London Quilters Coming Home Exhibition 2014

This runs from 17th November-23rd December 2014 and 2nd-4th January 2015

at

Swiss Cottage Central Library, 88 Avenue Road, London NW3  3HA

This is such an inspirational exhibition of around 50 quilts made by beginners to clearly very advanced members of  London Quilters.  It's also, the magic word, free!  I had such a good day there today and spent quite some time at the Workshop table learning how to raw edge applique circles.  Others were sewing squares together for baby quilts and some were make cathedral window blocks.  There will be a workshop there each Saturday from 10am-4pm and all that is asked in return, is to buy a raffle ticket for this quilt made by the members:

I had two viewers choice quilts: I couldn't decide between them!  

Here they are:-

"Sarah's"  by Margaret Jarvie

The description of this really made me laugh but I can't remember exactly how it was written but something along the lines of considering applique rather than piecing curves!

"Dreaming of San Juan"  by Maggie Paykel

This quilt is made of raw edge appliqued

triangles which were then caught with 

a perle thread at each of the three points

of each triangle and then seed stitched

all over the background

A really moving quilt was "Heart of the Home" by Yana Krizka.  It has been made with her fathers' shirts.  He escaped the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939 and the maker has made many fabric transferred photos of his various passes and identity cards along with his favourite things, hand-embroidered around the main photograph.  I especially liked the flag, cleverly placed as the background.  A really sad but yet uplifting piece of work.

This is Tracy Chevaliers' "My First Quilt".  I particularly like her description:-  "It was surprising to me how similar writing and quilting can be: the meditative quality needed, the mix of planning and spontaneity, the inevitable mistakes that creep in the make you wince afterwards"

I think we've all been there!

On the way out, was a group of 18 small quilts all 12" x 12" commemorating the First World War.  I especially like these four, all made by Sabi Westaby.  However, all these mini quilts were so moving and also fittingly displayed along a wall in a quieter area on the way out of the Library.

It was such an inspiring day with lots of chatting to other quilters around the Workshop table.  I can highly recommend this exhibition!