A KEEN quilter will be showing off her skills.

Sixty-nine-year-old Diana Chester, of Rose Hill, Worcester, has been quilting for about 10 years. She will be one of dozens of people displaying quilts at the Festival of Quilts, which runs from Thursday, August 17, to Sunday, August 20, at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre.

Mrs Chester will be entering a competition at the show with a quilt based on a trip she made to Hong Kong.

Taking inspiration from the architecture, Buddhist shrines and the lotus flower, Mrs Chester, who is also a keen photographer, used tissue paper that she painted and varnished before stitching it to create her quilt.

She started her latest piece about three months ago and is now busy putting the finishing touches to it in time for the festival.

She said: "I just love to stitch and always have a piece of stitching with me when I'm on a plane or a

train or whatever as

I like the feel of it in

my hands."

Mrs Chester, a retired engineer, is no stranger to the quilts show, having exhibited there last year with an entry called French Curved Three - inspired by a set of engineering tools called french curves.