Another Festival of Quilts has come and gone. For four days the NEC at Birmingham was home to one of the biggest quilt shows in Europe and the sound bite was definitely international. It must be so easy to fly into Birmingham International, stay in one of the Centre’s hotels, hop onto one of the courtesy coaches and arrive at the Hall to gaze on the array of quilts and be astounded by the skill of the winners. This year the overall winner was a bed quilt by two sisters from America and the skills which went into its making drew fascinated groups who studied it in awe. The individual exhibitions were, as ever, full of ideas with lovely work to satisfy most tastes. I can’t pick out a favourite – that would be most unfair as they all contribute their own particular values to create a whole. The demonstrations by professionals are always inspiring and then, of course there are all the stall holders, touting their wares to appreciative shoppers. Goodness knows how much money changed hands over the four days! The Contemporary Quilters can be justifiably proud of the £9,700 they took in their Little Gems tombola – money which will be gratefully received by the Quilters’ Guild at their headquarters at St Anthony’s Hall in York. I’m sure we’ll all be back for more next year. Dorothy. 25th August 2009