Despite the day being very poorly attended, we had a great time with our speakers Alex Kingswell and Merrill Tanton.

Alex explained all about her inspiration for the lovely quilts that she makes. The use of Pi and Fibonacci?s golden ratio was explained (with a few blank faces in the crowd!). Alex showed us many of her quilts and wall hangings and explained that many were not quilted as she is more interested in the relationship between all the different coloured units in the quilt. Some of her work had been mounted on wooden frames and the light falling through the work made them look very much like stained glass windows.

In the afternoon we were treated to a great talk by Merrill who had been, until recently, co-ordinator for region 13. Merrill talked about her own experiences of quilting and then went on to explain the processes involved in the judging of quilts. She told us about how she learned to be a judge and that she is now involved in the teaching of others. To break up the talk, Merrill supplied us with a range of quilts which were numbered and got us all to walk around and see what we thought of them compared to the comments of the judges who had made their comments previously. The criteria for judging were explained very clearly and I am sure many of us went off home with a much clearer idea of what quilt judges are looking for in a winning quilt.

The cushion raffle was a great success with many people happily taking home their favourite cushion. The attendees agreed that it had been a great day, but it was a shame that more members did not join us.