​Behind the Black Curtain

​​or, how big quilt shows are put together without causing total chaos.

There is something magical about walking into a big quilt show and seeing hundreds and hundreds of quilts displayed together. Quilts that normally live on beds, folded over chairs or tucked safely in cupboards suddenly become the stars of an exhibition - and they always look so different when they're hung up in front of you, rather than lain on the floor or crumpled in your lap while you stitch the binding on!

Behind the apparently effortless display is a massive amount of planning and straining of brains. A successful quilt show is not simply a matter of making quilts and finding somewhere to hang them. Organisers have to decide which quilts go where, how they will be grouped, how they will be identified, and how they can be hung safely and still look good!

One of the best examples I've ever seen of this is at Sisters, where over a thousand quilts arrive from all corners of the globe to be sorted, hung, sorted again and mailed back - hung in the sun, in the rain, in the elements - and be mailed back without being damaged, or worse still , lost in the chaos.

The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show is unusual because the entire town becomes the exhibition space. Rather than bringing thousands of quilts into one convention centre, quilts are displayed throughout the town, including on the outside of local businesses, along fences and in parks. The 2026 show featured more than 1,000 quilts and all those quilts have to be transported and hung by volunteers. Even more incredible, they go up all over the town in ONE HOUR. ONE.

The result feels spontaneous, but the organisation behind it is anything but spontaneous. Planning has already started for 2027's show, and they only just finished this one! It's a roundabout thats for sure.

Anyway. The reason I'm telling you all this is that we are in the absolute peak middle of all these pieces of planning of the Sydney Quilt Show.

At a conventional quilt show, organisers start with a floor plan: they know the exact dimensions of the exhibition hall, how many frames they have to work with and how many display panels or frames will fit into rows. We have a resident show floor wizard, Donna, who is currently mathing all the maths and then mathing it again when someone withdraws their quilt (which is then replaced with The Black Curtain of Shame, as we call it), or Giucy Giuce decides to bring two new quilts he just finished (I mean, yay right?! Want to see those!! But also.... maths)

The show is getting closer and closer and we are getting busier and busier. We're locking in the final vendors, organising demos, selling tickets and workshops..... sorry to say but Guice's workshops are all sold out, BUT there are tickets for his lecture and I HIGHLY recommend you come along if you can! He's a warm, interesting and knowledgable guy and you will be blown away by his quilts and what he has to say.

I'm getting my stand ready, I'm getting my fabric collection ready to launch, I've just released the new Lemonade Stand pattern and the next Lemonade stand ready to make, I'm getting the video tutorials ready for the Three Techniques Sew Along.... and I'm getting ready to fall in a heap when its all done! Stay upright peeps!!

Sarah x