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Summer Festival: My Festival of Quilts 2025 picks

Updated: Aug 18

Whilst to many Summer Festival means camping, music and drinking, to those of us who are into stitch it tends to mean the Festival of Quilts, the biggest quilting show in Europe, featuring workshops, talks, demos, Textile Galleries one of the world’s largest quilt competitions, a range of materials, and brands to shop from. And even though our usual Festival mode of transport and accomodation, our elderly motorhome, broke down on the last morning , I have very fond memories and will share some of the highlights for me. Here are my Festival of Quilts 2025 picks: I've just unpacked from my workshops at "Festival" as I went straight away to a couple of family events. I had a full workshop programme with a little time to wizz around the galleries and quilts. My workshops ranged from hot textiles, mixed media, hand and machine stitching and from 1 hour to a whole day. Here are some photos of highlights:


Woman making durable gift tags and creative beads with Tyvek
Tyvek Beads and Tags workshop. The participant has stamped some greetings on to Tyvek paper and then coloured with Brusho. They are now making beads with painted Tyvek

A group of women sat at sewing machines at a creative workshop learning a new textile art technique
View into one of my workshops with sewing machines
Patchwork of fabric with a decorative layer stitched on top. An example of work in progress at the Reverse Appliqye & Twin Needle Workshop
An example of work in progress at the Reverse Appliqye & Twin Needle Workshop
A smiling woman pleased with the creative rose she has made and is wearing
Two smiling women holding flowers they are happy to have created using Tyvek
Tyvek Flowers Workshop

A painted moonscape on fabric in the process of being stitched into to create tree branches
Mixed Media & Handstitch Moonscape in process


A smiling woman sat at a sewing machine, holding up her stitched piece of textile or fibre art
Fabric & Angelina Applique on Lutradur


A woman holding a craft soldering iron making decorative holes in a piece of Lutradur that has had surface design applied
Using a craft soldering iron to distress Lutradur

A woman holding up her Lutradur lantern that she has made
A finished Lutradur Lantern with sheer fabric applique
A woman  holding her piece of fibre art she has made at a creative workshop
example from Hot Textiles Play Day

A textural piece of fabric surface design, which has been heat distressed
Monotone textile surface design from Hot Textiles Play Day

A textural piece of fabric surface design, which has been heat textured using ExpandIT medium
Colour & texture from Hot Textiles Play Day

Any of these workshops can be tailored for you! Either you book a workshop from the upcoming events section, contact me to arrange one, or I can come to your group or event.


Now I'lll share my Festival of Quilts 2025 picks of the quilts on display, first in the galleries and then from the competition quilts.

So here is my small curated gallery of some of my highlights of textile art at Festival:


A fibre artist standing next to a mixed media quilt she has made
Beverly Y. Smith "Above The Fray"

Beverly Y. Smith is a mixed media fiber artist whose quilt-based works draw deeply from her Southern roots and ancestral connections. I loved catching her in her "Above The Fray" gallery and her description of both her inspiration and her graphite drawing technique


An example of stitched texture and hand dyed colour on a piece of fibre art in a gallery
Nienke De Lange Part of XXL quilt.jpg
Six examples of colour and texture in fibre art in a gallery
Colorminds group "Colour Relationships" Gallery

Interesting conversation with Nienke de Lange in the Colorminds group "Colour Relationships" Gallery about her frayed hand dyed circles which create such a wonderful texture on her Rose and the orange part of the group XXL quilts shown above.


example of colour and texture in fibre art in a gallery
Shannon Conley SAQA High Desert Garden

The texture and colours also caught my attention in Shannon Conley's "High Desert Garden" in the SAQA Gallery, inspired by New Mexico and achived by large scale smocking of a quilted coloured upcycled cloth.


Embroidered hexagons fibre art in a crazy quilt style
For The Love of Stitch Lea Dishoi

This colourful hexi crazy quilt "For The Love of Stitch" by Lea Dishoi caught my eye and drew mw in to study the intricate hand stitching and embroidery.


Applique mini quilts depicting two dreaming women, one asleep and one awake
Dreamer Gralla Grotto

The final gallery I stopped at was the Women's Encyclopedia Gallery by Gralla Grotto. My favourite were the Dreamers above!



Out of the competition quilts I have chosen a few to share, although many others were eye catching and inspiring.


An embroidery not quite in a fabric frame
Will It Fit Richard Cook

This small quilt in the Quilt Creations category was quirky used free motion embroidery and Inktense pencils (two of my loved techniques) and was based on a family photograph of Richard's ancestors Forge.


Fibre art sculpture of a seed pod
Seed Pod Keta Jones

The other Quilt Creation category entry that appealed was the one using wet felting among other techniques, Seed Pod by Keta Jones. If you are interested in textile sculptures, take a look at Keta's Pinterest board


A fibre art moonscape with embroidered flowers
Agapanthus Moon Jane Mills

In the Art Quilt Category, the simplicity of this moonscpe drew me, but I'm also facinated by the use of sya milk and earth pigments to colour the wool and linen fabrics.


A fibre art moonscape with patchwork and embroidered surround
Beyond The Wall, Into The Deep Night Eunjoo An

Another Art category moonscape but much more detailed warrented time enjoying the intricate piecing and quilting and the inspiration to step through walls to infinate possibility.


A fibre art seascape with embroidered storm effect
Time is Running Pia Tonnesen.

This storm at sea was the winner of the Art Quilt category, and uses curtain fabric pieces placed so well to crete the image.


Moving onto the Pictorial Quilts category, three in particular caught my attention, all due to the movement they evoked.


A pictorial art quilt of A Woman Dancing surrounded by flames
A Woman Dancing Grazyna Ryszawa

You may know that I love both watching and attempting Flamenco Dancing, and the fiery A Woman Dancing captures the dance so well.


A pictorial art quilt of A warrior Woman weilding a spear
Spin of the Warrior Dance Jing Chen

Based on traditional Chinese opera spinning and dancing on stage and expressing the interplay between reality and illusion, stillness and motion.


A pictorial art quilt of A Woman holdig her shawl surrounded by wind
A Wind From The North Andrea Lea McVey

Andrea Lea McVey’s @quiltpaperscissors stunning quilt A Wind from the North is this year’s Visitors’ Choice Award winner and I particularly like the inclusion of the quilted frame and the fabric effect.

Andrea shares: "Inspired by J.W. Waterhouse’s painting Boreas, I set out to create my own foundation paper piecing (FPP) pattern. I was drawn to the way the painting captures the movement of fabric and the invisible power of wind and rain. Recently, I lost my partner, and through this design I sought to express the presence of unseen forces, the desolation they can bring, and the deep ache of lost love.”


So this is my selection to share with you. I would love to hear about your experience of Festival, and your thoughts on the quilts/workshops.

Please share in the comments below. Looking forward to hearing from you.


 
 
 

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