The Great NZ Quilt Show

(Warning - photo heavy.)

As I noted in my last post, I've just had a 4 night weekend away.....Aotearoa Quilters put on their biennial show and exhibition at Rotorua in the lovely Bay Of Plenty. Luckily for me I have a lot of extended family in the BOP so it was an ideal excuse to visit Mum and stay for a few days.

I haven't attended an Aotearoa Quilters show before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't enroll in any classes and spent just a day there. 

There were about 126 quilts there, as well as the several challenge exhibitions, and displays from various other groups. So plenty to see!

(I've just come back and added this photo from the Aotearoa Quilters FB page. It shows a bit of the setup which I didn't photograph.)

But first of all, the Best of Show - which was Improv Trio by Helen Beaven. The photo doesn't do it justice but it was a worthy winner.

Helen took inspiration from Tapa cloth for this quilt.

The categories featured were Art, Contemporary, Modern, Pictorial and Traditional - quite different (in my experience) to what one often sees at quilt shows, where they are grouped by size, technique, number of makers and so on. So it felt different (and a little exciting) as soon as I entered the building!

First of all I will share the photos of New Zealand flavoured quilts; I thought it would be nice to focus on them here, as it's always interesting to see how a particular country represents itself.

The photos are in no particular order, and not grouped in their categories either. Just how they came off my phone. However, I hope you enjoy looking through them.

Our Local Backdrop by Kat Martin. Mt Pirongia in the background. This quilt was awarded a Merit in the Pictorial Section.

The President's Quilt made by a group of Christchurch quilters for their retiring guild president-

Autumn in the Manawatu by Lynette Murray. The 'frame' on this one was a nice touch-

Layers of History Under Our Feet by Charlotte Scott-

In the clearing by Maria Rohs-

Coast by Alison Laurence-

Ferns in Waiting by Barbara Wilson-

Ocean Beach by Lynne O'Donnell. (This is one of our local Northland beaches.)-

Storm Erosion by Shirley Sparks. Inspired by the collapse of the Kopu Hikuia highway on the Coromandel Peninsula. This won a merit in the Modern Quilts category-

The following were from some of the challenges and other exhibitions.

Pohutakawa Paradise by Mary Transom-

In Perpetuity by Simone Michaux. I'll be interested to see this one when it's completed. There will be a section for each month, showcasing our flora and fauna and the NZ birds- 

Piwakawaka korero by Sandie Sixtus. (fantails chattering)-

Mt Cook at Sunset by Linda Anderson-

Here are some of the other quilts.

Liberty Jane by Mary Daborn-

Wallflower Jane, also by Mary Daborn. These are all Dear Jane blocks, arranged a litle differently than usual!

Florabunda by Sheryl Anicich. On a second look, I realised the dahlia flowers were appliqued on top of New York Beauty blocks!

Strawberry Daiquiri by Judith Schon. Best contemporary quilt-

Wa ya ni by Annie White-

Southern Skies by Nancy Williams -

Cross Stitch Churndash by Anne Adams. The cross stitch tablecloth came from an op shop. The churn dash and the quilting was added to give it a new life-

My Caswell Quilt by Susan Wade-

Whew, so those are some of the quilts I saw. Of course there were plenty more...... It was a good day.

My sister drove over to Rotorua with me and went shopping for most of the day. But she came in to the exhibition for the last hour and was blown away by it. Not a quilter, nor a crafter, she hadn't known what to expect but wasn't expecting an actual art exhibition!

The rest of the weekend at Mum's passed pleasantly. We had a family dinner on Sunday night, with my sister and four of Mum's siblings - 

One of my aunties worked out the other day that mum and her siblings (7 in all) are responsible for nearly 100 descendants!!

Some more flying-

Back home with my farm and my animals-

'til next time,

happy stitches,