Ardingly Quilt Fair

Had an extremely inspiring day at the Ardingly Quilt Fair on Friday.... Although I am not a quilter, it was still very exciting to be attending this wonderful event.  I was invited by my good friend Sarah, who is an extremely talented Quilter herself!  The event was held on two floors, the ground floor was home to vendors selling various products from Sewing Machines, Fabric, Quilting Tools, Patterns and the most amazing Bookstall and the second floor displayed Quilts that would take your breath away.... so much talent!!  I was lucky enough to be allowed to take photos of some and I did try to get close up's of as many as I could to be able to show you the tiny detail that went into creating some of these beauties.....

The Art Nouveau style quilt below, was stunning, such beautiful Art Nouveau shapes and colours, I really liked this one, being a fan myself of the Art Nouveau period, this was a joy to see....

The Quilt below was a favourite of my friend Sarah; As you got up close to it, the stitching detail that went into creating the flower heads was just amazing.....

There were so many quilts on display, all with varying styles, it was a real colour explosion as you wandered through the hall, with lots of Ohhing and Ahhing at every turn.

Not all the Quilts were in the style that I personally liked, but you couldn't help but admire the workmanship that went into creating them... just take a look at the close-up detail on this Seaside Quilt......

 

This too, was not my taste, but the finer detail on this was so very clever, just take a look at the close-up of the net hanging from the boat... just wonderful!

There were some gorgeous traditional "type" Quilts, which I loved, like this children's example, so adorable!  Such cute colours and precious little "International Dolls", loved this one!

But my absolute favourites of the day were these two "Quilt Journals" which were very much done in "my style", there was such emotion in these two pieces, they really told a story.  I loved the different elements used in creating this; the old lace, printed verse, jewel elements and old photos.. just divine.

It was a fabulous day and I came away buzzing with ideas of how to incorporate some of this talent and style into my work..... hhmmmm, where to start!