How do you like the sound of three full days of quilting-focused time away from pesky obligations? We like that too, that’s why we’ve got a jam packed programme full of opportunities for you at The Quilter’s Guild 40th Conference & AGM 2019! Come and help us celebrate our 40th birthday in style with hundreds of other quilters from up and down the country.

The 40th Conference & AGM will be held at the Jubilee Campus, University of Nottingham, which is in our Guild Region 10. Over three days we have planned an amazing array of full day and half day workshops, lectures, carousel sessions, traders, and dinners. There will also be a trip to the nearby Framework Knitters Museum at Ruddington.

Exhibitions will be on display throughout the venue and will include The Sue Ridgewell Challenge, with the theme ‘Roll out the Red Carpet’, the Young Quilters’ Challenge, entitled ‘Magical Adventures’, the ‘Life Begins @ 40’ Newcastle Challenge, and the Region 10 Challenge which is ‘Myths and Legends in the East Midlands’. You will have heard of Robin Hood, but are The Wise Men of Gotham, The Lincoln Imp and Derbyshire Well Dressings familiar folklore to you? Not only can you see these exhibitions, but you can also enter a quilt in them yourself! Full details of how to enter are in the 40th Conference & AGM brochure. Guild fundraising will include a raffle, a bookstall, a tombola, a ‘Chinese Auction’ and much more.

Also on display will be one of The Quilters’ Guild Collection’s most recent acquisitions, The Magna Carta Quilts. This amazing piece of collaborative community artwork consists of eight quilts. Four – known as the Medieval Quilts – are presented in a graphic-novel style based on 13th century illuminated manuscripts and depict the events leading up to the signing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede on June 15, 1215. The remaining four quilts are known as the Legacy Quilts. These four each bear the symbol of an oak tree and depict images and quotes from some of the key figures in the field of human rights such as Abraham Lincoln, Carrie Nation, and Mother Teresa.

Project Linus will be available each day for ‘pop-in’ sessions. If you haven’t heard of the wonderful work this Community Interest Company is undertaking to help provide comfort to sick and traumatised babies, children and teenagers, do take a look at their website, here. Any time you can spare to make a block would be deeply appreciated.

If you’re a Guild member, register for the Conference & AGM now to make sure you don’t miss the early bird offer, which expires on 15 February 2019.

If you haven’t yet become a member, there’s still time to join The Guild and take advantage of this special entry price. For full details of the many workshops and activities planned, you can view the full colour 40th Conference & AGM brochure by clicking here. Final registration for the Conference & AGM is 20 March 2019, so check it out now and make sure you can join us for a wonderful weekend of quilt delights.

Newsflash*****Editor’s note 25-02-2019:

Gala Dinner

Celebrating 40 years of the Quilters’ Guild – we are delighted to announce that Vivien Finch (ex President of The Guild) and Heather Audin (Curator of The Quilters’ Guild Collection) will be entertaining us after the dinner with a joint presentation highlighting this milestone. If you haven’t already signed up for the Gala Dinner – reconsider – you’d be crazy to miss it!

From Kipper Ties to Ulster Fry 

Christopher Wilson-Tate has informed us that he is no longer available for the keynote lecture, however, the really good news is that Irene MacWilliam is going to entertain us with a talk about her work that evening and, from the reaction of Members so far, it might be standing room only! Irene is a very popular speaker and tutor and the above title of her talk is intriguing.

When you arrive

Registration will be at the entrance to the Business School South on the Jubilee Campus instead of in the Atrium as stated in the Brochure.