Critic badge - Review of an Exhibition

 Being a quilter I like to go to local quilt exhibitions, as they can provide great inspiration for future projects. In August 2024 Little Stitches held an exhibition at Littleham. The group Little Stitches have been going since 2011; they meet on a Saturday at Littleham Village Hall once a month, and they have had around 50 members. They hold an exhibition fairly regularly, every 2 or 3 years - and I have attended most of them. 

I attended the exhibition with the young adult who lives with us, on a Sunday - the exhibition was on for just 2 days. We received a warm welcome as soon as we walked through the door - helped by knowing the member who greeted us! Coming from North Devon and being a part of the quilting community, it is becoming increasingly common to see people I recoggnise. On entering the room where the quilts were exhibited, we came across the raffle. I bought tickets - I wasn’t lucky on this occasion - but never mind, as the money raised went to North Devon Against Domestic Abuse (Women’s Refuge). There were a lot of quilts displayed in a comparatively small space, but this meant that everywhere you looked there were gems to be found - you could look around the exhibits a second and third time, and see something new.

An increasingly common feature in quilt exhibitions is for the visitors to select their favourite quilt. This is not done by simply selecting one exhibit, but by selecting your top 3. I don’t know the mathematical magic that is then performed to decide on the overall positions, but somehow a result is achieved. These results are then shared with the members of the quilt group after the exhibition. 

What we saw at this exhibition were several quilts that were produced during the Covid lockdown - the time of the lockdown was not great, but most quilters have more than enough resources at their disposal to be able to make the most of the circumstances they found themselves in.

This quilt, lots of houses was the first prize in the raffle, and was a group project - each member made one or two house blocks, that were then joined to make this original quilt.

The ingenuity of quilters shines through - this beautiful and understated quilt shows what can be achieved with old linens - you could even claim vintage linens. It is a way to make sure that fabric does not end up being simply disposed of, but can be repurposed into something that will be used. Many ladies of a certain age will have old table linens that have been passed down, pieces that are unlikely to be appreciated by future generations, and it is a shame to relegate these pieces to the rubbish heap.

This stunning quilt is one that particularly speaks to me as I am working on a temperature quilt this year (my second time of doing one). The quilter has decided to include the highest and lowest temperature recorded for each day, and has included a key to the colours on the back of the quilt

This quilt is The Wanderer’s Wife Quilt, previously known as The Gypsy Wife. This design was a feature of the Step by Step quilt exhibition held earlier in the year, where there were quite a few of this design. The colours used in the design really change the feel of it. I particularly like this quilt due to the colours, and also the range of fabrics - it is one that could be completed using scraps (of which most quilters have a plethora!). 

As I’ve already said, quilters are a resourceful bunch, and we like to try different things - not limiting ourselves just making quilts or home furnishings. This picture is one of a number of pictures displayed at the exhibition, and it shows what can be done with small pieces of fabric, and some imagination.

These are a few of the quilts that caught my eye at the exhibition, and there are more at the end of this post. In addition to the exhibits, there were marshals on hand to talk to you about the exhibits. There were also demonstrations, a book and magazine sale, a fabric sale and a tombola - the tombola featured jars filled with the goodies that quilters and crafters would enjoy - beads, buttons, threads, tape measure - and there were different sizes of jars.

No exhibition is really complete without traders - and on the day I went I saw Emily from Step by Step - she had a range of fabric available, including some panels, and another local trader. Having local traders means you can get an idea of the different lines that different traders carry - and quilting shops all have their own idea of the ranges to carry. 

Quilters also love cake (I know, huge generalisation here - but at our local Project Linus group, the cake is always eagerly anticipated) - and there were a range of sweet treats to choose from once you had looked at the quilts. Accompanying the cakes was a quiz - a series of cryptic clues about different types of fabric. I took mine home to work on it, luckily the answers were on the back, but some of the clues really were headscratchers!

This was a lovely exhibition - and well worth a visit. Perhaps there were not as many quilts as they have exhibited previously; I know that some of their members have died, some have moved away - and some of their members make quits for other causes such as Project Linus or Quilts for Care Leavers, meaning that the quilts have been passed on before being exhibited. In my opinion, any quilt group with an exhibition is worth visiting, you are sure to see something that catches your eye, and you are most likely going to be supporting a local good cause.