In addition to the many, many quilts on display at the Festival of Quilts there’s also galleries dotted around the exhibition space, and one of my favourites was Jo Avery’s Textile Gallery. I love her brightly coloured bold quilts and it was great to see them up close and first hand.

The gallery was in celebration of Jo’s new book - Journey to the Centre of a Quilter in which she shares her inspiration and the importance of play. I don’t have the book, but it’s definitely a contender for my Christmas List - though I’m under no illusion that my quilts would ever be as fabulous as these, though I think they’d have their own level of fabulousness!

JO AVERY’S TEXTILE GALLERY, FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2025

Even in these smaller spaces the walls were loaded with quilts, and it was hard to know where to look, or where to start but my feet led me to those that most appealed to me, funny how that happens when our brains aren’t sure isn’t it?

What caught my eye about the quilt above is the detail in the quilting, which stands out with the light thread on the dark background. And then looking at the main motif, and seeing the amount of detail there too. Totally mind blown.

I loved the improv quilt below, and then loved it even more when I saw it was called Jukebox.

JUKEBOX, JO AVERY’S TEXTILE GALLERY, FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2025

But again the detail is mind blowing, and the size of this one - it’s 142cm by 217cm - and actually reminds me of a jukebox we had in our childhood home, which was I’m sure, equally as big.

What Jo’s quilts made me realise was how simple shapes repeated can be so effective, and look anything but simple as the quilts above and below both demonstrate.

And when those shapes are repeated and mixed with other shapes such as the houses or the wavy landscapes below, they become something truly fantastic.

POPLARS, JO AVERY’S TEXTILE GALLERY, FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2025

This one brought me straight back to that time I tried quilting in a circle, which was one of the most stressful quilting sessions I’ve had so far, but this one makes me want to try again. Though on a much smaller scale!

What I also liked is how Jo’s style of quilting also works for flower shapes, and this Dream Flower quilt below is stunning in its boldness - I’d say simplicity, but there is nothing simple about the detail here, as each petal contains a different improv pieced or organic applique pattern.

DREAM FLOWER, JO AVERY’S TEXTILE GALLERY, FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2025

The last quilt I’m sharing here today is this Giant Trilobite (which are extinct marine arthropods - I just had to Google it) and once again it features the bright colours, the circles and more improv pieced and needle-turn applique patterned segments.

GIANT TRILOBITE, JO AVERY’S TEXTILE GALLERY, FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2025

Aren’t they all amazing?

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’m pretty sure I’ll be going again!

Another of the exhibitions at this year’s Newark Quilt Show was the Journal Quilt Challenge, where quilters make two A4 size quilts based on the theme for the year, which for 2025 was Improv Quilting.

And for small quilts, there’s a lot of work in these - and there were plenty of entries, way more than I can show in a single post, so I’ve chosen my favourites to include here.

The show notes advise that ‘Improv patchwork & quilting is very ‘on trend’ at the moment but some quilters may be hesitant to try something new without the safety net of rules’ - but then again, that goes for a lot of things in life doesn’t it?

For me the standout entry was the two collages by Joan Weston - not only the subject matter, but also the materials used - fabrics, papers, newspaper extracts as well as stitching and the final products.

The top quilt, which remember is just A4 sized, is a collage of fabrics, papers, newspaper extract and stitching representing the invasion of Ukraine and Zelensky’s moving response channelling Churchill’s speech decades earlier. The second represents the destruction of the cities in Ukraine using newspaper cuttings, photographs and stitching. The stitches show the winter weather suffered by homeless people, bombs and the bloodshed.

No matter what your views on the subject matter, both pieces are incredibly detailed and the amount of work in such a small piece is mind blowing, and totally amazing - and definitely fits into the Improv Quilting category.

Other quilters took a more traditional approach playing with more recognisable quilting shapes and designs - you’ll no doubt recognise some of those which have been given the improv treatment.

UPS & DOWNS AND GOING IN CIRCLES, HANNAH CARLISLE

IMPROV 8-POINTED STAR AND IMPROV QUADRANGLES, RUTH CASE

Other quilters took a less structured approach and used the materials, colours, shapes and stitching to represent a wide array of topics - from migraines and recovery, to cities and nature.

IMPRESSIONS OF NICE: I AND II, JULIET WEST

JUST WINGING IT I AND II, SHEENA ROBERTS

And then there was the completely wacky - and I say this full of admiration - the riot of colours, approaches and textures was equally as amazing.

WEIRD WILD WORLD AND WILD WEIRD WOLRD, MARY WATTS

STRANGE WORLDS AND LIFT OFF, HOPKIN REES

It’s also clear that these small quilts are equally as addictive as their larger versions - and I’m sure aren’t significantly less work either. The second inclusion by Hopkin Rees above was also reassuringly honest, and demonstrates that many crafters continue to be unhappy with their work. The Cyclops and String Adagio quilts were originally pieced and appliquéd but unhappy with the effect they ‘over sewed each separate fabric piece with vibrant stitch painting’ resulting in blocks of solid colour - the end result is particularly stunning I think.

These final two did raise a smile, which was the maker’s intention, though while I bet they were fun to make and are instantly recognisable, I think I’ll stick with the real thing!