IQFOI - A Week in Ireland

This Connemara marble was in the floor at the airport.  I can't resist marble.  Doesn't it look like a flag?

We arrived in Galway in the early afternoon and got a bite to eat right away in our hotel.  Everyone greeted us with big smiles and were eager to find out where we were from and what we wanted to see in their city.

The IQFOI website mentioned that this festival would be unlike all others with a quilter's village and exhibits in classrooms on the NUIG (National University of Ireland Galway).  Lectures and classes would also be held in the schoolhouse.  I couldn't quite picture this in my mind, so we headed off to see the campus and find out if we could register.  I was surprised to see that there were no signs directing us and no quilts either.  There were people about getting things ready to put up, but it just seemed to go up late and a little disorganized.  Friday was the opening, one day away, after all.   The last big show I attended was Quilt Expo V in Lyon France over 15 years ago.   These venues were always held in a convention center with everything under one roof; ie: classes, exhibit halls and vendor stalls.

We roamed around, then headed for the Cathedral. 

Sundays exhibit.  The Cathedral is where a Texan man displayed his quilt of the Last Supper which took him 2.5 years to complete.

Up close this quilt looks like dots of different colors like pixels in a picture on the computer.

As you can see this was no small quilt.  I was amazed at the marble and stained glass works in this Cathedral as well.  We visited this Cathedral every day since we arrived so that we could take pictures and get up close, but I have to say that this wasn't the best exhibit as you cannot roam while there is a service going on and there was a service everytime we were there, even a funeral service that carried on so long that we had to leave after an hour to make it to a class in  time.
   

I was glad I brought my hiking boots as we must have trekked at least 4 miles every day to and from the campus. 
Saturdays exhibit.  The Christmas exhibit was held in St. Nickolas church. 

This one is my favorite of the Christmas quilts, but then again, I am a Santa person.  This quilt was gorgeous and the picture does not do it justice.  It was made with cotton and velvet fabrics and quilted by machine.
                                                   

This was a gorgeous table runner, again my pictures do not do it justice.  The gold is really beautiful.  Since this was a church, hanging these quilts was a no no, but they should have had screens in place to display them like the other exhibits. 

Here you can see more detail on the table runner.  I made an ornament to exchange.  The tree had quite a few to choose from and it was a hard choice.  My ornament was a celestial Santa and I exchanged it for a pink cathedral window block ornament. 

Come back soon and I will post more about the festival and the exhibits on campus.