The ultimate patchwork and quilting experience and not just in Europe!

The Festival of Quilts 2011 NEC, Birmingham 11th to 14th August To book tickets please call the ticket hotline number 01394 288521 or www.twistedthread.com

The Festival of Quilts is organized by: Creative Exhibitions Ltd, 8 Greenwich Quay, London SE8 3EY +44(0)20 8692 2299 mail@twistedthread.com

Image: Hawaiian quilt Queen Kapi’olani’s Fan Quilt, from the American Museum in Bath. 7

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Stamp of approval

As a socialist William Morris might not have approved of Government plans to privatise Royal Mail, but at least the set of six stamps released to mark the 150th anniversary of his design and furniture company, which he founded with friends in 1861, would please him. Pretty and with a practical purpose they fulfil the principles of his famous quote, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”. The stamps feature Morris’s designs - a fabric print on one of the 1st Class stamps, and a series of hand-painted tiles designed with William De Morgan on one of the £1.10 stamps – and those of his colleagues including architect Philip Webb and artist John Henry Dearle. Royal Mail Stamps spokesman Philip Parker said: "The work of Morris and Company has inspired generations of designers and manufacturers. Their legacy is still with us today on wallpaper and fabrics gracing homes across the UK and around the world."

The William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, London is closed for redevelopment until July 2012 but The National Trust has two Morris exhibitions running until the end of the year. The Nature of Design at Wightwick Manor and Red House - A Revolution in Decoration. The former is a display of items from the Morris & Co. archive while at Red House in Kent the exhibition describes the events that led to the founding of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co. A third show curated by Michael Parry and designed by Jo Eaton at Standen, a National Trust House in Sussex, closes on 16 July 2011 but the Croxley Room has been re-decorated and furnished in the new Morris & Co. Archive Collection and is available for visitors to use and enjoy. www.royalmail.com, www.william-morris.co.uk s e l v e d g e . o r g