We actually saw some quilts today, did a bit less chatting and went to a couple of lectures.  First up in the lecture theatre was Laura Kemshall talking about the use of digital printing and stitch.  Laura is an inspirational speaker and innovative textile artist,  but both her work and methods are accessible.  She always makes me want to get my hands dirty and start creating something!  Laura has been the main pioneer of large format digital printed fabrics for quilt making and it was inspirational to see how she combines them with other processes. 

Our second speaker of the day was American quilter, Ann Johnston, who has been influential in surface design and quilt making for decades.  We both have well used copies of her book The Quilters' Book of Design.  Ann's talk focused on the the importance of stitch in bringing the quilt surface alive, something we both embrace in our own quilt making.

No stewarding today, so we had the chance to visit a few traders ( naturally!) and explore several of the competition categories.  Here are a few of the quilts from the art quilt and and contemporary quilt categories which caught our eye.  Click on the photograph to see who made the quilt.

It's August and once again we are up here at The Festival of Quilts - four whole days of chatting, looking at quilts, chatting, stewarding, chatting, attending lectures, chatting, shopping and not forgetting ... chatting with other quilters.  

We have a couple of quilts on show too.  Terry's quilt, Black Across the Sun, has been selected for the CQ Dislocation Gallery.  Hazel's is in the Salon des Refusés (!) and we both have a quilt in The Guilds' Challenge, In My Garden. 

With all the chatting there wasn't much time for photographing quilts today, but here are a couple made by our students, past and present.  We promise more tomorrow!

We were thrilled to see that Tanglewood Textiles won the quilt group category with their beach huts quilt. Jackie, Sarah-Jane, Anne, Mel, Hilary and Susan were all students on our C&G Diploma course in 2011.