Show and Exhibition Dates
The Cotton Patch will be appearing at the following shows and exhibitions.
Quilts UK, Malvern Quilt Show |
Thursday 15th - Sunday 18th May 2008 |
Festival of Quilts, NEC |
Thursday 14th - Sunday 17th August 2008 |
Article from 2006 showing the Cotton Patch setting up our stand for The Festival of Quilts 2006, NEC
The Cotton Patch will have two stands at the Festival of Quilts, NEC, Birmingham from 17th-20th August 2006
Travel directions to the Festival of Quilts are on the Twisted Thread website where you can also book into workshops and academies.
At the Festival of Quilts this year we have two stands to showcase our patchwork & quilting supplies. There is our main stand with fat quarter packs, notions, books, haberdashery and an area where Marti Michell will be demonstrating her Perfect Patchwork templates. We have a second stand, where we have lots of sumptuous Kaffe Fassett fabrics as well as fabric from other Rowan designers. The show itself runs from 17th to 20th August but we have to set up our stands the day before. This page is a photo journal of the back room team setting up our stands.
At 8.00 A.M. its wagons role and our two vans set off for the NEC. For us the NEC is our local show and it is only 15-20 minutes away from our shop.
We arrive at the NEC and its huge hall. When you arrive the spaces for the stands have been setup already by the organisers but basically all you have is an area of carpet, two power switches and some lights.
One of our vans only has shelving, stands, racks and tables that form the basic outline of the stand and we all unload this one first. The task of unloading has begun. It takes about half an hour and then the real work begins. The NEC is a hive of activity as exhibitors arrive and try and unload all their goodies.
There were ten of us working on putting the stands together and here we already have the black wadding stand up. Alan, Margaret and Pam are concentrating on the books stand which is like giant meccano and always causes problems.
On the right Adam puts up the shiny chrome racking, whilst at the other end, with pin-point accuracy, the tables and the Marti Michell demo area are laid out.
Once we have the stands and racks setup we bring in all the products that will fill them. The floor is a mass of cardboard boxes spilling out into the aisles and you have to wend your way through the debris around all the other stands as well!! The wadding, books, calendars and magazines have been unloaded but there is a long way to go.
One of the great things about the Festival of Quilts is the amazing artwork on display. Next to us we have Pauline Burbidge, Diana Brockway and the YLI sponsored Graduate Showcase. It is so impressive to see what people can do with the fabrics and notions that we are putting on our shelves.
We have a quick lunch and prepare for stage two.
Denise puts finishing touches to the Clover stand whilst the rest of us stand back and have a coffee.
Nik and Adam proudly show off their new Amy Butler bags, just part of the range showcased on our second stand.
|
|
|
Over on the second stand we have gone from a blank canvass to a rich patchwork quilt of fabrics and colours with hundreds of Kaffe Fasset, Amy Butler, Martha Negley and Philip Jacobs fabrics on display. Kaffe Fassett will not only be launching and signing his new book, Kaleidoscope of Quilts, on the stand but we are surrounded by galleries of his works as well as quilts from his personal collection.
The main Cotton Patch stand is nearly finished and the Little Gracie quilt frame is all set up and ready for her demonstrations. Another quilt show is set up and at 6 P.M we head off with weary feet to get a good nights sleep before the doors open at 10 A.M. on Thursday and we start to serve our first customers. Hope to see you there.
The Festival of Quilts, NEC 2005
| At the time of writing it is just two days after the 2005 Festival
finished. We are still experiencing a mix of exhaustion and elation
after what has been one of the most exciting and enjoyable quilt shows
we have attended. With two stands at the show we barely had time to admire the fabulous range of international quilts on display, but what we did see was enthusiastic and devoted quilters in abundance! |
Kaffe presents the winner, Sarah Harris with her vouchers for £300 of Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Sarah also won a Cotton Patch Anniversary Edition sewing machine. |
|
|
Kaffe Fassett signing copies of his new book. |
|
Sarah’s vibrant, winning quilt, Dancing to Life. |
| Kaffe was also there to present the
winners of our Floral Dance competition with their prizes. The £1000 prize competition, to create a small quilt using Kaffe’s fabrics, was run in British Patchwork & Quilting. It was sponsored by Rowan and The Cotton Patch. The winner was Miss Sarah Harris. Mrs Christine Reynolds was second and Mrs Pat Deddis was third. On one stand we were showcasing the new Kaffe Fassett fabrics from Rowan. We were delighted that Kaffe was able to attend and sign copies of his two new books, Quilt Road and Kaffe Fassett’s V&A Quilts.
|
||
Marti MichellOn the Cotton Patch main stand author and teacher Marti Michell was demonstrating the benefits of her Perfect Patchwork Templates. Marti also gave a series of lectures and commented on the interest and enthusiasm of the many quilters she met. We will be reviewing a selection of Marti’s products in the next Newsletter. |
Richard & Marti Michell (right) with
some of the |
|
