Honestly, they followed me home

I'm like a kid in a candy shop when I go to the Quilt and Craft Fair. This year I had a shopping list so I wouldn't succumb to extras. But ... umm...you know how it is. A cute little fat quarter here, and another one there...

Suddenly there were six of them (not all destined for the one project I might add). Those voluptuous pink roses will add a little je ne sais quoi to my next quilt, large pieced hexagons. I didn't actually need more roses fabric, but then... it is gorgeous, isn't it?

I would have to say this was the year pre-cuts made the biggest splash at the fair. Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes and Charm Squares were everywhere, looking delicious and inviting. Gay Taylor who runs Just Patchwork at Tuncurry has made the cleverest set of 3 templates for easy and no-waste cutting of Jelly Rolls – so I had to have those!

Then there was the excitement of meeting up with so many friends, including Blogless Di who bought a beautiful new sewing machine. She's well and truly caught this quilting bug!

Pop on over to the Quilters' Guild of NSW to see the magnificent quilt that won Best of Show, as well as the other main winners. Let me tell you what you won't see, though.

Not content with appliqueeing beautiful swags, bluebirds and ribbons to the front of the quilt – and executing the most exquisitely fine hand quilting (stippling like you would not believe!) – Wendy Smith has applied a flock (?) of delicate butterflies in broderie perse all across the back of her quilt. The effect is just stunning!

After gasping at Mariya Waters' back-of-quilt treatment on her show-stopping Renaissance Revival two years ago (all the quilting couched in gold thread), are we to expect to see more surprises behind future prize-winning quilts?