A skilled seamstress has won an international prize for her innovative quilt using skills which help her overcome health issues.

Hilary Parke, of Bere Alston, entered her six-by-six-foot quilt made up of silver patterned squares of lycra into the Festival of Quilts – or the Chelsea Flower Show of quilts.

The quilt is called 'Life is Not Always a Straight Line' – graphically representing the way life throws up disruptive events by a wiggling blue line round the squares.

Hilary has her own reasons for representing the mysteries of life artistically – she has been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and finds quilting, planning her art pieces, dyeing textiles and making bags to be very therapeutic.

She said: "I'm so very pleased to have this prize from the biggest exhibition and gathering of quilters in one place in the UK. and third biggest worldwide. The Festival of Quilts is run by the Quilters Guild of the British Isles and has more than 10,200 quilts on show. Some of these are in the competition and some are on display by professionals who give demonstrations, workshops and on trade stands. It's effectively the Chelsea of quilting and has the same worldwide standing."

The festival, at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre at the end of July and beginning of August, is a showcase for the best amateur talent in a myriad of competition categories with inter-category (or overlay) technical competitions.

Hilary (who quilts under the name Hilary Florence) won the domestic machine technical category (the other two are hand quilting and what is effectively industrial machine use) with a £500 prize.

The judges said of her quilt and unconventional use of lycra: "Hilary's work is an orchestra of original stitches. Although it is on the diagonal it still has harmony and the blue line disrupts the harmony without breaking the unity and the judges were impressed with the different choice of lycra instead of a traditional (cotton) material.'

Hilary is full of praise for the group of craftswomen called Berey Crafters which meets weekly in the parish church hall, for their support.

She said: "It's taken me two years to complete my quilt, which is far longer than the average quilter, but CFS limits my stamina and therefore, my everyday life, longer ambitions and shorter term goals.

"I can only join in with the crafters for a relatively short time and can't venture far, or I pay for it physically in many ways if I push myself too far.

"However, I'm indebted to the crafters for their support through all the long intricate planning of such a complex piece. They help me by being there every week – for me to join in and 'talk 'shop' and socialise and be there to keep me going, when I lose confidence or stamina. It's such a lovely group."

Kim Tremain, Berey Crafters group co-founder, said: “We’re very proud of Hilary’s achievement. Anyone with a crafting skill, whether it’s painting, knitting or anything creative is welcome to enjoy the stimulation of crafting together. We’ve made friends and help each other outside crafting.

Berey Crafters meet every Thursday from 10am to 12 noon at Bere Alston parish church hall.