The Knitting and Stitching Show was held at the RDS last weekend. I went on Thursday, and it was packed!There were loads of vendors, with the majority being related to embroidery. There were gallery type set ups with art quilters, and the most creative embroiderers. They had some of the Prize Winners from the Festival of Quilts Show in Birmingham, England.

I'm posting a few photo's of the art quilts: First is Pearl Essence, by Laura Kemshall. The award was for the Quilters Guild Challenge. It's a lovely portrait using hand dyes, discharged and painted fabric, with very elaborate machine stitching. Laura has captured this woman so well, and it is a very dramatic portrait.
The second photo is Pearls Are Not Always White, by Sheena Norquay. It is beige, and subtle pastels. The photo doesn't do it justice due to the lighting in the RDS, but you get the idea of the delicacy of the colors.
The next photo is the Prize winner for the Art Quilts category: Mother Earth, by Helen Godden of Australia. It looks like it was hand dyed/painted and discharge, with the composition planned in advance, and then thread was used to draw the details. A very striking image, that just glows off the wall!