The National Quilt Championships 2023

NationalQuiltChampionships

22–24June2023

byJoannaKent

Youcanusuallyguaranteeglorioussunshinewhenvisitingthe NationalQuiltChampionshipswhichisheldeachJuneatSandown ParkRacecourseinEsher,Surrey;sometimesitcanbealittletoo hotbutwiththedoorsfromthegrandstandontothecoursewide open,awelcomebreezecanalwaysbefelt.Asasidenote,many visitors(meincluded)lovetositinthecoolerairoutsideforabreak andabitetoeat;there’salsoalovelyviewtobehold.

Lovelyastheviewis,everyonehas cometoseethequiltsinsidethe grandstandandthereweresome wonderfulentriesinthisyear’sshow. TheOverallChampionquilt,andwinner ofalongarmsewingmachinesponsored byJanomeUK,was‘Joyride’bySimone SteuxnerfromSweden.Herquiltalso camefirstintheLargeWallhanging category.Itwasastunninglypiecedand quiltedentry.TheOverallRunner-Up wasanotherstunningpieceofwork. ‘LittleMermaid’byLauraGrahamalso wontheSmallWallhangingcategory. Thisraw-edgecollagequiltwasof Laura’sdaughter,andithadbeen designedtoshowherloveoftheocean; Iespeciallylovedtheshelldetailinher hair.Apparently,itwasaclose-run contestbetweenthetwoquilts.

Detail,‘Joyride’,SimoneSteuxner

‘LittleMermaid’,LauraGraham.OverallRunner-Up, FirstplaceSmallWallhangings

TheNationalQuiltChampionshipsalso awardsprizesforBeginner,Intermediate andAdvanced/Professionalquilters.The winnersofthesewere‘It'sthatTime Again’byMargaretSmith,‘Garden Maze’byGeorgetaButlandand‘AnOldFashionedChristmas’byVickieFarral andAndreaAshwellrespectively. Margaret’sChristmaswallhanging showcasedvarioustechniques,while Georgeta’slargequiltfeaturedJinny Beyer’s2015CraftsyBlockoftheMonth andusedsomeofJinny’sfabricsfrom RJRFabricsfortheborderand background.Herquiltalsocamesecond placeintheBedQuiltcategory.Vickie’s quiltwasalsoafestiveonefeaturing appliquedandpiecedimagesof Christmasesgone.Itwaslongarm quiltedbyAndreaandcamefirstplacein theBedQuiltcategory.Italsowonthe awardforMachineApplique.

‘It'sthatTimeAgain’,MargaretSmith BeginnerQuilteraward

‘GardenMaze’,GeorgetaButland IntermediateQuilteraward,Second placeBedQuilts

‘AnOld-FashionedChristmas’,VickieFarral andAndreaAshwell.

Advanced/ProfessionalQuilteraward,First placeBedQuilts,AwardforMachineApplique

TurningnexttotheThemecategory,the themeforthisyear’sshowwas ‘TraditionalTwist’,whichinspiredthose thatenteredaccordingly.Firstplacewent to‘FracturedLight’byLyndaJackson; thisquiltwasbasedonthetraditional StormatSeablockandwasquilted looselytorepresentawholeclothquilt. Secondplacewentto‘Twists&Turns’by JacquieHarveyBEM.Thisquiltwasone ofmyfavouritesattheshowandwas JennieRayment’sJudge’sChoice.It featuredawholeclothcentrepaneland wasmadeusingtwofabricswith traditionalandCelticpatterns.Itwas handquiltedwithsometrapunto.Gold paintwasaddedinpartsanditalso featuredsome3Dwork.

Thirdplacewentto‘Dance!’bySimone Steuxner;anoriginaldesignSimone usedtrapunto,pipingandprairiepoints. Itwasalsofree-motionquiltedonhersitdownmachine.

‘FracturedLight’,LyndaJackson FirstplaceThemecategory

‘TwistsandTurns’, JacquieHarveyBEM SecondplaceTheme category

‘Dance!’,SimoneSteuxner ThirdplaceThemecategory

I’vealreadymentionedthequiltsthat camefirstandsecondintheBedQuilt category,sotheonlyotherwinnerto mentioninthatclasswasthethirdplaced entry,‘Quilter'sHusband'sLockdown Challenge’byJohnBennison.Johnwas challengedbyhiswifetomakehisfirst quiltduringLockdownandthislegoinspiredquiltwastheresult.Johnused bothhand-guidedandcomputer-aided quiltingonalongarmmachine.

