Talented Kildare sewers win first prize at Festivals of quilts in Birmingham

There were great celebrations in Rathangan last week when Aideen Cross's Creative Sewing group's quilt won first prize in the primary section at Festivals of Quilts in Birmingham.

"All 31 students of Creative Sewing are thrilled with the win. It's such a wonderful achievement for young children aged from seven to 12 years old," said Aideen.

"The theme was ‘Going for Gold’ and we created a large 3D winners cup structure and each student designed and made a textile medal for someone they aspire to, or they felt deserving of a medal. This included athletes, you-tubers, celebrities and even mums and dads." 

Four students also created and entered their own quilts into the individual sections too - Orna Manning, Clodagh Grimes,

Abby Smyth and Gabrielle Harding. 

The quilt will be on show in Rathangan library to coincide with a special Culture Night event on September 23, from 5pm-7pm. The textile art exhibition, ‘Life around the Rath ‘, includes two large textile art wall hangings that were created by Local TY students from Ardscoil Rathangan and members of the local community over past two years as part of a Creative Ireland Bursary award Aideen received.

There will also be a short film of local folklore stories and local memories screened on the night too.