Sue Hobson introduced her talk, What is a Quilt? by explaining that she came from a family of sewers but had followed a career in science. She explained that pre Covid she had been a judge for quilts in the US and UK.

Sue went on to explain the different types of quilts, how they are constructed and their history. I did not realise they were worn as protection under armour and the oldest dated back to 1718 in the UK. The oldest quilts in the US dated back to 1740s and it was the Welsh and North Counties settlers who brought their skills from the UK and there is a very strong link that the Amish learnt/copied from them. Whilst in Europe the Amish did not use quilts, they only used quilts once they had moved to the USA.

Sue handed round a cotton flour bag from the 1930s which had been produced to encourage ladies to buy the flour for cooking and then cut up the bag to make a quilt with the colours and designs changing regularly.

Sue then went on to show us a wonderful selection of quilts from the American Museum near Bath, the Festival of Quilts at the NEC, Birmingham and the Quilt Festival at Houston, Texas.

The final images were of the 2021 Best of Show at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC and the Best of Show at the Quilt Festival which will take place in Houston in late October 2021.