Harrogate Spring Quilt Festival, 2018

As I sit and write this, the snow is falling yet again as the UK comes to its usual standstill during a wintery deluge. I'm only glad we're not doing Harrogate Quilt show this weekend! We had a great time at this bi-annual show last weekend, and the stand looked more colourful than ever. This was also my first chance to show off my Curve Motion Medallion quilt in real life, and it attracted some lovely comments, so thank you! For more on this glorious hand sewing block-of-the-month project, click here.

Another quilt which attracted a lot of attention was my new Mosaic Garden quilt kit, mainly due to Bryony's amazing long arm quilting (North Star Quilting), I know I mentioned this last week, I just couldn't resist showing it off again! The kit is now available in the Sewmotion Shop, priced at £68, though if you sign up and receive today's Newsletter, you can get 15% off! Click here to subscribe today. 

I love to wander through the collection of quilts on display  at these shows and always find something that sparks my imagination. The overall feeling of this exhibition was a wonderful abundance of colour! Greta and Mike Fitchett's work caught my eye with it's strong lines and graphic illustrations, Greta's work is inspired by architectural pattern found on her travels around the world and I thought her Reflection Quilts were so clever and striking in their use of colour.

Birmingham Post Office Tower, and Cologne Cathedral, Greta Fitchett

Designer and engineering illustrator Mike's pieces are inspired by vintage travel posters, a style I love myself, and it was great to see similar designs in quilt form. Coming from a graphics background, Mike's use of bold colour and simple shapes really appealed to me.

Heart of the Alps, and What a Shambles, Mike Fitchett

Another wonderful display of colour was to be found in "Interchange Appliqué Quilts' by Gillian Travis. These beautiful pieces are made using an innovative appliqué technique with batiks which are fused together. I'm a big fan of repetitive pattern and found these designs so happily satisfying!

Clockwise from top left: Circles 2, Notan Leaves 2, Turkish Carpets , Hawaiian Interchange, Circles 1 - Gillian Travis

These quilts are on a travelling exhibition with Grosvenor Shows, so if you get the chance to visit an event, go and explore this explosion of awesome colour!

I was so happy to meet a fellow UKQU member, Vendulka Battais, owner of Oliven quilt shop and queen of the Cathedral window! As well as demoing and teaching her stunning painting technique, Vendulka also had some of her beautiful quilts on display.

Cathedral Windows, Vendulka Battais, Oliven

Linking up with Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday