Festival of Quilts

I have to admit it, I'm just not as young as I used to be. After spending the entire day walking around  the stands at the Festival of Quilts, I'm still not fully recovered and it's two days later! I don't remember feeling quite so exhausted this early on in the pregnancy with Bella. Of course I was a mere 34 back then!

The Festival was good overall, but Jim and I did come away feeling a tad disappointed. The atmosphere wasn't really there this year and it all felt more than a little deflated.
Of course, we rallied round and still managed to spend a small fortune on fabrics! Unfortunately most of it was restocking of fabrics that I've almost run out of. Which is never as much fun as buying lots of new fabrics.
My favourite stand for buying cheap Mini Boden fabrics didn't disappoint though.

The top floral fabric is a cotton jersey, which is a bit of a departure for me. I've never actually sewn with jersey before, but I have quite a few patterns that call for it so I figured I'd give it a go (one day!). I even thought that I might go crazy and try making a maternity top out of it.
And that bottom pink and red stripe is a Paul Smith cotton. It has a beautiful texture and will (again one day) make some great clothes for Bella, amongst other things.
The rest of the pile are Boden fabrics that I use for various baby playmats and quilts. The blue cowboy fabric is one of my favourite buys from last year, so I was really pleased to see it still available - and even more excited to see a new pink version. It's been such a useful print to have in my stash and I was beginning to worry that I was going to run out of it. Not any more!!

I also found some very nice Lecien fabric on a Spanish stand  (uh huh, I drive to Birmingham to buy Japanese fabric from some Spanish women! Makes sense to me.).

It's part of the Kyo Yasai range that features various small vegetable prints on cotton that almost feels like a linen/cotton mix in texture (it's actually 100% cotton though). I only bought these two prints, both of which have a background colour of a beautiful slate grey, but there were some vibrant chilli prints and a really nice artichoke.
I haven't seen this collection before, but I know that if you're in Europe you can get them here.

I also managed to pick up a couple of Etsuko Furuya fabrics as well as one of my favourite Amy Butler prints.

I know this is useless for this year, because the  Festival has finished now, but if you go next year, then I recommend that you seek out the Japanese man that usually has a corner stand and sells half yards of various Japanese  fabrics for £3 each. He's one of my favourite sellers and over the last few years I've bought some fantastic prints from him. This year he had mainly Etsuko Furuya prints, and last year it was mainly Lecien, but there's still always enough variety for you to find some real gems.

The stand that I was most disappointed with this year was the Rowan stand. I know that Westminster have been supposedly ironing out the kinks for the last year after their takeover of Freespirit, but I have to say that I was really surprised by how little effort they put in to their stand. There were basically no new fabrics this year, even though Kaffe Fassett, Martha Negley and Amy Butler have all had new collections out. It was very lack luster and yet more indication that Westminster have absolutely no interest in the British market. Which is something that I could rage at great length about - but won't. Today.

The rest of the weekend has been a blur of tiredness, children's parties, two year old's indignation, two year old screams, and general further two year oldness - which I'm very relieved to say not only consists of sudden fits of tears but also lots of unsolicited declarations of love! Which at times has been the only thing that has stopped us listing her on Ebay!

Comments

[lindsey]

Guess what? I saw Jim and Bella at the NEC but not you (or I would have said hello, of course). I recognised his shorts! Bella is a beautiful as in her pictures. I had two days at the show and am exhausted! For me it was disappointing that most of the fabrics seemed to be sold in FQs but, like you, money did change hands. I agree that the Rowan stand was poor but I enjoyed all the quilts on display, especially liked the winner of the show. Actually, when I arrived it was all a bit overwhelming (I had forgotten that feeling from last year). Glad you had a good time. Lindsey (Leeds) x

[jo]

hi,
Its amazing how we can spend at these things, I have been saving for a while for the Knit and Stith in september
jo

[Di]

I am glad that whilst not up to usual standards you still enjoyed yourself! Thank you for sharing your purchases and sources!!

[Dawn]

Oh what a nightmare, I completely forgot this was on, and live twenty minutes away. Oh well, next year... Your finds are fabulous!

[ruth singer]

I know what you mean, I wasn't overwhelmed either. I wasn't really out for buying fabric, which was just as well. I struck lucky with the Japanese stall you mentioned and got 3 bits for £1 each at the end of the day today. I don't need them at all, so will probably ebay them in the end, but they are so nice! I missed the other lovely stuff you got - just as well I didn't see the aubergines and radishes or I would have spent much much more!

