Latest Art Deco Inspired Design

Darren's latest Art Deco inspired stained glass window quilt design was the project for this class which took place on Thursday. You can see from the photo that, at the end of the day, there were different degrees of completion achieved with Alma, second from right, being the only one to have finished assembling the quilt top. As usual, everyone chose different colours and the end results are very varied. This project uses an unusual technique and everyone who attended the class enjoyed the fact that they had done something 'different'. This design will be available as an exclusive Quiltessential pattern soon. 

Rare Naylor cars at Arkwright's Mill

There was a pleasant surprise at Arkwright's Mill today. Just before lunch a cavalcade of rare Naylor and Hutson retro sports cars drove up the yard and parked, as if on parade, outside the shop. There were 22 in all from the 161 that were built in the mid-1980's. All were gleaming in the midday sunshine. For more information about these cars visit the owners club website: http://www.naylorcarclub.org.uk/

Quiltessential Students’ Exhibition at Uttoxeter Embroidery & Quilt Show

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 received a lot of positive feedback from visitors to the show, who enjoyed this small exhibition of her students’ quilts.  The students, whose quilts were displayed should be proud of their work.  Many of the quilt makers visited the show to see their work displayed.  Seeing their quilts hanging, hearing nice comments and seeing visitors taking photographs seemed to give them a buzz.  They all enjoyed having their work displayed and, hopefully, they will now feel inspired to enter quilts in the competition next year’.

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