Loch Lomond

Well I am a week behind in writing a new post. I would like to say this is due to having so many fun things to do , but mainly its been the pressures of work at the office but equally it has been the joy of having my husband back from work offshore. I feel guilty sitting typing away when I haven't seen him for two weeks and there is always so much to catch up on, even if the majority of it turns into a " gibber" as he likes to put it.  For some of us its " that time of year" when work gets the better of our lives but that is coming to and end and being able to return home at a sensible time will soon be a realistic goal.  My stitching is my safety net against these pressures and its always fun to see the look on my colleagues faces on a Monday when they enquire if I have has good weekend and I answer " Oh yes, I've been quilting". I am sure they have me down as a slightly mad and potty woman who probably has 15 cats and no friends.
Anyway, I digress. This is a post about our trip to the Loch Lomond Quilt Show 2012. This was my first visit as every year since moving north of the border it has clashed with a prior engagement so I was delighted when Brain and Carole, of Beechwood Longarm Quilting, reminded me of the exhibition. Staged around 10 venues around the Balloch and Alexandria area of Dunbartonshire, the exhibition is arranged by quilters for quilters.

We started out tour  with "Remember Me", an exhibition of quilts honouring great Scottish Women of Achievement throughout history and it was a fascinating mix. A large number of the quilts had been finished by Brian and Carole so it was exciting to see a group of their works all together for the first time.  A diverse group of quilts, and a pleasure to see. If you would like to see some examples of the works I am sure they will be happy to oblige if you contact them here.

We then headed up to Loch Lomond's shores themselves where a number of quilts had been hung in the trees. Sadly the weather wasn't the best but we did have a little ray of light come through at one moment allowing me to snap these lovely exhibit. Sadly my eye sight was not up to reading the details of the makers so many apologies to them for that- do let me know if you happen to see this and where a contributor and we can spread the word and give credit where credit is due.

The whole mix of exhibits is too long to list here but my favourites were probably a couple of "Turkey Red" quilts which were great to see given the historic tie in with area, with Alexandria being the home of this dye industry in the 19th Century. To find out the full details of the show click here.

 
All in all the visits took us the full day and was a really great  treat, so make a date for your diary for 2013.  The ever popular "Male quilters" competition will return so if you have a willing male in your life try and persuade him to use his hidden talents.  This year's exhibits were impressive and have certainly lit a spark with my own dear JB, so watch this space.

For those not so familiar with the area, Loch Lomond is a beautiful gateway to the Argyll Forest and very popular, but luckily and, probably because of the weather, it was a quiet day for us on this visit so we were able to enjoy a leisurely lunch before covering the remaining eight venues, both large and small.