Craft Fair and Quilt Show

The Canberra Quilters Annual Show was on this week and I trotted along on Thursday. As usual, it's held in conjunction with the Craft Fair - the big travelling market thing with lots of traders and classes; about half quilting and half other crafts. No photos for this post - I took a few but I haven't asked any of the quilters for permission to show their stuff on-line.

I didn't enter anything in the show this year because it was all a bit difficult to plan in advance when I didn't know how I'd be feeling. So I feel a bit mean saying that I thought the show was flat - normally there's a really interesting mix of traditional and modern; beginners and advanced; bright and subdued; big and small. It just didn't seem that varied and interesting this year, but maybe it was my mood. I was tired and the show was crowded.

The very talented Helen Godden won overall with her lovely gang-gang quilt (second photo on the page I've linked to). It's a wonderful quilt in person - more colourful and balanced than in the photo, but you get the idea. There were a few very good quilts in the exhibition, but not many I wanted to look at for longer than a second or two.

And, to be extra cranky, I don't know why I bother going into the traders' hall at all - there's some good stuff in there but why jostle fifteen middle-aged women to get attention for something that is more expensive than you can buy online - often from the same shop. The only thing I really wanted was a thread stall (I've discovered the joys of thread that's not from the dollar shop! finally) and there wasn't one. Nothing except racks of metallic stuff for embroidery because it's not proper craft unless you pile shiny shit ALL OVER IT.

Maybe next year I'll have a nap before I go.