quilt tripping

I got lucky a couple of weeks ago and WON a pair of tickets to this year’s Festival of Quilts in Birmingham (courtesy of Embroidery Magazine - thank you very much).

The giveaway asked people to comment and share what they love about quilting - for me that was ‘colour, creativity and community’. I very rarely win anything and was extra pleased to invite my very good friend Tricia to join me.

The festival is an annual tradition for me along with the Knit & Stitch show in October. Some people look forward to the Grand National, Glastonbury or the FA Cup. It’s good there’s something for everyone.

I looked back through my slow, quiet notes and found that I wrote about last year’s visit including an enthusiastic post-festival pledge to submit something this year….mmmm….that didn’t happen. In my defence, the fabric weaving I chose to illustrate said post eventually became a squishy container which now comes with me to workshops filled to the brim with fabrics:

Here it is, if you’d like to take a look:

would you be the judge?

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August 17, 2025

fabric weaving at this week’s quilt group mini-workshop (raw edges, inconsistent stitching)

As the UK’s version of QuiltCon this event attracts international artists, teachers and organisations. You can find more details on the festival website and it was great to see work by Joe Cunningham and Luke Haynes in person as well as a nearly-missed gallery of Sachiko Yoshida’s intricate pieces.

My top tips for visiting include:

• bring a picnic/snack/water

• pre-book the parking (although it’s still annoyingly expensive in my view)

• bring an extra bag (or one of those wheelie shopping trollies) if you’re in the market for new supplies

• visit the individual gallery spaces first (including the graduate showcase) - these spaces offer the opportunity to see collections of artists’ and makers’ work that you might have only seen via Instagram or magazines

• if you don’t have a four-day festival pass try to prioritise the categories of competition quilts you are most interested in (we decided to focus on the sustainable, original, art and quilt creation sections). Billed as the largest open quilt competition in the world, there are 1200 quilts on display this year.

With the scarcity of high street fabric shops and haberdasheries, the festival is also a fantastic place to seek out particular manufacturers and retailers especially if you need to see items great and small in real life. Here is where you might buy a reel of thread for a few pounds, walk ten paces and pop a computerised sewing/quilting contraption on your credit card for thousands.

Our purchases were modest. We found a pristine box of vintage cotton thread for my friend and I couldn’t resist this beautiful book by Catherine-Marie Longtin:

This bundle of colour drenched cotton threads by Sheepjes came home with me…

And I picked up a box of fancy pins from the Quilters Guild stand but I’m not quite sure where they’ve got to. I’m sure they’ll turn up.

I love the breadth and variety of work at the show but am particularly drawn to less traditional approaches, especially to the quilters who combine the most unlikely fabrics in the most innovative ways.

Here’s a small selection of pieces from Russell Barratt who does just that (excuse the shadows & the weird lighting, the NEC is not the most beautifully illuminated space).

Neon and Reflective (2026)

Super Soft Squares (2024)

I’d rather be in bed (2026)

A grand day out all round and I’m sure I’ll visit again next year (whether I enter a quilt or not). In the meantime, if you’d like to see more of the show, exhibitors and prize winners a very good starting point is the show’s website and Instagram. Enjoy!

Thank you for taking the time to read this Sunday’s slow, quiet note. These posts are free to read but you could buy me a coffee if you’ve enjoyed my writing today.

Alternatively. you can help me connect with other readers, writers, artists and makers by taking a little time to like, share or re-stack this post.

Have a great week.

Janice x