A Weekend of Inspiration

Last weekend was the Annual General Meeting of the Norwegian Quilt Association (Norsk Quilteforbund). It is a few years since the last time I had the opportunity to attend, so I was happy to learn that this years meeting was to be held in Bergen, which is not so very far, and also the communications to our island are very convenient.

In addition to the AGM itself, there were a lot of classes, talks, forums for discussion, quilt competitions and exhibitions, and of course the ever tempting shops:

Since I had not signed up for any classes, I had plenty of time to let the tempations get to me, – and a few fabrics made their way into my suitcase.

I was also able to spend time to study the quilts at the exhibitions.

Saturday was a bit crowded, but on Sunday there was more space and better opportunities for photographing…..

…. although it was not as empty as it may seem from the two photos above.

The prize winners of the competition themed “Ocean” are presented on NQF’s webpages here. I will not show the same quilts in this post, except a detail from the winning quilt in the traditional class:

I really liked the quilting on Marit Lauve’s storm-at-sea blocks.

Magnhild Tautra had made this interesting piece for the competition.

The log cabin blocks were really small, and I loved the small fish and the fish net.

Kari Østengen had made this one called “Rain and Bad Weather”.

You can almost get soaked looking at this.

Another interesting piece was this one by Greta Husebø called “Arctic Ocean”. I spent a long time here studying the various ways she created texture on the quilt.

She has also made the one below:

Lots of interesting details in this one as well:

I guess that since we were in Bergen, a reminder of the local Oleana design would be in order:

This lovely quilt was made by Edna Marie Nylén.

Last time I was in Bergen, in December, I wrote a blog post showing you this:

I was delighted to find it turned into a quilt, made by Margun Vatshelle:

The manhole covers in the streets of Bergen are called “Bekkalokk”, and that is also the title of the quilt.

I loved it.

I was also happy to see the quilt below at the exhibition:

It is one of a series quilts by Kirsti Hovland where she explores how written signs have evolved from the earliest petroglyphs to the modern day computers. The series is an amazing body of work ,and very well executed.

The quilt below hung in a corner somewhat by itself. If I had been in a hurry, I would probably have overlooked it, as it did not “shout” to me with “loud” colours like some of its neighbours did.

And if I had not stopped, I would have missed seeing the exquisite detailed work that Karin Kristiansen put into this wall hanging.

I cannot imagine how many hours this would have taken.

Grete Lund had a couple of entries in the exhibition, and I fell for this one.

It has a pleasing repetitive pattern, and interesting details for when you go nearer.

I also liked Brit Standnes’ quilt below:

The title is “Ocean in the North”

I liked the tonal fabrics she used at the top…

…. and there were lots of details to explore.

The last two quilts I will be showing you here, were made by Bente Klingsheim.

This one is called “Angel”

“Polar Night” was too big to get a straight shot of because of the narrow aisle.

I’ll compensate by showing a few details instead. The colours are a bit off as my camera did not handle the light conditions in this dark corner very well, and the flash made the quilt look too flat.

I loved the mixture of different fabric qualities, – some matte and some very shiny ones.

The above is just a few examples of all the beautiful quilts that were on show. I really enjoyed walking through several times.

When travelling to an event like this, it is fun to be going in a group, or at least with a friend.

However, I am often surprised at how much fun I have when travelling alone. At almost every corner I tend to meet up with someone I know, or who knows me, and we get talking, often remembering the last time we met.

But the most exciting part is to get to know new people, which is bound to happen during the dinner, if not before. Since I am on my own, and each table seats ten, there is a big chance I will be seated with one or more persons I do not know beforehand. And then we get talking, and discovers we have mutual friends or relations, or have common aquaintances in faraway parts of the world, – that’s when the theory of the six degrees of separation is confirmed once more. And of course we all have one big common interest, which is discussed at length, – and usually I, or someone else, will have some new insight before the evening is out.

So it is not only new fabric that come with me when I pack my suitcase to go home….

… but also a lot of inspiration and good memories.

🙂 Eldrid