Giveaway Winner and a Lynne Edwards Fest

I am delighted to announce that the winner of my blogiversary giveaway is
Number 100
(chosen by my personal random number generator aka DH)
who is one of my lovely followers:   
Terri at QuiltnCards
Well done Terri, let me know whether you'd like the rotary cutter case or the egg cosy and email me your address and I'll get your prize on its way to you.  Thank you to everyone who follows my blog and comments on my ramblings, I really appreciate you all.

You will know I am a fan of the wonderful Lynne Edwards having started my quilting with her sampler quilt books.  I was tempted to attend the Quilters' Guild Conference by a workshop with Lynne on Patchwork in Perspective and it was a great class.

Things turned out even better than that as there was an outing to Cowslips Workshops on the Saturday afternoon of the conference.  Here we enjoyed an exhibition of Lynne's quilts, including the famous Cathedral Windows.

They were beautifully displayed in the barn, the tearoom and the classroom and looked wonderful.

Now both the ladies I was in Exeter with were busy on Saturday afternoon, Betty with a class and poor Ros with official meetings as she is a regional coordinator.  I enthused about my outing and Ros offered to drive us to Cowslip on Sunday afternoon after conference closed.  This is when my weekend became perfect.  The sun was shining, Cowslip was sitting blissfully in the Cornish countryside with the views across the fields to Launceston castle, I bought fabric in the shop for "our" panel Michelle, and we were sitting enjoying a Cornish cream tea

(wonderful scones, homemade raspberry jam and to die for clotted cream) when Lynne Edwards asked if she could join us.  Well, as you can imagine we had to think about this for a few minutes :)  After finishing our tea we said we were going to look at her quilts and Lynne came with us, giving us a privately guided tour after closing time.  I cannot explain how privileged we felt and what a joy it was.  What a wonderful way to finish the weekend.  Thank you Lynne (and Jo Colwill without who there would be no Cowslip Workshops).  Am I gushing?  Well, why not, it was that brilliant!  Here's a selection of Lynne's quilts for you all to enjoy:

 Blue Lily Quilt, 2006

and detail

 Quilts in the barn

 Floating Triangles, 2011

and detail

Blue and White Reversible Quilt, 2009

 Second Sampler Quilt, 1997/1998

and detail

 St Mark's Floor Tiles, 2008

and detail

And finally, here's one of Betty and Ros with Lynne:

Cowslip Workshops and a Giveaway

Warning:  my posts are going to be photo-heavy for the next few days and full of gushing superlatives.

I'm just back from the Quilters' Guild Conference which was held in Exeter this year.  I've never attended this annual event before and didn't know what to expect.  I have to report that it was a fabulous weekend, helped in no small part by the most excellent weather, wall to wall sunshine.  The venue (Exeter University Streatham campus) was very good although a little steep.  It's all very well being perched gloriously on top of a hill and enjoying marvellous views but when you go down you have to come back up!  The workshop I did was great (more on that in another post) and the lectures I attended were very stimulating.

 These pictures were taken at the Gala Dinner, the dress code was black and white

There was an optional visit to the Cowslip Workshops near Launceston and that's mainly what this post is about.  I had to do a little shopping as it's rude not to and also it's nearly my second blogiversary. 

 Here I am outside the quilt shop at Cowslip Workshops

It seems amazing that I've been writing this for two years, it's been fantastic and I've loved making lots of new friends, sharing their quilting and non-quilting lives and getting loads of inspiration and help.  I saw two bits of loveliness at Cowslip that I thought would make good giveaway gifts and you can have the choice if you're the lucky winner. 
Choose from this lovely rotary cutter holder:

 or this cute egg cosy:

Not many hoops to jump through this time just leave an answer to the following question on this post (one chance), all my lovely followers get an extra chance as a thank you from me.  Good luck.

The dress code at the QGBI Gala Dinner was black and white.  
What is your favourite combination of colours and why?

Cowslip Workshops is a great venue for quilters with a shop full of yumminess,

in a beautiful setting in rural Cornwall.

Owner, Jo Colwill, had arranged a special day for us with a guest trader, Liz Drake, who had a wonderful stall full of thoughtfully presented antique textiles and brocante.

Jo, pictured here,

also allowed us to wander in her beautiful house and had prepared a very delicious cream tea for us.  For visitors there is a cafe/restaurant on the site which is visited regularly by local people and non-quilters such is the quality of the food.  It was a privilege to see inside the house which was full of the evidence of Jo's creativity:

There was also a very special exhibition on over the weekend which I will share with you in a separate post (with photos of course).  There is a good programme of exhibitions and special events plus a full range of great workshops at Cowslip.  If you're in England, or visiting, sign up for the newsletter to be kept up to date, I might see you there!
Finally, here's a photo of yours truly and friends at the Gala Dinner and a reminder of the giveaway question:

The dress code at the QGBI Gala Dinner was black and white.  
What is your favourite combination of colours and why?