It’s been quite a while since a blog post has been added. We’re really sorry about this but the Quilt Association is run by a very small band of volunteers and time is too short to blog as regularly as we’d like. So this will be The Last Post. If you’d like to know what we’ve been doing recently and what our future plans are, you can sign up to receive our free newsletter, which is sent out three times a year. Our next newsletter will be out in October. Click on this link to our website’s home page, scroll down to the bottom and put in your name and email address. It just takes a couple of sec ..read more

…And when Spring arrives we know it’s time for World Textile Day!!  This annual event takes place every March at our home, the Minerva Arts Centre, and is a very eagerly anticipated event.  This year it’s happening on Saturday 17th March, opening at 10am and closing at 4.30pm.  There is always lots to see and the Fair Trade market gives you the opportunity to handle and buy fabric that you can’t find anywhere else. At 11am Susan Briscoe will be giving a presentation called ‘Hand to Hand: Japanese Sashiko’ and at 2pm there will be a panel of experts discussing their most tre ..read more

We’ve all watched Escape To The Country and that’s what my husband and I did. When I first moved here to the beautiful heart of Wales, I had been a teacher for twenty plus years with little time for anything other than work.  At first the chance to have a bit of peace and quiet, take walks in the countryside and read my way through a list of books I’d never got around to filled my days. But after a while I was bored with all that. Plus, when you’re new to an area you need to get out and make a new network of friends. So one day I spotted a two day willow basket -making workshop ..read more

Well, Minerva Arts Centre may be closed but that doesn’t mean we’re idle.  As I write there is lots of stuff going on behind the scenes preparing both galleries and the workoom for a full year ahead.  The display boards are currently being serviced, the painters will soon be in and this morning Chrissie Menzies, of Chrysalis Art to Wear, delivered the gorgeous new Quilt Association banners she has nuno felted and stitched for us. We have a very full calendar of events for 2018.  Our twice yearly Vintage Style Fair is the first event this year and runs from 24th Februar ..read more

Hi everyone, It’s been a while since my last blog post.  The thing is, I had so much fun on the last two QA workshops I went on, that I’ve been too busy using my new found skills to get on with what I’m supposed to be doing.  It’s called displacement activity and I’m guilty as charged.   After learning how to print using thermofax screens with Linda Paris, and then doing some block printing with Bobby Britnell I’m afraid I’m hooked.  Sorry But on the plus side, my Christmas cards are coming along a treat!!! Anyway, just to let you know that the information about Betha ..read more

It’s been a while since the last post – not that nothing’s been happening – it’s just that  we’ve been busy taking down our summer exhibition and making plans for next year. We had over 2000 visitors to the Minerva Arts Centre over the last few weeks and their comments in our Visitors’ Book show how much they’ve enjoyed their trip to Llanidloes. Our Cash4Quilts have sold out!! This means we have extra funds to spend on more beautiful antique quilts to add to our collection. We’re currently very busy firming up our programme for next year and have already put four workshops into the c ..read more

…hence this is a VERY quick post!!  But I just wanted to remind you that there are only a couple of weeks left to see our Summer exhibition which is proving to be very popular with our visitors.  If I remember, I’ll take some photos of their comments this afternoon and pop them up here and on our facebook page later. We had a Board of Trustees meeting last night and went through next year’s programme which sounds AMAZING!!  Our Spring Exhibition will be DIS/rupt from the Textile Study Group (more details here https://textilestudygroup.co.uk/exhibitions/)  The exhibitio ..read more

Lots of textures appearing today – on day 2 of BobbyBritnell's workshop – scrunching and printing and the students are a bit noisier! Ssssh! Don't tell them, but Bobby says that they are a really great group, who 'get it'. Their work certainly shows that ..read more

Bobby Britnell, a long time supporter of The Quilt Association, is exhibiting at The Minerva Arts Centre throughout the summer and yesterday she began teaching a two-day workshop. At times, the workshop was as quiet as an exam room, such was the concentration…. Assisted by copious tea and biscuits, they studied hard, but all expressed great enjoyment! Can't wait to see what today brings! Will post later ..read more

It’s been an incredibly busy couple of weeks at the QA.  As you will have seen from our news section, our annual summer exhibition is now up and running.  It truly does look stunning and we’re so pleased with how it looks. Gallery One has attracted attention because of the unusual pieces of new work by Ruth Singer.  Ruth came to look at some of our oldest quilts and was inspired by the stains and areas of wear and tear the quilts had acquired over their long lives.  The piece in our front window, which she calls Tracery, reflects the way that quilts disintegrate over t ..read more