I’ve just had a great day out at the Women’s Institute Centennial Fair in Harrogate, it’s on until tomorrow so if anyone is within striking distance I can recommend it, it’s not just open to WI members, it’s for anyone.

There are four big halls, each with a different theme, gifts and fashion, food and baking, home and garden and crafts, I must confess to spending most of my time (and money!) in the craft hall, no surprise there!!

Each room had a lecture theatre as well as workshops, I went to two great talks, the first one was by Stuart Hillard who was in the first episode of The Great British Sewing Bee, he did a brilliant talk on quilting, he’s a very entertaining but informative speaker, I learnt loads and was quite enthused by the end. I must have been enthused as I bought the die cutter he was using, it was made by a company called Linen and Lace, they had a good show deal on which included 4 sets of dies. What I particularly liked was that you could fussy cut really easily, so it looks like I’ll be doing a lot more quilting!

The second talk I went to was by Lisa Comfort from Sew it Over, she was showing us an easy way of making a fascinator, just need a wedding to go to now! I’d bought a pattern off her earlier, the ultimate trouser pattern, so hopefully I’ll master trousers soon too!

There were lots of fabric stalls, mainly quilting cottons, I bought some gorgeous batik fat quarters, some cross-stitch needles and cracker snaps.

Tomorrow I’m off to the Great Northern Quilt Show, also in Harrogate, but at the Yorkshire Showground this time. There’s lots of quilting stalls there but I mainly go for the inspiration, as there’s a wonderful display of quilts there. I couldn’t quite face two shows in one day, but if you’re in the area…