Last week, our lovely presenter Hayley West visited a lovely event in Loughborough. She had such a great day she wanted to share with all of our crafters…
“Once a year one I love to head of to a great event in Loughborough…… Sue and her team from Quorn Country Crafts host a charity event and it’s always incredibly inspiring.
To start with it’s a wonderful venue the local parish church and every year it’s transformed with a multitude of different sewn projects including some amazing quilts. Huge quilt frames are erected to display the quilts to show them off to their best and they never cease to astound me. There were stunning quilts, Jacobean Applique, Dramatic Geometric designs, Sampler Quilts, Quilts for children, examples using Jelly Rolls, Dresden Plate designs and Japanese inspired to mention a few, plus a display of beginners quilts.
One of the highlights of the exhibition was the Mini Charm Challenge… Just before Christmas, the ladies of three groups that regularly meet at Quorn Country Crafts for sewing and more than a little natter, were each given a mini charm pack, all identical. The challenge was to make absolutely anything using all of the squares, and you could add any fabrics you wished. Sounds simple, but it took a great deal of thought and decision making. The results were so impressive and the entries were so diverse, from a beautiful stitchery needlecase to a quilt, from cushions to a skirt. It was incredibly imaginative. A lovely lady who made a Gruffalo wall hanging won, and her entry was chosen for the placement of the squares creating a forest, path etc., embellishment and the fact that it was restricted as no fabrics were added, which made the project more challenging.
Over the three days the team raised in excess of £2150 for their chosen charities, Asthma & Allergy UK and Glenfield Hospital ‘Heartlink’, which considering the appalling weather and the lure of both The Euros Football and Andy Murray playing both his semi final and final, was amazing. Let’s face it, Quilters and Stitchers come out whatever the distractions!
It’s worth keeping your eyes and ears open for local events like this one. It never ceases to amaze me how create sewers and quilters can be!”
Have you got a local event that we should know about? We’d love to hear about them. Email [email protected] to tell us more!