[Rebecca]

Some lovely fabrics - I love the japanese finds.

If it is any consolation we also have a contender for an ebay listing - maybe we can join forces and do buy one get one free!

[Sally R]

It was my first Festival and I loved it. Spent two days there and included a Kaffe Fassett workshop which really made me think differently about using fabric.

Love the fabrics you found but found it a bit confusing that some stands sold FQs, some didn't sell any FQs- only measured lengths, some stalls refused to sell smaller amounts than 1/2 m.

But I still loved it! :)

[raspberry]

I don't often comment on here, more of a lurker!! But I felt I had to comment about what you said about Westminster having no interest in the British market, and I have to say I totally agree with you :)
The only way I can buy there fabrics in the quantities and variations that I want, I have to buy from the US, it seems crazy, it is like we don't exist. And while I'm having a bit of a rant, I will moan about the fabrics I can buy here.
Now I don't quilt, I use the fabrics to make other things, maybe I will quilt in the future, but to be honest the quilting stuff I have seen in shops here has not exactly been inspiring.
While on holiday earlier this year I went to a very nice quilting shop, and I searched and searched for something contemporary, and well there really wasn't anything. I was also looking for a friend who loves chickens, and all she had was something that looked like it was from the 70s/80s, and not in a good retro way, but in a bad without taste way!
Blimey I'm going on a bit, so I'll stop, excuse for my rant, and I'll go back to lurking now!!!

[Angelia]

I love the color in the Kyo Yasai fabrics as well as the Etsuko Furuya, the color are so good.
I live in a small town in the U.S. and it is hard to find fabric with out traveling. I usually dye and print my own fabric, to keep it interesting.
A

[Kathe Kramer]

I am so very glad you are up to all this commotion! I look at Ebay often and will be most happy to bid a king's ransom for that two year old bundle. The Paul Smith stripe is my favorite.

[wendy smith]

I was there on the thursday and was a little dissapointed as there was no atmosphere. the only good thing about the Rowan was Mr Fassett was there knitting. I enjoyed the quilts but there didnt seem so many? I did manage to spent a fortune though. If anybody has a catalogue and they know of a stall called Button Angel can you email me the phone number if there is one, as I got a pattern for a bag, and I would like to get another design. Thanks

[Jennifer]

I live in the southwest corner of Oklahoma and Have to buy online if I want anything fabulous. That's hard, though, since colors don't always translate in a catalog or on a computer monitor.

We recently went on vacation to Washington state and found a little quilt shop on Bainbridge Island. I walked in and started wandering around in a daze. All of the fabrics that I had seen online and in catalogs and on blogs were all around - beautiful! It was all too overwhelming and I ended up not buying anything. But it was fun to see.

So, Bella is good at being a Two-Year-Old, huh? At least you're feeling a bit better.

[Jen]

It is good to know that I am not the only momma that thinks about( I mean this in the nicest way)putting my child on eBay. It is my son who can drive me completely bezerk. I would never do this of course, but at times when I completely driven into the ground by him, it is not far from my mind.

[lucykate crafts]

i used to work for, and still design for coats crafts uk, and westminster fibers were the main contact/agent in the usa, so it doesn't surprise me about their stand, they do mainly deal with the american market.

will be off to the nec next month for the knitting & stitching show.

[dottycookie]

Ooh, I am very envious - the show sounds like great fun.

And my sympathies on the two year old happenings - we have one of those as well, and a more strong willed creature I have never met. That same determined nature does make for excellent cuddles though when that's what she's intent on :-)

[Sarah Jayne]

Another fellow blogger I missed at the FoQ. Like you i was arther tired after my day of walking miles - the carpet is sooo thin and the concrete floor sooo hard - it's no wonder we all end up so achy for a few days. I'm sorry I missed you. I went on the Thursday and it was really busy - Sunday was much more relaxed and you could see things much better.
The Japanese man is great for fabric - he always has a big group of people around his stall.

[lusummers]

i worked on a stand for my friend kate at the nec called 'quilter's cloth', and we sell mainly batiks and rowans. i know kate wants to really expand into amy butler so if you're interested, kate's website is www(dot)quilterscloth(dot)com. i enjoyed the show, i always do, from a seller's point of view but it never seems to get going until lunchtime. i had quilts in the show, (quilt 2007) and i was also lucky enough to win one of the catagories! so that was exciting :) i saw kaffe knitting too, but i thought that the quilts he had around him were abit blah.