Sad to say that despite being English I am not a fan of actually going to the UK . When I heard that the largest quilting Expo happens every year in Birmingham though it was a no brainer . I bought flight tickets for myself and my new quilting club buddy and hotel reservations were made. I decided on reflection to stay as close to the Excel centre as possible - nobody in their right mind would want to stay in the centre of Birmingham! We were ready to rock and roll.
We did not really know what to expect but boy did we have fun. Talk about kid in a sweet shop, it really was a quilters heaven with fabric stalls at every turn. We do have a quilting Expo once a year in Prague but put in football terms we are in the 4th division and FOQ is definitely Premier league!
Once we got into the halls - it really was a quilters heaven. Btw - I loved the entrance 'show' put on by the stewards. Rows upon rows of fabric stands, sewing machines and other essential gizmos. Don't even get me started on the quilt exhibitions and the competition entries- what a treat for the eyes!
I must confess, in the spirit of full disclosure, that I only cast a cursory eye on the competition quilts. We only had 1.5 days to spend there and daft as it may sound there really wasn't the time. I did feel a) guilty and b) sorry that I missed the majority of these because afterwards Facebook blew up with all the wonderful pictures. Check out their web pages to see what I mean: http://bit.ly/3lKP1t9.
In 2021 - grr, damn you Covid-19 - I will be sure to allocate a half day just for this side of things.
What I particularly appreciated at the Expo was the amount and diversity of all the workshops offered . They sold out really quickly though . I did, however, manage to get onto the Half square triangle pillow workshop which opened up my eyes to a whole other set of products that I 'needed' to go out and instantly buy. Amazing how often that seems to happen to me!
I could write for ages about my FOQ experience but I wont't bore you . It makes me sad to think what we missed out on this year.
I will however give thanks ( it is nearly Thanksgiving after all) to FOQ because it was at this trip that I met my lovely Long Arm Quilter Jana Jandejskova . Jana owns Bellus Gallery http://bellus-gallery.com/and had a stand there in the back corner. Didn't expect to meet any Czech people so when I saw the Czech text on her magazine SVADLENKA I had to stop and say hello. It sure is a small world.
This year I have used Jana's services on practically every quilt I have created. The work she does is excellent and it has taken my quilting experience to another level.
Thank you Festival of Quilts - see you next year!
