A quick look at miniature quilts

Unsurprisingly the miniature quilts category at Festival of Quilts was full of tiny quilts, and by tiny I mean small. The flying geese one below is the approximately a hand’s length, so considering the size of many of the quilts on display, it’s teeny tiny!

The category guidance says that any technique or combination of techniques can be used, and the maximum length of any side is 30cm. It also says that in a photo (without any indication of scale) it should look like a full size quilt or wall hanging.

And these definitely do. Though I can’t get over the sizes of the centre geese in this miniature quilt.

GEESE IN A SPIN, JENNY ANDERSON

Would you have known this one was the length of my SIL’s hand? (BTW she has a normal sized hand in case you were wondering!) I’m not sure I would, and I’m also pretty sure I don’t have the patience (or the skill) to create something so intricate and so small.

While there were many miniature quilts on display, I only seem to have captured three of them. I think I must have been so wowed I forgot all about capturing all but my very favourites, and I totally agree with the title of this next one - you can never have too many hearts. Especially stripey ones!

YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY HEARTS, KAREN LLEWELLYN-PARSONS

This final teeny tiny quilt is my favourite. You know I love a rainbow and a Liberty fabric rainbow is even better.

THE RAINBOW QUILT TEENY TINY, FLOWER CHILD

Isn’t it gorgeous.

And I guess that I need to pay more attention to this category when I’m back at this show later in the year, though it’s also quite fitting that it’s a tiny post for a tiny subject matter!

Pictorial quilts to make you gasp

Last week I shared the Art quilts, which are designed as pieces of art and this week I’m sharing the relatively similar category of Pictorial quilts. The quilts in this category are quilts depicting a scene or a subject, such as people, animals, flowers etc as the main body of the quilt.

Knowing the boundaries of the category really helps, and once you see the quilts I’m sharing today I’m pretty sure you’re going to gasp. Each and every one of them are truly amazing and I don’t even want to start thinking about the number of hours that has gone into each one. Though I’m not sure I’d want a gorilla on my bed…

SHE MATTERS, SUE DE VANNY

SHE MATTERS, SUE DE VANNY

Though it’s amazing isn’t it? More so I think when you look closely at the quilting and its composition. I’ve actually seen this quilt twice now as it was also at the Harrogate Knit & Stitch show, and both times I’ve been wowed by it.

This second quilt is quite different in style and at first glance you could be mistaken to thinking that it’s a simple design, but look again and see the colours flow from pink to blue effortlessly, and the composition of the lower leaves and vases, and you realise it’s not quite as simple as you first thought.

FLORAL ABUNDANCE, JENNY BRADBURY

With a cyclist in the house (clue: it’s not me!) I had to include this one didn’t I? And the blocks of bold colours really work here I think.

POGI, AURORA CALVET

There were a few nature inspired quilts too, this ‘under the sea’ view had plenty to look at when you stepped back, but when you move closer there’s even more to see as it’s made from small hexagons pieced together.

MEERBEDECKT, RENATE KÄMMER

MEERBEDECKT, RENATE KÄMMER

I don’t even want to contemplate the number of hours spent making this one, let alone having the inspiration to even make it.

This bug was cute though with all its blues and slightly less overwhelming to my eyes.

LAURA’S BEETLE, LINDA SMITH

And then there were butterflies perched on flowers with the most beautifully quilted background.

MONARCH BUTTERFLY, INJA METZGER & MARIA SCHATEN

The final two quilts I’m sharing really do fit the pictorial brief, and are worthy of more than one gasp. As I approached the monochrome quilt below, I thought to myself it had a touch of Breakfast at Tiffany’s to it, as I got closer I saw it was titled ‘a beauty from the swinging 60s’ so I was just a decade out!

BEAUTY FROM THE SWINGING 60S, VICTORIA MILLER

But I hope you’ve saved some gasps, as you’ll need it for this one. It’s so good it doesn’t look as if it’s been sewn together, but painted - and just look at the detail on the frame alone.

A WIND FROM THE NORTH, ANDREA LEA MCVEY

It’s no surprise though that this quilt was voted the Visitor’s Choice Winner, and thoroughly deserved. It really is in a class of its own, and not something I’m ever likely to attempt!

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?