Two person quilts, double the skill

The two person quilts category was pretty self explanatory - it’s for quilts that have had two people work on them, that includes quilting whether that’s the result of pure collaboration or if the quilt has been professionally long armed (that’s when you send your quilt away to be quilted).

But the quilts were far from ordinary, like the other quilts on display they were full of imagination, inspiration and great work, and I really don’t think it matters that more than one person has worked on a quilt, but I guess in a competition it provides transparency.

As with the other categories the judges were looking for visual impact, the emotional response to the quilt, the composition and use of colour as well as its construction and accuracy of piecing, and no doubt much more. I’d be terrible as a judge as I liked pretty much every quilt, and as I walked around the show the ‘wows’ kept coming, in fact I think if I walked past the first quilts I saw I’d be even more wowed by them the second time I saw them!

But anyway, here’s my favourites in the two person quilts category.

GOLDEN WEDDING, EILEEN WING AND DEBBIE HOLLAND

I’m sure it will be a surprise to no one that this was one of my favourite quilts in the show - it uses yellows and oranges, is heart shaped and has a mix and match of blocks and an interesting background. Isn’t it lovely?

And as much as I love the ‘Golden Wedding’ quilt above, the winner in this category was entirely different and so intricate.

CATEGORY WINNER: TWO HALVES MAKE US WHOLE, CLAIRE WALLACE AND TELENE JEFFREY

It was one to stare and stare and admire the work, all of it.

As was this next one, just look at the detailed quilting on show. That alone boggles my mind, and that’s before you notice the design - this photo is just a quarter of the quilt, but the detail was lost in the whole quilt picture, and the detail needs to be seen.

DAISY, HELEN BROOKHAM AND SANDY CHANDLER

The final two quilts are a study in colour composition, both use more traditional quilt blocks and yet these appeal to me as much as the others I’ve included in this post.

JARDIN DES ETOILES, JAYNE TRUEMAN AND JO RIOUX

I loved the name of both of these, there’s a play on words for both of them. Above you have garden of the stars - and I can imagine each of those stars as flower beds with hedge borders around them as you see in so many French chateaus. And below, the name Time is so appropriate for the hourglass blocks.

TIME, JO MYHILL AND TEAMO QUILTING

I love the colours in this one two, and how my eye travels across the quilt tracing the shapes. And then looking more closely I see how the fabric is repeated, and how the backgrounds blend between a cream and a creamy white and to a light grey.

It’s an absolute dream, and as I said before I’d be no good judging any of the categories - all the quilts are just too lovely!

Celebrating all things pink

* I was invited to the Gardeners’ World Live show and provided with a pair of tickets to the show, therefore all my posts will be marked as 'Ad’ though as usual my views and opinions are very much my own.

This garden designed by Samantha Stringer, and to give it its full title - Think, all things pink, is an absolute winner. While it was awarded a Gold medal at the show I think I’d have awarded it higher. It’s a great ode to pink in all its shades and it was designed ‘to inspire the use of a single colour when planting’ and it definitely does that, though I think MOH might raise an eyebrow or two if he knew that was my plan for our own garden, but it shows how effective using a single colour can be.

And who knew that so many shades of pink could live so harmoniously together?

Pink encourages the feeling of strength and boldness according to the blurb board next to the garden, and the different tones add depth and interest, as do the different shaped flower heads.

I’d quite happily be sold, but I do like a bit of big and I absolutely love dense planting like this. I know it’s a show garden and all that, but I’d love my borders to be so fully stocked, when I get to them that is. Though I have a plan, which is to buy the plants now and grow them on so that I can split them as they’re planted so getting (at least) two plants for the price of one, and getting to enjoy them right now.

Or that’s my excuse for my current uptick in plant buying!

I love the attention to detail in this garden, and I love these pastel striped dahlias - but look more closely at the picture and you’ll notice pink edged raffle tickets for the plants which had already been bought by those visiting on the last day of the show.

Ah more dahlias, these spiky petalled sort remind me of the ones dad grew in our childhood garden, back then I probably thought they were terribly old fashioned and dated. But now I love them so clearly the flowers are back on trend, not that I’ve become terribly old fashioned and dated!

I mentioned the attention to detail earlier, and here’s another example - with the designer wearing what other colour, than a beautiful dusky pink.

I guess if you’re going in, you’re best to go all in - and what an absolute triumph of a garden to close out my posts from the 2025 show. I’m going along to the show next month and can’t wait to see and to share the delights and inspiration available this year.

* With thanks to Gardeners’ World for inviting me to Gardeners’ World Live, it was quite a show! I hope you’ve enjoyed the posts from my visit to the 2025 show as much as I enjoyed the show - I’m already looking forward to what’s in store from this year’s show next month.

Shelley Rhodes, Behind the Stitches

Today I’m sharing more from the Knit & Stitch Show from Harrogate last year, and now I’ve shared all of the graduate showcase exhibits I’m going to move on and share some of the equally exquisite work on display in the gallery sections, starting with Shelley Rhodes.

I’d not seen any of Shelley’s work before but I was completely mesmerised by it - both when they were hung together, and individually. Shelley’s a mixed media artist who is drawn to the concept of fragmentation on repair, each the elements for her pieces are either weathered, worn or broken.

Her website says she is ‘drawn to the effects of time, the transience of nature, the things that go un-noticed and the ever-changing fragility of things around her.’

And together her pieces are quite a statement.

BEHIND THE STITCHES, SHELLEY RHODES

But I think are equally good alone.

She uses stitches to join pieces, and takes inspiration from Kantha making and combines layers of distressed, pre-used cloth piecing, matching and mending as she goes - and the results are stunning.

A SEGMENT OF BEHIND THE STITCHES, SHELLEY RHODES

I loved the detail on each of these elements, and it was great to be able to get so close to do that. I’m always amazed at how cohesive mixed media art is whilst using scraps - but then I guess if I were to colour code my scraps I’d be in with more of a chance of not creating a rainbow! Though obviously these are a level above anything I would create, but I’m sure there is still the satisfaction of putting something together well, whatever your skill level.

A SEGMENT OF BEHIND THE STITCHES, SHELLEY RHODES

I think though of all of the different type and shaped pieces, it is these oblongs that are my favourite, perhaps it’s the colours, perhaps the addition of nails/tacks - or maybe both.

A SEGMENT OF BEHIND THE STITCHES, SHELLEY RHODES

I’m glad to have seen them, and to share them here - and to wonder at their inception and beauty, and now you can too.