On Friday I joined the thousands of women, and half a dozen men for the annual FOQ at the NEC in Birmingham. There were so many people that the queue for the opening stretched nearly the full length of the Atrium.
The highlight of this year's show for me was meeting up with Jacqueline and Françoise. I've been blogging with them both for quite a while now, so it as a real treat to have a coffee and a chat about our creative endeavours.
We parted company to have a look round the show and the all important trade stands and then met up later in the afternoon to compare notes. It was wonderful to have the three of us together discussing the various pieces that inspired us, I really hope we get the chance to meet up like this again.
My lovely OH came into the the show with me for the first hour or so and took some lovely shots for me, just as well as mine were dreadful! The only thing is I'm afraid I didn't make a note of the makers, so I'm afraid all pics are anonymous.
I thought this quilt was amazingly powerful and certainly one that stopped me in my tracks.
This was my favourite piece in the show, the whole piece was just magical.
And the close up.
Just couldn't resist these, they were so colourful.
I think this must have been my OH's personal favourite as I don't remember seeing it!
It is a huge show and difficult to take in, on a day visit. So I think I have probably gained as much from looking at the pics when I got home as seeing the work there, but a couple of things have stuck in my mind. The first was seeing Laura Kempshall, so proficiently quilting their new family project, it was such an insight into how they produce their wonderful quilts. The second was watching the members of Committed to Cloth working in the virtual studio.
