12 x 12 Quilt Exhibition - Think of a Number

Do you ever feel you have left Christmas preparations too late?  Here is a brilliant idea.  Make one quilt a month, and in December you will have a complete set of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Last Friday I took a trip out to Midsomer Quilting to see their annual 12 x 12 show.  This ensemble of twelve 12 x 12 quilts, linked together with metal rings, was made by Claire Passmore.  Classes are being planned so Claire can pass on her skills and get people started on their own versions of these 12 x 12s in plenty of time for Christmas next year.

I thought the quilt for the eighth day with the smiling milkmaid was particularly delightful.  The yellow plaits are so pretty.

This quilt is by Marion Robinson, showing the seven swans a-swimming of the seventh day of Christmas.  The swans in the foreground are adorned with real swans' feathers, which Marion found by the moat around the Bishop's Palace at Wells.

This quilt is by Angela Knapp, showing a murmuration of starlings swirling through the sky.  The theme of this year's show was "Think of a Number", and Angela's solution was ingenious.  She specialises in stitched pictures of birds, and this quilt of starlings in the Somerset landscape is a real beauty.

This quilt by Irene Burgoyne is a riddle.  I failed miserably, had to read the description, and then felt really dense.  But is it The Thirty Nine steps, the novel by John Buchan, or The 39 Steps, the Alfred Hitchcock thriller, or both?   Irene has kept us guessing by putting the Roman numerals XXXIX in the top corner.

Debbie Hart made this wonderful quilt of a well known front door.  I dread to think how many times I have seen 10 Downing Street on TV or in newspapers, and I have never noticed the lamp.  The detail is amazing, even down to the shape of the boot scrapers.

Now time for tea and cakes.  Tea for Two is by Sue Daniels.  I love the dainty blue and white floral fabric that Sue chose for the china.

Liz Turner also went for blue and white, but a slightly different theme.  I didn't realise that a 20th wedding anniversary is known as a China Wedding.

Nor did I know that a 9th anniversary is a Pottery Wedding.  This fabulous 3D quilt by Hilary Timms not only has stuffed felt vases, but also tiny pots made of fired glazed clay.

Valerie Cole's quilt, Nine Patch, was an instant favourite for me - not just for the sewing machine, but for every little detail.  The tape measure and scissors are absolutely minute.

This quilt, with the title "I Saw Three Ships" is by Brenda Rowe.  The combination of colour, composition and clarity of line makes this picture stand out across the room, and when viewed up close you can appreciate wonderfully neat stitching and attention to detail. 

These three good time gals are waiting for the number 173 bus for a night out in Bath.  This hilariously true to life quilt is by Lynne Clement.  I wish I had seen Lynne at the exhibition.  I would have been quizzing her as to whether her quilt is autobiographical.

Finally, the prize for making my husband laugh goes to Salma Daniel, who made "Two Fat Ladies".  Truly priceless.  The longer you stare at it the funnier it gets.

This is just a glimpse at a few of the quilts on show.  There are over two hundred quilts in the exhibition, which is open every day until the 22nd December.  Most of the quilts are for sale by auction to raise funds for Dorothy House Hospice Care.  If you have the chance to visit, do so - it is an excellent exhibition in support of a very worthwhile cause.