“Show Time” – Glasgow Scottish Quilting Show at the SEC - FREE ticket give away!

January and February are both mad months in the QuiltSandwich Show Calendar.

Started with a magnificent new show at Newark.  This was then followed by Edinburgh and Harrogate Quilt Shows.  The next to come are Duxford and finally before the Easter Break comes The Scottish Quilting Show.

At QuiltSandwich, as we also run Patchwork and Quilting breaks and retreats at our hotel in Bridlington the Winter and Spring Season tend to be out times for getting out and about and hitting the Shows with our 400+ Extra Wide Fabrics.

Our ultimate goal is to ensure that the best fabric is used for backing your quilts.  This implies having the right colours, right feel, right type and of course the right size.  As Longarm Quilters when we receive a top to quilt and the backing fabric is pieced it is the most difficult job in the world to make the back look as magnificent as the top.  Use Extra Wide Fabric and ‘no problems’.

With our range of 400+ Extra Wide Backing Fabrics we have so many that the right choice is just on the shelf waiting.

The Glasgow Quilt Show at the SEC is on from 8th to 11th March and is the largest Quilt Show in this season.  It is a four day event which is on from 10am to 5pm (4pm on the Sunday).  It is advertised as:

“The Scottish Quilting Show is a fabulous showcase of the finest patchwork and quilting, and highlights the wonderful work of Scottish quilters. Enjoy exciting exhibitions that encourage all aspects of this delightful and wonderfully creative art form. There’s talks, competitions, demonstrations and workshops – a true patchwork paradise!”

As traders at The Scottish Quilting Show Quilt Sandwich have been provided with a number of free tickets which we would love to offer to UKQU Blog Readers.  We have 8 to give away.  If you want one please send us an email with your name and address on so that we can send you the ticket.  The only thing that you need to do is: –

Tell us how many fabrics we have in our collection of Extra Wide Backings; and,

Tell us which is your favourite of our collection.

Send your email to Quilt@royalhotelbrid.co.uk by close of play (6pm) on 2nd March.  Good luck and we look forward to seeing you all there (or at Duxford).

A Mad Month in the Patchwork and Fabric Industry

This last month has been hectic. We have been lucky enough to spend our Christmas and New Year on holiday in Lanzarote with my Mum – which as usual proved rather challenging for many reasons.

The day after we got back we headed up to Scarborough and collected our new purchase. We do love Boxers and this big boxer is proving to be no exception. Specifically sized, specified and designed to take all of our fabrics around the country, our beautiful Boxer Van will be a great asset on the road as we spread the word of the wonders of Extra Wide Fabric.

A few days later it was time to load up and head off for our first quilt show of the year.

This is a brand new show too in a great untapped location – Newark. Loading all of the fabrics and equipment is quite a feat, quite like completing a jigsaw, and takes three of us around 4 hours to complete.

We travelled down to Newark on the Wednesday so we were ready to get an early start setting up at the venue on Thursday. As time goes by we are learning what works best whilst doing the quilt shows. We tend to prefer to use self-catering accommodation when doing the quilt shows. It gives us a bit more space to chill and relax and it also means I can get showered and PJ’s on when we get back from a hectic days cutting at the show and relax for the evening.

The Newark show was at a super new venue which offered great access for the exhibiters and we were able to pull the van right up to one of the sets of door in the Hall. Setting up though is a long process and takes the two of us around 7 hours. After a long hard physical day, it was time to head off for the supermarket for provisions. Our Sat Nav took us to Asda in Newark, but unfortunately we couldn’t get into their carpark due to a height restriction barrier!

I guess that is a drawback of having an enormous range of fabrics to choose from.

We ended up heading to Tescos at Ollerton! Having filled up with our provisions for the next few days it was back to the accommodation to make dinner and deal with the emails before relaxing and watching a bit of tv before bed.

After a great night sleep in a comfy bed we were back to the show ready for the door opening.

We met some lovely people and saw many friends too. For a brand new show in a new location the footfall was really impressive and all of the traders were impressed with the location and will be back again next year.

We are pleased to say that we have already signed up to being at the Newark quilt show second year in 2019.

We arrived back home in Bridlington late Sunday night and then first thing on Monday we had to set about emptying the van and preparing for our quilters arriving at the hotel. We were almost full for a fantastic retreat with Jennie Rayment later that day.

On Tuesday I teach a beginners patchwork/sewing class for the charity I work for at the local Priory Church Rooms. So I had to dash off to this and leave Tim to look after Jennie and all the lady quilters at the hotel.

Wednesday was a different story and it was my turn to play. Running and organising the retreats has to have some perks! So Wednesday was my day to join in the class with Jennie. We made bargellos and had such great fun as usual. You won’t believe some of the things that we get up to during the coffee breaks!

Courtesy of Maureen Bromley. Thanks.

Thursdays I normally teach art/craft for the charity, but unfortunately I had to take the day off to attend a funeral over in Halifax, so again I had to leave our lovely quilters & Jennie to Tim to look after. It was the last day of the three day retreat and workshops at the end of which the ladies said their fond farewells and headed home with more knowledge that you can shake a hoola hoop at!

Friday – time to throw things in a suitcase very quickly and head off to Manchester where we are overnighting in preparation for our flight the next day to Jamaica.

And so ends a hectic January. The last week of course – lost in an ‘All Inclusive haze’. Bring on February and March – to us this is ‘Show Time’!