Gillian's Cocoons
When asked by Katy if I would consider doing a readers review of the quilt show in Loch Lomond the first thing that came to mind was.... great now I can go nuts with the digital camera. As it turned out my photos numbered only half of what my partner took...and he was just the designated driver. With well over 300 photos, its obvious I have a few favourites.
 

Gillian chatting with admirers
Ive been to three quilt shows since I returned to England five years ago (all of course with designated driver) and have realised a distinct difference between them. The Harrogate show was lovely being all under one roof. The beautiful old church of Cartmel Priory was an incredibly peaceful setting to show off some wonderful quilts. The Loch Lomond quilt show had the best of both worlds.
 

Exiled English Rose quilt by Helen Allan
Spread out between several local villages, the artwork and craft of hundreds of quilters were displayed under many roofs, most of the venues being churches. Of the 13 venues we were fortunate enough to visit eight, the last being St. Patricks Church Hall otherwise known as Traders Village. Just had to stop in and see the boss you see.
 

Channel Crossing by Gill Turley
Our first visit was the Vale of Leven Baptist Church in the village of Alexandria where I had the opportunity to meet Popular Patchworks very own Gillian Cooper. We had an enjoyable chat, Gillian explaining the reasoning behind her new series of work, Shelter. Her original concept was based on that of a cocoon, a place of safe haven, a feeling of being protected. I feel her stand of artwork was very colourful and extremely impressive.
 
In that same church I was mesmerised by the detailed hand work of one wall hanging quilt called An Exiled English Rose. This quilt, a competition winner, was created by Helen Allan of Edinburgh. As stated on the explanation card beside the quilt, A totally original design using hand dyed fabrics, hand applique, completely hand quilted and embellished with beads.
 

September Collection by Carol Judge
Amongst my other many favourites was a quilt entitled, Channel Crossing done by Gill Turley. Gill used the Manx Log Cabin technique, which I had never heard of before, but now realize that the blocks are made from folded strips of fabric and then hand sewn. You learn something new every day, well at least I seem to. Another admired quilt was in the Renton Trinity Church. This one called Honey Comb consisted of 9,797 hexagons. What a stunning piece of art. And then there was Moon Magic by Rosie Furlong, also at Renton. Oh the time and patience in her quilts...such amazing handiwork.

Moon Magic by Rosie Furlong
 
All in all I think the one quilt that really struck home with me, being the displaced Canadian as I am, was Carol Judges September Collection. Within the borders of this quilt all done in beautiful earth tone shades were the patterns of Flying Geese, Evergreen Trees, the infamous Bears Paw and the well known Log Cabin. No matter how much cajoling or begging I did, Carol was not going to parcel it up and mail to my home address.
 
The Loch Lomond quilt show, in my mind, was a huge success. I enjoyed every minute of it and would highly recommend to anyone. For anyone who didnt enjoy it, take my advice, get the right designated driver. I did and didnt I do well.