Fromthelargestcompetitionquiltson display,tothesmallestandthewinners oftheMiniatureQuiltcategory.Sadly, boththisclass,andtheCotQuiltclass, onlyattractedahandfulofentries. TurningtotheMiniatureQuiltsfirst,this waswonbyJackieBensteadwith ‘FrostedFreesias’.Thislovelylittlequilt featuredpaintedfreesiaswhichwere thenfree-motionquilted.Itwasalso MaggieDavies’Judge’sChoice.Jackie alsowonsecondplacewith‘In RemembranceofQueenElizabeth’. JackiewaspiecingthesetinyPineapple blocksintheweekthatHerMajestydied, soshefeltitfittingtodedicatethe finishedquilttohermemory.Thirdplace wentto‘Black,WhiteandGreenThingy’ byMargaretMorris.Awonderfulname forachallengequilt,‘Black,Whiteand OneOtherColour’.Itwasmachine piecedandquilted.

‘Quilter'sHusband'sLockdownChallenge’, JohnBennison.ThirdplaceBedQuilts

‘FrostedFreesias’,JackieBenstead FirstplaceMiniatureQuilts

‘Black,WhiteandGreenThingy’,Margaret Morris.ThirdplaceMiniatureQuilts

‘InRemembranceofQueenElizabeth’, JackieBenstead.SecondplaceMiniature Quilts

TheCotQuiltcategorywaswonbyJoë Bennisonwith‘Hattie'sQuilt’.Thishandguidedlongarmquiltedquiltshowcased manyofJoë’ssignaturequiltingstyles andwasmadeforhergranddaughter.It alsowontheawardforWholecloth Quilts.SecondplacewenttoRebekah Bennisonwithherfunquilt‘HeidiHippo’. Rebekahusedavintageplaymatpattern andaddedsomeinteractiveelements suchasrattlesandsqueakers.

ThewinningquiltoftheSmall WallhangingcategorywastheOverall RunnerUpwinner.Secondplacewentto ‘AnImpressiononImpressionism’by LynetteHarris&PaulineAdams.Lynette andPaulinechallengedeachother duringLockdowntomakeaquilt betweenthemonthetheme Impressionism;oneofthemchosesize andshapesandtheotherfabric.They chosefourdifferentsubjectseach, sendingphotosviaWhatsapptobalance colourandshapeetcandwererelieved toseethatwhentheyputthepieces together,theyfitted!Thiswasanotherof myfavouritesattheshow.

Thirdplacewentto‘Amaya’byPam Bealing,awonderfulzebraquiltmade usingascrappyappliquetechnique.The designandprocessbeinglearntfrom ShannonBrinkley.Pamquiltedthe wallhangingusinghercomputer-guided longarmmachine.

‘Hattie'sQuilt’,JoëBennison.Firstplace CotQuilts,AwardforWholeclothQuilts

‘HeidiHippo’,RebekahBennison. SecondplaceCotQuilts

‘AnImpressiononImpressionism’,Lynette HarrisandPaulineAdams.Secondplace SmallWallhangings

Thefinalmainquiltcategorywasthe GroupQuiltcategoryandthiswaswon byHaylingIslandPiecemakerswiththeir quilt‘Sunflowers’.Thequiltwasinspired bytheirlocalsunflowerfields.Each memberwassuppliedwiththe backgroundfabrictomakeablock depictingtheirfavouritesunflowerusing whatevertechniquetheywished,which resultedinamultitudeofstylesand techniques.

I’vementionedthat‘Joyride’,theOverall ChampionbySimoneSteuxner,also wonfirstplaceintheLargeWallhanging category.Secondplacewentto‘Colour MyWorld’byCathyNorthcutt.Thisquilt usedapatternbyWendyWilliamsfrom Australiaandfeaturesfoundation piecingandmachineapplique.Cathy adaptedthepatternfortheEiffelTower andmadeherownpatternforthe LeaningTowerofPisa.Shehand-guide quiltedherpieceonherlongarm machine.Thirdplacewasawardedto LyndaJacksonwithherwholeclothquilt, ‘Tranquillity’.

‘Amaya’,PamBealing.ThirdplaceSmall Wallhangings

‘ColourMyWorld’,CathyNorthcutt.Second placeLargeWallhangings

‘Tranquility’,LyndaJackson.Thirdplace LargeWallhangings

‘Sunflowers’,HaylingIslandPiecemakers FirstplaceGroupQuilts

‘Dolphin’sDelight’,Likeminded.Second placeGroupQuilts

Secondplacewentto‘Dolphin'sDelight’ byLikeminded,aquiltwhichhad manipulatedfabricsthatwereappliqued underalayerofhanddyedsilk.Third placewasawardedtoMarciaLongley andFriendsandtheirquilt‘Blizzard Queen’.Marcia’sfriendshelpedmake theOneBlockWonderblocksforthis stunningquiltwhichwaslongarmquilted byMaryThorogood.

