Quilt Exhibition at Radstock Museum, Somerset

Yesterday I went, with husband and a friend to the Midsomer Quilting Exhibition at the Industrial Museum in Radstock. There are 213 exhibits listed in the catalogue, we didn't expect such a large number. The lady on the welcome desk told us proudly that Quilts UK only had 15 more quilts on display.

Had I known that there was so much to see I would have made a visit with quilting friends, I might still do that because the exhibition continues to the end of November, as I don't feel I have paid each quilt the attention it deserves.

I have to say that there was no one particular quilt which blew me away, nothing which made me want to rush home and emulate it, but I left feeling that more people, probably all woman, are enjoying this form of creativity. There were a lot of people in the gallery, and what I love most about these exhibitions is the feeling of kinship one has to fellow visitors, you can talk to anyone and find common ground.

It was difficult to give distance to view some of the quilts, and even more tricky to get photos of whole quilts, so these three details are just to give some idea of what there was to see. I loved the vintage quilts in their faded splendour, the original inspiration for my love of quilting, there are lots of fun pieces, one reminded me of a Beryl Cook painting, another favourite was a beach hut scene. The one we all remarked upon was the hanging which stated "Well behaved women seldom make history"

Radstock Museum itself is well worth perusal, it is about the coal mining history of the area, with a mock-up underground mine and many details of the sites of coal mines in Somerset.

There is a nice little shop selling books about local history, and a small, but yesterday very well used, tea room.

"sewing day"

Today we had another of our fab "sewing" days - not all of us actually sew - well I don't anyway! Ann and Sandra were missed and Jane phoned to wish us well and to let us know how she is getting on - I am happy to report that she sounded in good spirits and was looking forward to lunch and rest after physio.

I love having everyone at my house for my turn as much as I love going to the homes of the others -we eat, drink loads of coffee and laugh.

We've been working on baby quilts and now have 14 nearly ready to go! They are beautiful. Angela took some photos of them today and I'm sure they'll turn out well.

I'm trying very hard to sew every day. At the moment I love working with wool felt (after long Google sessions I have found an English web source) and primitive embroidery. Being an American, I adore Halloween and have made this little applique for myself - it's a freebie pattern from http://www.primitiveblessings.com/pages/mainpg.php, a prim website. The more I look at these prim sites, the more inspired I become and am even working on designs of my own!

Angela very kindly took a photo for me - thanks Angela. The little triangle shapes are meant to be "candy corn," something my children and I still crave after 15 years!!