Blog

Val: I was in Canada on this anniversary date and as was only to be expected the tv airwaves were full of the memorial services being held.   I was fascinated to learn of a memorial quilt that has been made in honour of those who were on Flight 93 in Pennsylvania and this is and will continue to be on display in the chapel there;   it is a mixture of pictures and patchwork and you can see more at www/911memorialquilts.com

Jennie: At long last we have got some pics from the Fashion show at the Festival of Quilts. All of us are eagerly awating the video because it was such a special occasion. such a pity that none of us spoke any Russian other than 'Hello' which works in most languages and 'Niet' and 'Dosvidana' and 'Spasiba' - for those who are not multi-lingual - that is 'No', 'Goodbye' and 'Thank you' plus I could manage 'Vot on' which loosely translated means 'Here is.

Val:  A day to remember I think;  Jennie was busy teaching and I met the boys from Bizview.tv at 8.45 with their entry passes.   Hubby was drafted in to cope with selling Jennie's books on her stand as well as membership to Justhands-on.tv complete with golfing hat - I have to say he did well!! (not sure I'll get him to do it again, not because he did anything wrong;  more about now he knows what he's in for!!!)   Manning a stand is a constant with so many visitors, but I have to say you are all so lovely and you did treat him kindly - including the lady whose credit card he wrecked (I am SO sorry!!!) The Bizview.tv team and I had a wonderful day filming exhibitions for you to enjoy as well as a few quilts that I just stopped infront of because they spoke to me.   We were thrilled to speak to Pauline Ineson who won the P&Q Traditional Quilt category (she had her own little booth there so we stole her away for a few minutes).   More info on what we got up to in the newsletter.

Val:   Wow another busy day and that glass of wine is really very appealing.   It is really so exciting to be surrounded by so much inspiration and that obviously shows in the spending;   I do hope that all that good intention doesn't fade on the way home.   Those who come by coach must have a great time comparing shopping notes!

Val:  Well my day to wander round, organised the filming for Sunday, do some shopping and see the quilts - a treat I've not had in years. Still very busy and still lots of overseas visitors.  Got chatting over coffee (as you do when every seat counts) to a couple of ladies who had picked up Karin Hellaby's new Pinapple book.   I'd also been accosted - always in the nicest possible way - on the shuttle bus from the hotel by a lady who was volunteering on the Roses from the Heart exhibition - an exhibition not to be missed she said and she was right.   Definitely one for the cameras on Sunday.   (Nothing to do with roses and everything to do with creating a bonnet memorial for convinct women and their babies that were shipped off to Tasmania).  More information can be found at www.christinahenri.com.au.

Val;  What a first day!! Advance ticket sales must have been huge - they were starting to queue at 9am (doors didn't open until 10!)  still Starbucks did a roaring trade. It was BUSY;  hopefully everyone had a good time;  we didn't get to have lunch until 4pm!    Lots of overseas visitors (and by that I don't mean just north  and west where they print their own version of our money!).

Val:  Well after sailing through all the checkpoints yesterday because there were girls in charge, we had a slow crawl through this morning;  give a man a yellow jacket and a clipboard and 'jobsworth' rains. Still a few last minute things to primpt and price but otherwise ready for action.  

Val:   Three girls and a van full of fabric join hundred sof others at the NEC for the the major textile event of the year - Festival of Quilts;  Isabelle from Creative Quilting with Lesley Owens and Valerie Nesbitt  ready to roll up the M40: complete with jacket for Sunday's filming day!. One empty space at the NEC that needs filling (10m x 2m) ;  maybe we should have a picnic and compare notes.

Val:   Fabric is in the post to the girls who won and Elizabeth in Ayreshire loves the idea that she will soon be the proud owner of the Husqvarna Viking ER10 Embellisher machine.   Congratulations to you all. Don't forget that there is a Janome BCC-30 sewing machine on offer;  all you have to do is answer 3 simple questions correctly to be in with a chance to win it.

Val:  Earlier this week I went over to Essex to visit the Naze Tower (CO14 8LE) where my friend Hilary Davies has a textile exhibition - on the 6th floor.  This is a truely amazing building, built 1720-21 by Trinity House as a 'Navigation Mark' to aid shipping and now is a tourist attraction with the added bonus of exhibitions on each floor.  www.nazetower.co.uk The current exhibition runs until 5th September and well worth a visit BUT if you are travelling by car round the M25 anticlockwise be warned of the horrendous traffic problems around junctions 27/28/29 (and if you have satnav get it to help you round them to join back up to the A12).

Val:  If you really hate the idea of Paypal (and we know many of you do) you can pay for your subscription, and indeed for your shopping by cheque.   We can offer you membership at £18 for 3 months;  £36 for 6 months and £60 for the whole year. You just need to contact us with the details, and we'll do the rest.   We are never far away from answering the emails.

Val: Well here we are August 1st and we have celebrated our first birthday; and what a journey! Hard work but fun and we have learnt a lot from all those lovely tutors on the site. Of course Jennie and I get first viewing not only at the filming but also at the editing stage and we hope that you have been just as excited by the workshops and tutorials as we have.

Val:  Here are some really nice comments we've received so far: INSOMNIA! Who cares. With this site I am happy as a pig in muck!
Just spent a very happy couple of hours, it's now 3.20 am so will try the bed once more. Thanks for helping to keep me sane! Julia My 14 year old granddaughter is taking Textiles as a GCSE subject and she and I are working on several home projects, so I'm sure the new additions to my stash will widen her horizons for choice of fabrics.