St. Jacob's Quilt and Fibre Art Festival 2013

The Grand National 2013

I finally had a chance to go back to the Grand National here in Kitchener, at Homer Watson House, to see all the quilts with the room not packed full of people! It is such a delightful show. I spoke to one of the jurors, and felt so warmly welcomed.

The Grand National 2013

Photos were allowed, so I will show you a couple of general shots of the room. This is a departure from my usual close-up detail shots, and I wanted you to get the general feeling of the room. It is such a great venue, with good natural lighting, and each quilt is shown so well. This is a really enjoyable show.

My quilt is in the left photo, on the bottom left corner, the monarch butterfly, which I wrote about here.  I will be working hard to enter a quilt for the next show in two years.

Eilean Donan Castle
by
Patricia Ryckman-Fleming

Also today, I went to see the Wee Quilt Challenge at MacDougall Cottage in Cambridge. I'll show you my favourite wee quilt. It was Eilean Donan Castle, by Patricia Ryckman-Fleming, from Burlington. I just love the colours she used, and the way she managed to capture the essence of the castle. Very moving. All of the quilts were outstanding, moving to the Auld Sod theme, and all had a real feeling of Scotland. One of these years, I will be doing a quilt for this show, too!

I was in a couple of quilt stores today, too, and planting annuals in the garden, so it's been a busy day. Tomorrow, I'll be in St. Jacobs to take in the quilt shows there, and maybe get to another quilt shop or two.

A Wee Quilt Challenge

McDougall Cottage, Cambridge, Ontario

I've been meaning to get to Cambridge this week for the Wee Quilt Challange at the McDougall Cottage, link here, and finally had my chance today. This McDougall Cottage is in the historical area of Galt, and was home to two Scottish families for over a century.

What a treat. Each year is slightly different. This year, each participant had a piece of the challange fabric, a plaid designed for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, and had to use it to portray the theme of Plaids at Play.

And play they did. From kites to bears, from board games to sports games. It is amazing how people interpret a theme. Each quilt is of wee size, so they are all in one room. The quilts are all very charming in themselves, in a charming cottage, with charming gardens, to make for a charming show!