Daf and I didn’t turn up the minute the doors opened but we weren’t far behind the earliest birds. It was, as ever, a lively meeting of the quilt ‘clans’ as they gathered for this annual ceremony – no cabers tossed but bolts of fabric flying everywhere, as Mary’s team efficiently measured, cut, folded and priced metre after metre. Queues formed in the orderly fashion expected of quilters and people helped each other find ‘just the right design/colour’ (thank you Carol!). It was like being among friends – actually, come to think about it, I really was among friends! Finally, exhausted by shopping, we could flop onto a welcoming sofa with a cuppa supplied by the lovely Twiggy and nibble guiltily on a biscuit. Amazingly this was enough to revive some sufficiently to go looking for that last little bargain. Three more days to go then Mary and her team can close the door and collapse quietly on those same sofas and be glad that next week will be a little quieter. See the Video on You Tube Dot Russell 3rd March 2010