I recently went to a talk by Philippa Naylor, a truly inspiring quilter, and lady! Not only is her history fascinating, its also highly entertaining - she had Leominster Quilters in fits of laughter. As for her quilts, the colours are stunning - mostly self-dyed - the quilting is sublime, especially the use of trapunto, and her lists of awards is very well deserving.
If you ever get a chance to attend one of her talks, or even her workshops, do it, you won't regret it. If not, her book is truly inspiring, I've had a go at my own feather quilting, and had some interesting results, but I'm improving! Watch this space.