Walsall Quilter - for one day only!

There isn’t much sign from the outside that the inside of this church has been a hive of activity from 7am this morning…

The locals have barely noticed all the too-ing and fro-ing

Today is the bi-annual exhibition of 

I get to become a temporary member for 8 hours.  This year I’ve graduated from hanging quilts in the church to setting up the sales table…..We get about 2 hours to cover the tables in all sorts of quilting and needle crafting related goodies to be sold in aid of a local charity – this year its Walsall Samaritans.  What a lot of gorgeous donations we have to sell….

 

 

By 9:45am I really think I’ve earned my hobbit like second breakfast of a scone and a cup of tea…

By 10am there is a queue of people outside the church, patiently waiting in the drizzle to come In and see what the quilters have been up to in the last 2 years.  What a treat they have inside, the church is hardly recognisable…

There’s a children’s corner by the font

Then some inspired by last year’s patriotism for the Olympics…

The altar is  just about recognisable behind all the class workshop projects…

 Just a little bit thrilled to see one of last year’s scissor keeps in action in a needlework box.  Hoping this one goes home and is put to full use by its owner.

Behind the altar is a fabulous Christmas corner ….

 

 

Even a little bit of English gardening gets brought inside…

There’s also a space for the bunting made to celebrate the “twinning” of Walsall with Mulhouse in France…

For me, the big quilts, each displayed in a pew of their own, win the day, here’s a few of my favourites…

By the end of the day, several hundred very generous people had been through the exhibition and sales hall and having bought teas and cake, raffle tickets for quilts or bid in the Chinese auction for lovely patchwork bags…

Enough money had ben raised to give the Samaritans a cheque for £1,000.  So I think its fair to say that everyone involved had great fun and although we were all tired, it was widely agreed it was in a jolly good cause.

EDIT: for the record. Not all of the scissor keepers sold. L 

BUT all of the little houses did sell so I think I know what I’ll be making for the next 23 months before the next sales day!