TextileArts news and re:views

Exciting textile holiday retreats in 2013

Inspire Quilting and Creative Textile holiday retreats are offering a fresh and revitalised approach to learning breaks in the UK. You can browse the booking site www.quilting-retreats.co.uk to enter one of their three UK events during 2013. Do bear in mind that you can Pick’n'Mix the nights you stay at the 4-star hotel venues, as well as the workshops and talks you attend to match your interests, available time and budget. It’s also possible to browse and pay for sessions and accommodation online as well as rent a machine: Janome, our event sponsors, have made machines available for each venue rather than have to bring your own.

There are many world renowned tutors to choose from whether you’re a beginner or wanting to extend your existing skills. The retreats have an amazing selection of the best tutors, which presently includes:

• Sheena Norquay
• Dawn Cameron Dick
• Anja Townrow
• Gail Lawther
• Jennie Rayment
• Annette Morgan
• Ferret
• Helen Deighan
• Frieda Anderson (USA)
• Barbara Weeks
• Patricia Archibald
• Susan Brubaker Knapp (USA)
• Gillian Travis
• Isobel Hall
• Sue Rangeley
• Alicia Merrett

………..so that you will be spoilt for choice about who to take a workshop or talk with!

There are lots of extras planned for those who stay at the venue hotels, but if you live locally there is the option to just attend the workshops or talks.

Evening talks with dinner are available (great for groups!) and there will be vendor stands and lots of other entertainment throughout. You can meet other quilters and textile enthusiasts – it will be a wonderful place to make friends and swap ideas. There are some Early Bird discounts listed on their site at the moment, which are definitely worth checking out!

Event Dates

• Midlands 10th-14th April 2013
• Northern 26th-30th June 2013
• Southern 11th-15th Sept 2013

To view the events and book, go to www.quilting-retreats.co.uk. Or phone 0845 4752170.

rare quilts on show at Forge Mill

A unique and fascinating collection of rare British and American vintage quilts are currently on display at Forge Mill Needle Museum, Redditch.

The exhibition includes examples from the 1800s to Victorian times and American quilts from the 1830s to the Civil War period and beyond. It shows many varieties of quilts and quilting techniques and shares some of the unusual stories and histories behind the making of them, including an Edwardian ‘convalescent’ quilt made by men.

Jo-Anne Gloger, Keeper of Collections at Forge Mill, said:

This exhibition is a real treat for anybody who has an interest in quilts.

The exhibition runs until Sunday, May 27th. For more details, call Forge Mill Needle Museum on (01527) 62509. Museum information and opening times are on the Forge Mill web site

Weeks Ringle of FunQuilts has written a fascinating and moving account of her visit to a quilting class run by Fine Cell Work at HM Prison Wandsworth.

This post has been six months in the making and proves that you never know where life will take you. In this case it took me to a quilting class at Her Majesty’s Prison Wandsworth just outside of London. This experience changed forever how I see quiltmaking…

Weeks’ articles about her experience are on the Whip Up web site:

• Handmade in Prison: Part One – The Teachers
• Handmade in Prison: Part Two – The Prisoners

Whip Up is "a multi author site with contributors from around the world united by a passion for making things, for beautiful design and for a desire to share ideas with others".