Inadditiontothevariousclasses,prizes arealsoawardedfortechniquesatthe show,someofwhichIhavealready mentioned.TheawardforPiecingwent to‘SomethingBlue’byMarciaLongley. Thiswasapaperpiecedpattern designedbyJacquelinedeJongeand wascomputer-guidedlongarmquiltedby MaggieBreakspear.Stayingwith piecing,theawardforTraditional Patchworkwentto‘CivilWarLove LettersQuilt’byRosemaryDixon.This foundationpiecedquiltwashand-guided longarmquiltedbyJoëBennison.The SamplerQuiltawardwentto‘Harriet's Journey’byDorothyDarrell,aquilt patternbyJenniferChiaverinifromher bookofthesamename.Itwas computer-guidedlongarmquiltedby JanetSelmes.

‘SomethingBlue’,MarciaLongley AwardforPiecing

‘BlizzardQueen’,MarciaLongleyandFriends ThirdplaceGroupQuilts

Detail,‘BlizzardQueen’

‘CivilWarLoveLettersQuilt’byRosemaryDixon AwardforTraditionalPiecing

Turningtotheawardsforquilting,the awardforWholeclothQuiltswentto ‘Hattie'sQuilt‘byJoëBennison mentionedearlier.TheawardforHand Quiltingwentto‘FlowerofDarkness’by FriedaOxenham.Thisquilt,partofa seriesbyFrieda,alsowontheawardfor Embellishment.TheMachineQuilting

awardwentto‘SaintMelangell’byTim andCatherineMillar.Thequiltdepicted thesixthcenturyWelshPatronSaintof RabbitsandHaressittingbeneathayew treesurroundedbyharesandharebells. ThedesignandappliquewerebyTim, whilethehanddyeing,stitchingand machinequiltingwerebyCatherine.

‘FlowerofDarkness’,FriedaOxenham.Awardsfor HandQuilting,HandAppliqueandEmbellishment

‘Harriet'sJourney’byDorothyDarrell SamplerQuiltaward

TheFranJonesAwardforHand-Guided LongarmMachineQuiltingwentto‘It HadtoBeRed’byLyndaJacksonand theawardforComputer-Guided LongarmMachineQuiltingwentto ‘BountiesofJoy’byPamBealing.Itwas JanePetty’sJudge’sChoice.Inboth instancestheseawardswereawarded tothelongarmquilters.

‘ItHadtobeRed’,LyndaJackson.FranJonesAward

‘SaintMelangell’’,TimandCatherineMillar AwardforMachineQuilting

forHand-GuidedLongarmMachineQuilting

‘BountiesofJoy,PamBealing.Awardfor Computer-GuidedLongarmMachineQuilting

TheawardforHandAppliquewentto thepreviouslymentioned‘Flowerof Darkness’byFriedaOxenham.Frieda madethisseriesofflowerquiltsduring Lockdownwiththedarkbackgrounds referringtothedifficulttimesweall wentthrough,withtheflowersshowing thatthereisalwayshopeforbetter days.TheawardforMachineApplique wasawardedto ‘AnOld-Fashioned Christmas’byVickieFarralandAndrea Ashwellwhichhadalsocomefirstin theBedQuiltscategory.

ThefinaltwoawardswereforArtQuilts andFabricPainting/HandDyeing.The firstofthesewasawardedtoHayling IslandPiecemakersandtheirwhimsical ‘GreyHairandGlasses’.Members designedandmadeselfportraitsof themselvesemployingavarietyof techniques.Averytalentedgroupof quiltsastheyhadcomefirstintheGroup Quiltscategory.Andfinally,theFabric Painting/HandDyeingawardwentto CathyCorbishley-Michelwithherentry ‘GreenMan,ThreadsofGreen’.The originalartworkbyZoeMichelwas createdusingcyanotypephotographic printingondyedgreencottonfabricusing bothpositiveandnegativeprintsfrom digitalnegatives.ThequiltwasAbbie Searle’sJudge’sChoice.

TheNationalQuiltChampionshipswereheldatSandownExhibitionCentre, SandownParkRacecourse,PortsmouthRoad,Esher,Surrey,KT109AJon 22–24June2023.Nextyear’sshowwillbeheldon20–22June2024.Formore informationandtodownloadanentryformvisit www.grosvenorshows.co.uk

‘GreyHairandGlasses’,HaylingIsland Piecemakers.ArtQuiltaward

‘GreenMan,ThreadsofGreen’,Cathy Corbishley-Michel.AwardforFabricPainting/ HandDyeing