Spring Quilt Festival Edinburgh 2010

I have had such a busy 10 days or so that I haven't had time to blog about it, but there is so much to show you. Margaret, Janet and I went to the Spring Quilt Festival in Edinburgh last weekend and here is Margaret scrutinising the first quilt which was on display as we walked in.
There was a fantastic display of quilts - some I will be able to name but there were too many to remember so apologies to the wonderful quilters who are not named here. This one was made from recycled shirts.
These beautiful blocks depicting plates on a welsh dresser
This was my favourite - A Northern View by Roy Dickinson.
And this was my favourite Patchwork quilt.There were lots of trade stands - we bought all sorts. Here is my booty from the show. All around were ladies saying to their friends "Don't let me buy anything else" as they walked away from a stall laden with goodies - then -- "oh look at that - we'll just have a quick look there" -- and so it went on.
Then of course there were the refueling stops.

We had a great time and are planning to go back again in September for the Scottish Quilt championships in the autumn.

On the Thursday I took the afternoon off work to go to the Pins and Needles show at Newcastle arena where my Wish upon a Star quilt was hung in the quilt show.This was some huge knitting project by Ingrid Wagner - a knitted fishing boat.

Saturday was day 3 of my creative weekend and on to St Abbs for Woolfest 2010 courtesy of Louise at Woolfish. This was my first go at spinning on a 21st century computer controlled spinning wheel made by this very patient gentleman from Almost alien.


I was restrained in my shopping this time and only bought a couple of balls of sock yarn to knit these fingerless gloves in this months Lets Knit magazine. (Oops - the sideways picture gremlin is back)

Hope you have been inspired by all the things I have seen on my travels last week. Don't forget to leave a comment. This weekend has been just as busy but you'll have to wait a few days for those pictures.

Happy Quilting xx

Scottish Holiday and prizes.

This year our holiday has been split into 2 halves due to my DH not being able to have 2 weeks together off work . St Abbs is so scenic I can't resist photos of the blue sky, sea and sunshine.
But the weekend started as usual with our Friday afternoon group at The Fat Quarters where I met up with Piecemaker. I won the giveaway on her birthday blog and at last I was able to collect my prize. I got this lovely Twelve Red Robins stitchery from Cinderberry Stitches , some fabric and a variegated thread to do it with. Thanks for the lovely gift.
We started our second project from The fat Quarters club, The Fat Quarters bag, a Melly and me design. The bag is made from four fat quarters and is a bit smarter than the usual patchwork bag, more like a handbag than a tote. The next stage is to see if I can remember how to do use my channel quilting tool on my machine to quilt the bag. My sewing room aka the conservatory or rabbit run had got a bit out of hand, the table was so messy there was nowhere to sew so I had a good tidy up. Instead of a boring picture of the mess here is a cute photo of my little helper.
Yesterday I popped in to see Louise in Woolfish embroidery thread and this funky yarn. Called Thalia, it is ribbon like yarn made from a mix of man made fibres, mohair and wool with some and bought some more of that variegated metallic threads too. Check out Woolfishers new website where you can now buy on line. With all this wonderful scenery just outside her door, I am amazed she gets down to any work.
Here are Jenny and her Grandad picking beans for tea in his garden.
And finally, I've been on Concorde!!I hate flying but since this Concorde was safely on the ground at the Scottish Museum of Flight, I risked a quick trip on board. It was a very interesting trip too, unfortunately the cafe did not recreate the Lobster thermadore and champagne menus of the luxurious supersonic flights. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

Well off to Glasgow on Thursday for part 3 of our holiday to meet the exiled members of the family from overseas.