A limited quilt cotton @ 50% off = enough said! Love these reds, plums and jewel blues. These are going to be in a quilt.
Nom-nom! V&A limited quilt cotton @ 50% off = enough said! Love these sweet patterns, dunno what I'm going to do with them yet, but that's never a good enough reason to not take dat stash home!
Nom-nom! V&A limited quilt cotton @ 50% off = enough said! Blue shades are amongst my fave colours. Cutting into them will be unbearable! These are going to be in a quilt - most likely with the above plums and red if I can think of way to somehow bind them colourwise. Ideas on poscard please.
I was on the Creative Grids stand and I happened to get into chat with a nice lady who had been quilting for aaaggges. So I asked her what are the rulers that she used the most. She said "without doubt" it has to be her 12.5in x 2.2in and her beloved 6.5in square. So I popped them both in my shopping basket. I returned the favour by telling her about the mega sale on the V&A stand and she was whhoosh! off like a rocket!
And this cutie (who knew that irons could be adorable!?) is the teeniest iron I have ever seen. I don't think those tiny irons by Clover are very useful for bag making, this on the other hand is faaab for bag making. It's even more handy than my own little travel iron for getting into those nooks and it gets hawwtt too! I'm so going to try and stock this little fella in my shop.
And Selvedge is a luuush sexy inspirational coffee table stylie sewing journal (it's too posh to be called a magazine) is perhaps what pushed me over the quilting edge. I had seen all the amazing quilts and I thought wow nice, but I don't think I have the skill or time - then I saw the picture below...
...oh my! Perhaps just maybe this could be in my reach - even if it isn't it's still sooo beautiful. It's kinda new and old at the same time. Yummers!
Another dreamy pic from Selvedge. Loads more pics in my Facebook.
There are lots more pics of Selvedge in my Facebook (yeah I am actively plugging my Facebook cos it's a quick and easy way for me to say hi to you aaaand it's so much quicker to upload pics to Facebook. Just as well cos I have an awful load of pics to share with you. Some of which will (very soon) include the internals of me boook!). So please do join FaceSlap if you've a mind to :)
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Coming next: The Pleaty Bag tute! Yay!
Coming after that: A sneaky peek of my book, or Jane Brocket's Gentle Art of Quilting.
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