A Young Persons View of the Festival of Quilts
Ah, what a festival!! This year for the first time, I went up to the Festival of Quilts which is held in the NEC in Birmingham each August. I wasn’t too sure what to expect. My mum is a tutor and goes each year, but this time I went as well.
From Maidenhead it took under two hours to get there. I immediately saw at all the quilts that people had made. The Festival is split into parts. There is a quilt exhibition, including the competition quilts, there are lots of stalls and shops and there are also workshops taking place, some of them for children.
The programme that I got was really helpful because it contained a map which I used to find my way around the huge halls. It helped me feel confident that I would know where I was and if I wanted to go to a specific shop I could find my way, or if I was meeting my friends we could pick a place.
My favourite part in the festival was the quilts themselves. They gave me loads of new ideas about quilt making and the things that could be done. Every quilt was unique in its own way. When I was looking around at the quilts I was surprised at the different ways you could sew, for example there was a chess set at the winners gallery all made out of fabric and with fabric dolls as pieces. I also saw the Mad Hatter’s Hat! The miniature quilts were the same size as a A5 pieces of paper and were so tiny, but had been quilted too … amazing !!
I also went to many of the shops. Everybody was very friendly. I even met Zandra Rhodes and had a go on a long arm machine !!
Once you have finished looking at the quilts there are chocolate and lolly pop stands and the many children’s workshops. I think it would be a good idea for there to be a family day at the Festival, maybe on the Sunday, where families and children could try out new crafts as the show today is very focused on grown ups.
I have learnt a lot because of my trip to the Festival of Quilts. I would certainly like to go back and maybe even enter the children’s competition next year, but for now all I want to do is loads more arts, crafts and sewing.
By Katie Day age 10 3/4
