Adventures at the Quilt Show

Today I am back from the Quilt Show in Sydney, luckiest person, so many people have been stranded all over the country by that Volcano and its aftermath, but I (touch wood) escaped most of the drama. Arrived in Sydney Tuesday just before all flights were cancelled and although it took quite a lot of time of get into town, I eventually made it to my hotel along with people from Canada, Brazil and many parts of Australia who were grounded. Wednesday morning off the the quilt show with some delicious fresh berry yoghurt for breakfast from the food court at Darling Harbour and the nice walk through the Convention Centre, delivered my (late) technique display board to Art to Wear and surprise! there was my friend and colleague Jill Griffin from the PatchWorks in Hobart (her mum Joy is the owner, but Jill is running the shop now). Jill was stuck in Sydney after attending a trade show and a bit of retail therapy. So we had time to look around the show together, something that has never happened in 20 odd years, it was great fun looking at some quilts and plenty of traders. I had to go to a meeting mid morning and Jill had to get a plane to Melbourne as her direct to Hobart flight had been cancelled, so we said goodbye about 11.30. I spent the entire day at the show and was literally kicked out at closing time. Took 70 photos of Art to Wear and winning quilts, some of which were quite amazing. I can't show any of the photos here due to copyright restrictions, but I can tell y9u there was some wonderful quilts, many that were made for children, mothers, aunties, friends, lots that should have been prize winners, and all contributing to a wonderful show, about 370 in all. Amongst the winners, a beautiful hand appliqued quilt by Shirley Gillam of Mount Nelson, which was best of show in Tasmania. The major prize winner at the show is an extraordinary quilt which will now doubt, appear in many magazines soon.

I was pleased to see the Bernina stand and some of the Circus Berzercus entries from the Textile Art Festival in Brisbane. Kirry Toose was the winner with "Tilly the Tightrope Walker" a wonderfully detailed garment, beautiful colours, textures and technique. Also a lovely entry from Ruth Osborne, and several other wonderful garments. So much to see, so little time.

Thursday, lucky again, my scheduled flight late in the day was the first out of Sydney to Hobart and although delayed we finally arrived back. Interestingly, although there were some hiccups, and of course masses of people to move, most people were very calm and considerate, chatting to each other to pass the time and swapping "delay/cancelled" stories, I met a wonderful woman from Glenorchy, who was an absolute bundle of enthusiasm and a very nice man from the Huon who worked in Gladstone and missed the old days when the valley was filled with apple orchards, and a lovely lady from NSW who was coming to see her grandchildren and another woman and her son who had been stranded for days. So all in all a very positive experience. I must say that seeing all that creativity spurs one on and my enthusiasm is renewed.

A picture I can show you is one I took of my "studio"/work space in response to a comment on Dale Rollerson's blog. Apparently Dale was demonstrating at the Textile Art Festival and someone commented that she was a pretty messy worker. She passed this comment on to all on her blog which caused quite a bit of comment, including mine which was along the lines of "if you have a pristine work space, you are probably taking too much time tidying and not enough creating". Then I looked at my space, took the photo, and congratulated myself on being extremely creative since the room was such a mess. I reckon that's a pretty good excuse!!!