Chilford Autumn Quilt Show 1

What shall I share first?  What I bought or the quilts I liked?  Decisions, decisions!  I've posted about some of the Japanese quilts I enjoyed here so I'll show you some of the other quilts that inspired me today and what I came home with tomorrow, deal?

I haven't attended the Chilford Show before but had heard good reports, "friendly show", "lovely venue" etc.  It took place at the Chilford Hall Vineyard where we found an assortment of buildings, architectural salvage (loved the stone lions on the road in) and lovely gardens.  On the negative side, I thought some of the quilts looked as if they'd been put up in rather a hurry and were hanging unevenly (or maybe the quilters hadn't attached a hanging sleeve) and the lighting wasn't brilliant (lots of shadows across quilts).  Overall it was a good show, manageable but plenty to enjoy.  I had approximately two hours looking at quilts and two hours shopping!  Good food too (but rather a long queue for the bistro).

To the quilts -

One of the exhibits I was keen to see was the "Glimpses of New Zealand" quilted hangings by Gail Lawther.
I have Gail's book of the same title and saw some of the quilts at Festival of Quilts this year but it was wonderful to see some again and to see the whole series together.  I think she has beautifully represented that wonderful country.  I would highly recommend her book to you, it is a series of mini-tutorials in the various techniques she used in these quilts (as well as being a pretty good promotional document for the New Zealand Tourism Board).

Some general views of various parts of the exhibition next then I'll show you some specific quilts I liked and some close ups:

I enjoyed looking very closely at the entries in the Batik Beauties Competition having been perforating my finger tips by handsewing batik fabric recently.  The theme this year was "A Batik Landscape" and if you're thinking about next year the theme will be "Rising Sun" and entry forms are available from Grosvenor or on 01775 712100.

View To Make The Heart Beat Faster

by Amanda Carter of Shrophire 

The view is of Goathland in Yorkshire, also known as "Heartbeat" Country as it was where that very successful television series was filmed.
What caught my eye was the wonderful silhouette of Whitby Abbey beyond the arched window.

Down By The River 

by Christine Dobson of Berkshire

The inspiration for this quilt came from a 19th century painting by Albert Bierstadt of Wind River Mountains in Wyoming, USA.
I think Christine was successful in her aim to convey the tranquillity of the scene.

Canal Bridge

by Jill Findlay of Berkshire

This quilt was inspired by Jill's memories of canal boat holidays.
I thought the way she interpreted the water in the canal was very effective.


Jacquie Harvey showed a collection of her work from the past fifteen years entitled, "A Little Love In Every Stitch" from the way her husband describes her work.  I was pleased to have the opportunity to look closely at her wearable work, all done by hand and developed from an intial interest in North Country quilting.

What else?  Oh yes, the beautifully executed quilt, "Rose Bush" by Clare Kingslake of  Lechlade, Goucestershire which was a delight of reverse applique:

Rose Bush

Cherilyn Martin's collection of work entitled "Exploring Stitch" was lovely to see close-up as it was possible to enjoy her quilting and embroidery, her quilts rightly described as 'encrusted surfaces' in the exhibition notes.

Something fascinated my beloved in the collection of Transatlantic Quilt Challenge 2010, "Going Green" quilts.

It was this work by Lesley Brankin of the UK entitled,  Growing Green  and he was examining the transfer-printed butterflies -

Also in the Going Green exhibition were two quilts that caught my eye and were similar.  It turns out that they were both by Californian quilters and inspired by a workshop with Sylvia Einstein.

Go Green 

by Carol McCoy 

Carol created a very lush jungle.

Branching Out 

by Gail Abeloe 

Gail was also inspired by a Sylvia Einstein class and by a photo in a Japanese quilt magazine.

Dot Carter exhibited a collection of quilts with three other textile artists from south west England, known together as Kindrid Spirits and their exhibition called "Skimming the Surface".  Here is a close-up of her lovely work inspired by the port of Falmouth and the Cornish coast.

The Contemporary Quilt Group of the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles worked on a journal quilt project during 2009, each quilt measuring 6"x12".  For this exhibition members selected four journal quilts to assemble into one piece for display.  These were two of my favourites:

by Julie Mackinder of Grantham, Lincolnshire

 by Margaret Scholey-Hill of London

And finally, I have often thought I'd like to make a quilt based on Escher's tessellating designs and was delighted to see this:

  Busy Lizzie

by Anna Jenkins of UK

 

This was Anna's quilt for the Transatlantic Challenge, Going Green.  The green lizards developed from Escher's "Lizards".  Couched threads were used to give extra texture to the design with a limited palette of green, grey and black.  It made me smile.

That's it for today, I hope you enjoyed the quilts.