Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair Adventure

A couple of weeks ago (boy time is going fast!) Gemma (of Pretty Bobbins) and I headed into the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair for a day of laughing, lusting and hectic merriment. I love the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair. I love it because, for me, it’s the quilt show in Australia. The standard of quilts is amazing, the location is made for displaying quilts and the amount and variety of Exhibitors is fabulous.

This year The Quilters’ Guild of New South Wales put on a special quilt display dedicated to only Red & White quilts and it was spectacular. (You can see the winners of the Red & White section by clicking here.) There were so many amazing quilts that I feel like I didn’t spend nearly enough time enjoying them. If you’d like to see some of the quilts that were there be sure to check out the image filled post by Josh (of Molli Sparkles) from the event by clicking here.  You can also view all the prize winning quilts on the Quilters’ Guild of New South Wales site by clicking here.

I wish I could have spent more time wandering the aisles and looking at the quilts, but alas we were only in there for the day and we had traffic to beat to be able to get home before we turned into pumpkins. The time crunch didn’t stop us from squeezing in us much fun as possible though and we took every opportunity to have some laughs with amazing and fabulous people of the quilti-verse.

I knew it was going to be a great day when we inadvertently parked beside Siobhan Rogers (author of By The Block) as she was arriving for the day. It was so lovely to spend some time chatting with her and hearing about all her amazing adventures. I’d met Siobhan earlier in the year and have just spent the past few months falling in love with her work and aesthetic and loving seeing her conquer the world. Siobhan was just the first of an amazing bunch of people that we got to talk with on the day, I wish I’d been a little less star stuck and a little more focused and taken some more photos of everyone. Oh well, next year!

I’ve been a long term admirer of the work of Leanne Harvey (of Mount Vincent Quilts) and I was so thrilled to be able to catch up with her while we were at the show. Leanne is on my quilty bucket list – one day I will have her do her amazing thing on one of my quilts! Leanne had a couple of quilts hanging in the show and she took out third place in the Modern Quilt Category with her amazing quilt; Emma.  Check out the beaming proud smile on Leanne in front of Emma…

As well as meeting up with Leanne I also got to spend time with Bec (of Skyberries Handmade). It was so great to meet Bec (if you don’t know who she is you should totally check out her Instagram account) after spending the past 12 months chatting via social media. I just love the way Bec sees colour and pattern and I’m convinced there’s a pickle dish quilt in my future because of her. I’m really looking forward to catching up with her in September at the Lizzy House Meadow Tour class in Sydney. (Bec’s promised that I can sit next to her so I already know the day is going to be filled with laughs!)

I also got to spend some quality time with Josh (of Molli Sparkles) which was so much fun. Josh was sharing his love of all things Juki and we got to get up close and personal with his T Shirt quilt (if you haven’t seen it yet, go check it out!).  We must have stood at that booth for ages just talking quilts and laughing so hard I thought I’d pee. It’s so fabulous that you can meet people offline who share the same passions that you do.

When we weren’t stalking people off social media we were looking at all the amazing Exhibitors. I was so thrilled to be able to see the Material Obsessions booth. Every year their booth is my favourite – it’s like a riot of colour and the ladies on the booth are always so happy and helpful. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I had a major fan girl moment at this booth when the lady serving me turned out to be the Wendy Williams. (And yes, I may have just squealed “Oh my gawd I love you!” loud enough to stop the foot traffic around the booth…. I swear, you can’t take me anywhere!) If you don’t know who Wendy is check out her online store or her Instagram account and thank me later! Wendy had some of my favourite quilts from the show this year and it was so lovely to be able to tell her in person how much I loved them. (I am determined to do one of her classes in my near future!)

I also spent some time playing on the Handiquilter (supervised by the lovely Caroline (of Hunnigirl Quilt Designs) and Narelle (@rellebellequilts) who made sure I didn’t abscond with the longarm) while I was there which was so much fun and total torture. (Seriously, if there’s not a longarm in my future I’m going to cry!) I could have stood in front of that machine for hours just lost in my own world of stitches and fun.

I managed to spend some money on fabrics while I was there, which given that I am both on a fabric diet and we had no time at all to do anything is a testament to how much I love fabric. We caught up with Robyn of The Strawberry Thief who managed to get me to do something I’ve not done a lot of in the past… buy Liberty. I tell you, buying Liberty when you’re on a fabric diet is like saying you’re not going to drink alcohol and then drinking a whole case of beer. But it was worth it, I purchased a print that reminds me of my aunt and my great-grandmother which I’m hoarding like mad for something special.

I had such a fabulous day and I’m still smiling just thinking about it, which is always a great sign of time well spent. I’m so grateful for events like this that provide me with a place to go and see amazing quilts, meet fabulous people and spend time and money with Exhibitors that I normally wouldn’t get access to. I’m so excited about the upcoming Canberra Quilt and Craft Fair, any one would think I don’t get out enough.

If you can I’d highly recommend getting in to a local show and checking out the talent on offer. You never know, you might meet some fabulous people or get up the courage to have your quilts displayed next year!

Upcoming Quilt and Craft Fairs

• The Melbourne Quilt and Craft Fair is on from 23rd – 26th July and you can find out more about it and buy tickets by clicking here. If you’re heading into check out this amazing show be sure to head in on Friday and you could meet the fabulous Ros from Sew Delicious! Ros will be working at the Brother booth and you can find out more about meeting her by clicking here.
• The Canberra Quilt and Craft Fair is on from 6th – 9th August and you can find out more about it and buy tickets by clicking here. You never know, you might just find me at this one!

Disclosure: Expertise Events provided me with a press pass to attend this event. All opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced by the businesses involved. For further information about my disclosure policy please click here.