As well as the competition quilts on display at the Uttoxeter show, there was a small exhibition of quilts organised by Ann and Darren Mayner from Quiltessential.
Ann Mayner has been teaching patchwork and quilting classes since opening Quiltessential seven years ago. Her husband, Darren, has been designing quilt patterns for the same period of time and these have formed the core of Quiltessential’s workshop programme. Darren enjoys seeing his designs used in classes because the students’ fabric choices make the end results so different.
For some time, Ann and Darren had been thinking about organising an exhibition of quilts made by their workshop students and Margaret McQuillan, the organiser of the Embroidery and Quilt Show at Uttoxeter agreed to host an exhibition at the 2012 show. Ann then asked her students to volunteer completed quilts to showcase their handiwork. She had no idea how many quilts would be offered, if any at all. Luckily, more quilts were offered than could be hung in the space available.
None of the 22 quilts displayed had been made to be exhibited and many of the quilt makers modestly thought their work wasn’t good enough to be exhibited in a quilt show. They needn’t have worried though. They looked good as an ensemble and weren’t at all out of place next to the other quilts in the show. They showed what a diverse range of workshop projects are undertaken at Quiltessential and were a credit to their creators.
Ann and Darren are grateful to everyone who offered their quilts for the exhibition. It was great to see them all finished and hanging at the show!
Many of these quilt patterns are available to buy in our shop or on our website. Please click on the following link for more information: http://www.quiltessential.co.uk/patchwork_quilt_patterns.html
