Post Comment Love 17 - 19 April

Hello there, welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a relaxed, friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any blog post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked, comment and share some of that love.

Please don’t link up posts which are older as they will be removed, and if you see older posts are linked then please don’t feel that it’s necessary to comment on those. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here we’re pleased you’ve joined us.

I hope you had a great Easter and both Suzanne and I are glad to see you back after our Easter break. I spent some of that time in Powys celebrating my youngest niece’s wedding, and it was absolutely glorious. I don’t know how they managed it but their wedding was actually on the hottest day of the year so far, and so they were able to hold the ceremony outside and we were in more danger of sun burn than wind burn, just the week before they’d had snow in the same place.

We stayed with my parents and brother and SIL in a farm cottage in the neighbouring village, and on the morning we left Wales we were treated to this lamb traffic jam as the farmers moved their flock to a new field the other side of our AirBnB.

The whole few days were truly magical.

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The Gardeners Yard at Scampston Hall

I said in an earlier post in this series that there’s nothing better on a garden gate than a sign welcoming you in, especially when it’s an invite into a working part of the garden, which for me is just as interesting as the more public facing aspects of a garden.

So it was great to be so warmly welcomed into the Gardeners Yard and their polytunnel, which even though it was a proper working space still looked pretty with the pink flowers on the right growing up against the bend of the tunnel’s outer covering.

I’m always interested to see the compost area, and this one was pretty sizeable, as you’d expect for a larger garden. I like the open bay approach to these compost ‘bins’ but clearly I won’t need anywhere near as big in my own garden - and where to site that is a bit of a headache too.

At the far end of the Gardeners Yard was the Arid House and as you can see many of the plants were enjoying the sun when we visited, and with my own growing collection of succulents I was keen to see the leaf shapes, the sizes of pots used and how the pots were organised.

And also I thought to myself that I should keep an eye out for my own stone trough, as these look great in that don’t they?

The Arid House wasn’t actually open but I did my best to get a shot through the window and to imagine the temperature inside.

And as we left the Gardeners Yard behind us I was reminded just how much I love, and how beautiful, the aeoniums are. I need more of these, though I need to learn how to overwinter them properly as my single plant is looking decidedly sorry for itself. There’s always something to learn when we’re gardening though isn’t there?

Striking Art quilts

At the Festival of Quilts there were several categories that seemed quite similar to me, for example an Art quilt and a Pictorial quilt, but each category has clearly defined boundaries which also include what the judges are looking for.

So in case you were wondering an art quilt is ‘a quilt designed to be displayed as artwork’ and which communicates ‘an idea, emotion or concept’ with its textiles and stitching. It has to be an original design with a strong visual impact and non-traditional fabrics and construction methods are encouraged. Whereas a pictorial quilt depicts a scene or subject, so now we both know!

The quilts I’m sharing today - my favourites from this category - definitely meet the strong visual impact criteria. It’s also probably no surprise that I’m starting with a garden related quilt with a strong, positive message.

BUILD WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN, JOHN J COLE-MORGAN, FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2025

BUILD WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN, JOHN J COLE-MORGAN, FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2025

Isn’t it wonderful? Simple, yet complex and definitely strong.

BE PATIENT DIY QUILT, PIA TØNNESEN, FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2025

I love the colours, the lettering and the quilting on this one. It’s completely different to the first one but yet still meets that criteria.

This next one is just fascinating, the colour palette is obviously monochrome, but it’s the textures for me on this one - and it’s clearly not one for your bed is it?

SOMNAMBULIST SERIES, JOSEPH KOPIEL, FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2025

SOMNAMBULIST SERIES, JOSEPH KOPIEL, FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2025

A Somnambulist can be what’s more often known as sleepwalking, and knowing that it does give a different perspective and interpretation - and like lots of art, often each of us will see it and react differently, and that’s ok.

This next one is different again, but again it’s the textures in this one for me - and the sparkles!

IRENE’S PICNIC, ANJA GEBLER, FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2025

IRENE’S PICNIC, ANJA GEBLER, FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2025

I am rather partial to a sequin, and a sequinned beetle just as much as those embroidered insects I saw many years ago at another show.

It was the colours and all those half square triangles that drew my attention to this quilt, and there’s definitely truth in the message.

KILLING OTHERS WILL NOT BRING BACK THE DEAD, ALISON BLACKBURN, FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2025

There’s clearly a lot of work in all of these quilts, in fact in any quilt and it was great to be able to see these up close first hand - and I’m already looking forward to seeing the quilts in this category at this year’s show.

If you enjoyed this post from my visit to the Festival of Quilts 2025 then please do check out my other posts from the show. Even though my mind was blown by the sheer volume of quilts on display, I’ve booked to go again - just for the day - this year.