Image: Winner, Traditional category 2019 - Gwenfai Rees Griffiths - Pennsylvania.

The organisers of The Festival of Quilts are moving their annual competition online. The Festival of Quilts, which includes an open competition and exhibition of entries, was due to take place 30 July - 2 August at the NEC Birmingham with 26,000 visitors expected. The event has been postponed until 29 July – 1 August 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the competition will continue in a new digital format.

Quilters can enter their work online and shortlisted entries will be exhibited on the Festival's website. Entry forms for the virtual competition will be available by the end of April from The Festival of Quilts, along with category criteria, competition rules and full details. All categories are open for entries except for the schools’ categories due to schools being closed. Submissions must include high quality, high resolution colour photographs of whole quilts and quilt detail.

Image: Karen Callaghan’s Strelitzia. Winner, Fine Art Quilt Masters competition 2018.

Judges will shortlist the ten best quilts per category at the end of July, all of which will be available to view on a dedicated page on the Festival website. Winners will be announced later this year. Adult category winners will be awarded £500 in prize money and Young Quilters will win £150 each. The winner of Best in Competition (sponsored by Handi Quilter) will be awarded a £1,500 prize.

Anna Baptiste, Event Director for The Festival of Quilts, said: “The competition is one of the key highlights of the Festival and we know how disappointed quilters will be not to see the spectacular sight of 800 stunning works of art at the NEC this year. The competition attracts entries from all over the world and we want to make sure that quilters still have the opportunity to showcase their talent and hard work.”

Image: Winner, Hand Quilting category 2019 - Andrea Stracke - Ruby

The winning quilts will be displayed in the Textile Galleries at the planned Knitting & Stitching Shows in London, Dublin and Harrogate later this autumn.

For more information visit www.thefestivalofquilts.co.uk