A few weeks ago I was hopping from blog to blog, when somebody mentioned their excitement about entering their 'Dear Jane' quilt into a special exhibition of 'Dear Jane' quilts in Nantes, France. A little further investigation, and I discovered that the "Pour l'Amour du Fil" (For the Love of Thread) show was being organised by the magazine Quiltmania. Regular readers will know that I am currently working on my 'Nearly Insane' Quilt, which is of a similar genre to 'Dear Jane', so I was intrigued, especially at the thought of seeing over 100 'Dear Jane' quilts together. 'Dear Jane' 150th Quilt Exhibition, Nantes, France 2013 I regularly go to the quilt shows in the UK, but this was my first 'European' show, which involved a ferry crossing from England to France and a little trip in our camper van. The exhibit of the 'Dear Jane' quilts was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. As you walked into the room, you could not help but gasp in amazement! Over 100 quilts, all the same, all different. There was a Hand- Dyed 'Dear Jane' Quilt Dear Jane Quilt (Hand-Dyed Fabrics) Paula Klein, Luxembourg There was an Indonesian fabric 'Dear Jane' Quilt Dear Jane Quilt (Indonesian Fabrics) Annie Tromp-Doornink, Netherlands There was a Low Volume 'Dear Jane' Quilt Dear Jane Quilt (Low Volume) Ineke Marijissen Van der Molen, Netherlands There was a Liberty Fabric 'Dear Jane' Quilt Dear Jane Quilt (Liberty Fabric) There was a Red and White Dear Jane Quilt Dear Jane Quilt (Red and White) Nathalie Pierre, France There were the traditional Civil War Fabric 'Dear Jane' Quilts Dear Jane Quilt (Civil War Reproduction Fabrics) Michel Galan France There were modern, bright with black background 'Dear Jane' Quilts Dear Jane Quilt (Modern Brights) Chantal Guyon, France There were modern, bright Batik 'Dear Jane' Quilts Dear Jane Quilt (Batik) Diane Rhode and Judy Doenias, USA And some really lovely, unique colour combinations Dear Jane Quilt (Greys, Reds) Rineke Imenshot, Netherlands Originally, Brenda Papadakis was due to attend to give a talk and run some 'Dear Jane' workshops, but due to a broken arm, was not able to travel to France from the USA. However, there were many of her ambassadors at the show, and it was fabulous. The impact of the display was so brilliant, thanks to the organisers and contributors for putting on such a brilliant exhibit. Never to be forgotten. They were all lovely. Do you have a favourite? Sharing the inspiration of this lovely event with Freemotion By the River and Quilt Story See more of my Quilting Adventure here