There is to be a Quilt Show in the little market town where I teach (Eccleshall in Staffordshire) and for months I have been (nagging) encouraging my students to get their quilts finished so that they can be displayed. Its all in a good cause, I tell them, its raising money for the upkeep of the church and also for The Autistic Society. Which means I too ought to finish one or two (or more) of those partly finished / barely started quilts in a variety of bags hanging up in the wardrobe. So I’ve made a start . . . I’ve got them out. I’ve looked at them all. I’ve thought about them. I’ve looked in my stash for the rest of the fabric to finish them – as invariably it is no longer in the bag. I’ve tipped assorted things out on the floor and rootled through them. And then I’ve put it all away and decided to try again tomorrow. Which so far hasn’t arrived. The trouble with putting a quilt to one side unfinished is that you had lost interest in it then and somehow the interest doesn’t want to be rekindled. I hoped the challenge of finishing one or two for a deadline would help. But so far . . . no it hasn’t. But I have another month yet! The Show isn’t until November 16th. Plenty of time!
In the meantime I have picked up an entry form for the Challenge to accompany the Show. Take Two it is called. Ooh, I thought – two colours, two blocks, two shapes . . . I spent a happy hour or two doodling and pondering. And then I read the instructions more carefully. Ah. “Any crafting medium to incorporate or illustrate the number 2”. Hmm. A different idea altogether from the ones I had is called for. Back to the drawing board. If you have had a brainwave on reading that then you can download the form here. They have to be back by November 1st but you have another couple of weeks after that to finish your masterpiece.
The last Show was two years ago and was very well supported – us teachers are getting good at twisting students’ arms! But, putting on a quilt show is hard work. Its not just the twisting of arms to get quilts to display (and persuading everyone that their quilt/cushion is most certainly good enough to display in the church; it is not ‘rubbish’ and no one will notice, or care, that a point or two is cut off); its also clambering up and down ladders to hang quilts from poles and stands (memo to self – must get them down from the loft). And quilts are heavy now most of us use cotton wadding rather than than the thin and flimsy polyester which was all we could get in the good old days – when I was younger and fitter and more able to scramble up and down ladders while clutching a precious quilt. But, it will happen. We will find some younger fitter folk to clamber up and down ladders while we more senior ones direct operations (or get in the way!). We have volunteers to do catering. We have a ‘celebrity’ to draw the raffle on the Sunday. The publicity machine is being ramped up. . . .
So, if your quilt shop or local patchwork group decides to put on a Show – shout YES! And volunteer to help, to hang quilts, to show your quilts (or cushions), to (wo)man the raffle table, take money on the door, wander round the town talking various shops into displaying posters. Every little helps (as the saying goes) and the quilt show will be a great success. And you will realise (several days later) that it was actually good fun to do and that you should do another. But maybe not quite yet.
As you see last time we also persuaded quite a few shops to display small quilts and cushions in their windows too. And we had quite a queue on Sunday morning waiting for the service to finish so they could go into the show.
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