I’d been dithering about whether to go to the FoQ this year or not.  To begin with, it was a must-do; before I bought my new sewing machine, that is.  Then, the main purpose of going was no longer an issue.  But when my friend Pat asked if I’d give her a hand on her stand on Sunday, my mind was made up.

Yes please.

 

 

Of course, the huge advantage of going to a show like this as an exhibitor is that I could get in early and see the main attraction before everyone else got there.  (The disadvantage was that I had to drive through an ex-hurricane to get there)

 

 

Anyway, I was curious to see what was awarded the “best in show” award and even more curious when I found out.

 

 

Right up my street in so many ways: smallish, meticulous and combining the best of hand stitching and machine work.  Clever use of colour and texture, too. 

 

 

I loved it.  I was surprised it beat some of the others to win, but fully agree that it is (they are?) a stunner.

 

 

I could have brought this little gem home with me too – the winner of the miniature section, depicting a rainstorm (I think – my photograph isn’t clear enough to check).

 

I had a lovely day, chatting with friends and catching up.  I couldn’t quite believe that I’d been standing next door but one to Maggie and Clive Grey all day and yet only spotted them as I was leaving.  It was good to see Maggie and her daughter Sam too and to have all kinds of Bernina related questions answered by the experts.  Other lovely surprises were finding Ann Johnston and her inspiring work.  Ann and I met years ago at a European Quilt Symposium in Rolduc and subsequently when she and Jim spent a sabbatical year in Cardiff (which explains why a couple of my Olfa rulers have “Johnston” written on them ) Then, just as I was leaving, there was Heide Stoll Weber packing up her beautiful dyed fabrics.  She too was another Rolduc attendee and I have a few treasured pieces of her work – adding another one as I left, celebrating Farbstoff’s 20th birthday!

 

 

A lovely day, then and of course, one of those days when, having spent hours in the company of creative people and being surrounded by so many inspirational things, I couldn’t help but see things in a different way.