The Dumfries and Galloway Quilt Festival takes place from April 18 to May 1 at Shambellie House in New Abbey and will include work by seven local quilt groups, along with quilts from private collections. And the highlight will be the World Wide Whispers collaboration, which features quilts from Scotland, Ireland, America, Canada and the Netherlands.
It was spearheaded by Ann Hill from Mouswald after her husband David gave her a photograph of a cliff side in Mull. She took inspiration from that photo and made a quilted wallhanging. She then took a picture of her quilt and sent it to the next quilter, who did the same until each country had produced 12 quilts. Ann said: “It is wonderful to see the complete difference from where we started with a photograph of a shed door in the Netherlands and ended up with a bunch of roses 12 quilts later. You really have to see it to believe it”. She is quilter in residence at Alzheimer Scotland and her collection of quilts will also be on show, as well as another 100 quilts from around the region and beyond.
In addition, there will be classes on quilting for both beginners and experts and a talk on Modern Quilting by Tanja Burlison from the Quilters Guild of the British Isles. Gordon Mann, chairman of the Shambellie House Trust, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be part of this special festival featuring the work of both local and international quilt makers. We are working hard to try and create a new future for the House providing day and short residential courses celebrating the best of Dumfries and Galloway.”
