Birmingham is the centre of the universe!

Well, as far as quilts are concerned for 4 days in August.

And to be truthful, not the centre of Birmingham - but the NEC, near the Airport.

I am fired up and exhausted!  But what a day!

Let's start with the Art Quilts.  And these are just some of my favourites.  (Which begs the question, how on earth do you judge the entries?  And I did not agree with all the judging.)

Here is Beach Boy 2, by Hilary Beatie: Mixed media collage using hand dyed, commercial and printed fabrics and photo transfers.  Detail and blending added with crayon, pencil and paint. Machine quilted and hand stitched.

And because it features Hilary's dog (Dixter) it gets an extra vote from Whippet X (who is currently on his holidays in Kent - its a dogs life!!)

Here is 'Drawn by the Sea' by Sarah Jane Dixon: Mixed media using applique with sheet fabrics and fabric with transfer paints, discharge paste, fabric dyes and paint sticks. 

The picture below shows detail of Drawn by the Sea.  This works for me because some years ago I was privileged to witness a 'feeding frenzi' when minke whales (and probably dolphins and porpoises as well) had corralled a shoal of fish just out side the harbour of Tobermory.  I imagine this is what the fish looked like just under the surface.

And while I mention it I should add that my other half has sailed on the fabulous Silurian , the beautiful boat owned by the Whale and Dolphin society and used for whale watching etc. (but that is another story).

 Back to the quilts.  And here is one of the lovely (because she really is) Stephanie Redfern quilts. 

Detail from the moth pages above

A lovely thing about this year's FoQ was that it truly felt international.  The quilt below 'Snake Goddess' was by Janneke de Vries-Bodzinga from Nethelands.  This is just a detail, but it absolutely blows you away.

And I loved this lovely quilt, but I am sorry - my photo cataloging went astray so I don't know who you are.

And I also don't know who did this quilt, but that is because it is not in the catalogue (174 - you know who you are.  Get in touch and I will credit you!)

Oh dear, and I don't know who did this one either.  It's a good job I am not the official photographer.

But I do know who did this quilt.  This is another international one - Angela Schenz from Austria.   This quilt is 220 small rectangular tablets with 260 organza leaves.

This is a detail of the above.

There's more, there's more -  but that is going to have to wait for another day.

Oh, and although I was very restrained I have put down a deposit for one of these. (having considered it very carefully against one of these).  My excuse - it should make the paper quilting easier!