Craft Focus - Aug/Sep (Issue 68)

With 24,000 visitors expected to attend, this year’s Festival of Quilts is set to be the biggest and best yet The Festival of Quilts is the destination of choice for quilting enthusiasts from across the world. This year highlights will include professionally curated galleries by artists of international acclaim, hundreds of workshops, an extensive programme of talks, discussions and social events and more than 300 exhibitors selling a selection of essential products and materials. US artist Nancy Crow will be headlining the event’s galleries with an exhibition of 75 quilted drawings. Her work, Explorations in Mono Printing, will be the largest she has displayed in the UK to date, and will occupy 350 square metres of space. The showcase will feature everything from small, early pieces to tall major works, hung in sequence so viewers can follow Nancy’s progress. There will also be 30 galleries by a selection of leading artists including Shizuko Kuroha, Hilary Beattie and Ruth Singer. HISTORIC TREASURES Also on display this year is the UK’s earliest dated patchwork, the 1718 silk coverlet, which will celebrate its 300 th anniversary at the festival. The intricate work is the most treasured piece in The Quilters’ Guild Collection, and has been extensively researched since it was acquired in 2000. It has also undergone x-ray analysis to examine its construction as well as conservation to ensure its stability and survival. stitching the future FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 9 th – 12 th August, 2018 NEC Birmingham thefestivalofquilts.co.uk @festivalofquilt “Quilting has an important heritage and we’re hugely excited to be welcoming the 1718 silk coverlet to the 2018 festival,” says Anna Baptiste, Events Director for The Festival of Quilts. “It’s the oldest piece we have ever displayed and it’s a privilege to be given this wonderful opportunity by The Quilters’ Guild to celebrate the origins of the craft of patchwork and quilting.” Due to its age, the antique work will be displayed in a specially built enclosed gallery. The area will have a controlled entrance and exit to ensure optimum viewing for all. Visitors will also be able to view quilts inspired by the coverlet in a one-off competition category for replica 1718 quilts. The winner will be given a private audience with the historic work at the Guild’s headquarters in York. Novice quilters are also invited to enter their work in a new competition category, with a chance to win £1,750 in prize money. Entrants must have been quilting for less than three years and not hold any formal textile qualifications. “The new competition category is a fantastic opportunity for those who are relatively new to patchwork, quilting and competitions to showcase their work,” adds Anna. “We’re looking forward to seeing some exciting entries from a variety of talented fledgling quilters. Fabrics specialists Alice Caroline will also be displaying some of the work it has created for the 2018 Quilt SOS initiative. The scheme produces beautiful handmade Liberty quilts for children who have lost their families and are living in SOS Children’s Villages across the world. This year’s project aims to create 66 quilts for youngsters living in an SOS village in Eastern Poland. “We are so happy that we can support the making of these quilts by subsidising the cost of the fabric,” says company owner, Alice Garrett. “I can’t wait to see the beautiful work that forms this year’s amazing project.” Other highlights will include the show’s annual competition, which comes with a prize fund of £25,000. The contest attracts interest from all over the world, with more than 750 entries received and displayed each year. It celebrates the quilts that transcend craft and demand equal billing with gallery-quality art works. Entries will be judged by a panel of leading figures from the art and quilting worlds. In 2017, Philippa Naylor was awarded Best in Show for her miniature work, Measure for Measure, which was described by judges as ‘an exquisite piece with a delicate feel and subtle colouring’. The winner of the Fine Art Quilt Masters prize was Margaret Ramsey for Birchington Breakwaters, a study of the fragility of disintegrating sea defences. show preview craft focus 95