Berry Quilt Show
30 Apr 2011 - 01 May 2011
Some of the good people in Berry have a problem with the good folk in the Valley – they don’t see enough of our quilts.
You might not know this, but over the hill they put on the biggest regional quilt show in the state each year.
Last year they displayed more than 180 quilts but not one came from a Kangaroo Valley adult.
The only entry from our beautiful hotbed of handicrafts came from the then 11-year-old Gabby Knight.
‘We know there’s some fiendishly clever quilters in the valley,’ says Quilt Show organiser Sharon Thomson. ‘We’ve seen their work, but they must be hiding under it because we haven’t seen them.’
‘We get heaps of entries from Nowra, Kiama and Wollongong, but we look at who entered last year from the Valley and we can only find Gabby.’
Gabby, now 12 and a year seven student at Bomaderry High, is almost finished her entry for this year – a queen-sized quilt in earth colours with a flower and two birds as the centrepiece. She loves the embroidering and the machine work. ‘But I don’t like the ironing,’ she says. ‘It’s got huge, and it’s full of creases.’
Gabby started quilting when her mum, local real estate identity Sandra Knight, told her about classes at the Berry Patchwork shop. ‘Mum’s done sewing and stuff all her life.
I wasn’t so keen but I got there and it was pretty fun.’
Gabby doesn’t know why there aren’t any other local entries in the Berry Quilt Show, but Sandra has her theories.
‘There were absolute works of art put into the Kangaroo Valley Show,’ says Sandra. ‘I think that’s more our outlet over here. And they’re just something the people keep in the own homes and are very modest about.’
But the organisers want the valley quilters to come out from under the covers. ‘The main section is not a competition – it’s open to all standards and is all about participating,’ says organiser Sharon. ‘But for the kids there’s two Bernina sewing machines to be won in the challenge section where this year you have to make a bag to a particular theme.’
For anyone interested in having a look at what’s going on over the hill, the Quilt Show is at the Berry School of Arts in Alexandra Street on Saturday April 30 and Sunday May 1.
The Con Artists, a Gypsy folk band will play outside on Saturday afternoon.
The café inside will serve lunch and Devonshire tea.
And there’ll be cakes, a sausage sizzle and a variety of craft stalls. On Sunday the show coincides with the Berry markets, 50 metres away, giving you a great reason to pop over.
Entry forms and challenge packs are available from Berry Patchwork, 4464 3387.
More information: Sharon Thomson
0405 516 267 or www.berryquiltshow.com.au