Ages ago, a friend asked if I felt like going to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC this year. It’s one of those events that I’d not bother with every year, but it’s been a while…and I knew she’d be good company at such a show. Why not?

Clearly, I wasn’t really thinking about it being 2021 and all of that.

We went ahead and bought our tickets and forgot all about it until I went to put a date in my diary.

I’ve been working with a group of students since November and they were ready for their final assessment. My colleagues and I had been waiting until the right time to book a village hall where we could just go ahead and get it done - safely, of course. The date chosen was the 28th July - the day before I planned to go to the show.

I thought about it for all of five minutes - the time it took for me to realise that Stoneleigh Village Hall, the location of the workshop was only just down the road from the NEC. If I booked a local Travelodge or similar, then it would be easy-peasy to do both. It all fitted together well.

Except, as the dates came closer, I began to worry a little. Did I really want to go to a large event in an exhibition hall, no matter how large? I felt ok about our day in the village hall - we’d completed all manner of risk assessments and agreed to every safety precaution imaginable (all windows open, no more than the agreed number of people in a room at any one time, one way system around the place and so on). That was all within my control. But the large quilt show? Hmmm. I decided that having booked my hotel room and made arrangements to meet Paulene, I’d go ahead and give it a go. If I felt unsafe or uneasy, then I could simply make my apologies and leave early.

I knew that the organisers of the show had used four halls instead of the usual three, so that the aisles could be wider and less crowded. I knew too, that they had offered about half the usual number of visitor tickets for sale. We were told we’d need to show our vaccination certificates to gain entry to the building and that all the expected precautions would be taken. I put on my mask and walked from the car park to the entrance, noting as I did that there was hardly anyone else there.

Maybe I was especially early?

I’d not had breakfast in the hotel - another story - so I sat with a bacon buttie in the Weatherspoons opposite the entrance, noting how few visitors there seemed to be going into the show. This was the first morning, it was just gone 10am and under normal circumstances I’d have expected a long queue of eager quilters, all wanting to get in there and see what’s what “before the crowds”.

Paulene and I strolled in when we were ready and sure enough, as we suspected there were indeed very few visitors.

Throughout the day, we never had to look far for a seat to sit for a gossip, we never struggled to get a good view of a beautifully made quilt, nor did we have to join a queue for anything but a cup of coffee and a sandwich at lunchtime. It was super to be able to enjoy the show without the crowds!

Except.

Only half the stands were here and some favourites were missing. Perhaps the lack of buzz transferred to our mood as well, for we found very little to excite or inspire us. Yes, of course, there were beautifully made quilts in the exhibition as always, but they seemed to lack that pizazz we’ve come to expect from a national show like this.

Of course, it had been good to spend the day nattering with a like minded friend and a day out like this is always fun. But as I went back to the car park I noticed that there were not the usual crowds of people with armfuls of shopping and that had to say something. It hadn’t been “just us”. Had either of us made a purchase at all?

I had! 2 metres of interfacing. Woop de do!

In the end, then, we were neither brave nor foolhardy and a day spent with a friend is always time well spent. With hindsight though, we could have had the same fun somewhere that didn’t involve buying tickets!

Finally, a picture that’s doing the rounds right now and that made me smile.

I think there’s more excitement and energy in that cartoon than there was at the show, for sure!