National Quilt Championships UK 2014

What a glorious weekend!  The weather was perfect, the venue was idyllic and the quilts were amazing!

Friday morning saw a huge queue outside around 9.30am so I knew then it was going to be a great show!  People poured in through the doors and began looking at the quilts or headed for their favourite trading stand in order to get the best of what was on offer from needles to Nifty Notions, from fat quarters to fabric bolts, sewing machines to scissors – you name it, it was there!

I spoke to Mark and Rebecca on the Bernina stand.  Mark is our dealer from Guildford and comes to Sandown every year.  Bernina often sponsor the prizes at Grosvenor Shows too.  Mark told me that there had been a lot of interest in the new 7 Series which is proving very popular with the general public and people were buying lots of accessories.  Rebecca was demonstrating one of the new Bernina 780 embroidery machines and you could see people stopping to look, open mouthed, as the machine stitched the most delicate embroidery – all by itself!  I know several people vowed to have one before the end of the year!

Waiting for a visitor to see the demonstration

The quilts were fantastic this year.  The overall winner was a thread-painted wall hanging by Juanita Buchan from Hove.

Overall winner at the National Quilt Championships 2014, Esher, Surrey, UK

  This was a labour of love indeed.  It took 18 months to complete and hundreds of reels of thread went into the composition.  More on this amazing quilt later!

Spencer Jacket – beautiful

Jacquie Harvey won 1st Prize in the Wearable Art category with her exquisite ensemble consisting of a Lady’s Spencer Jacket made in the Regency style, complete with dress, bodice, hat and bag.  Jacquie uses a Bernina for her machining, but her quilting is all done by hand.

Spencer Jacket and dress.

The workshops were well attended – all lasting one hour with full kit for each provided.  By lunchtime every day, they were all sold out and lots of people went home happy to know they had learned a new skill, made some new friends and had something to show for the very small price they had paid to attend.  My “Travelling Trinkets” – a small embroidered drawstring bag with pockets -proved very popular and the tutorial will be available here on the Bernina Blog later in the year.

As with all the Grosvenor events, this was not just a quilt show.  It was a chance to see inspirational work, get ideas, meet old friends, make new ones, grab bargains from the traders and have a wonderful day out in a beautiful setting.

by Greta Fitchett

I am really looking forward to the next one at Detling in Kent, UK  on 3^rd and 4^th of  October now to start all over again!