Craft Focus - Jun/Jul (Issue 73)

29 SHOWS AND EVENTS TICKETS FOR FESTIVAL OF QUILTS AVAILABLE Tickets for Europe’s largest patchwork and quilting event, The Festival of Quilts are now on sale. Attracting more than 25,000 visitors from around the world, this year’s fair will feature 800 hung competition quilts, more than 400 workshops, talks, lectures, demonstrations and more than 300 exhibitors offering essential supplies. The festival’s galleries will feature work by internationally- acclaimed artists and groups, including the US art quilter Michael James, Australian eco dyer India Flint, Hungarian textile artist Eszter Bornemisza and British quilter Karina Thompson. There will also be galleries by Aina Muze, Heide Stoll-Weber, Leah Higgins, Sandra Meech, Sandie Lush and Sara Cook, while the International Quilt Study Center and Museum of Nebraska will showcase its collection of 19 th century Baltimore album quilts. Highlights include a group exhibition by the EQA, which is celebrating its 30 th anniversary in Threads Without Borders, while The Quilters’ Guide Collection will also have pieces on display. Middle East Quilt Artists will feature work by women from across the region, while Natural Selection, a group from the US and Europe will present items made using ecologically sustainable plant-based printing and dyeing processes. This year’s competition, the Vlieseline Fine Art Textiles Award is a juried exhibition recognising the talents and skills of a broader community of textile artists. There will also be two new awards recognising the skills associated with hand and long arm quilting, and an updated definition for the Modern Quilt category. YouTube star Jenny Doan from the Missouri Star Quilt Company will present a daily Trunk Show at the festival, featuring quick and easy tips and techniques. There will also be live demonstrations in the Creative Textiles Studio. In the Japanese Pavilion, handpicked suppliers from Tokyo’s International Great Quilt Festival will display hard-to-find fabrics and supplies, while visitors to the Festival Theatre can feast their eyes on a catwalk show of wearable art from Russia. The Festival of Quilts takes place from 1 st – 4 th August at the NEC, Birmingham. Advance tickets cost £16.50, with a wide range of options available. Go to thefestivalofquilts.co.uk for details. 