Auckland Festival of Quilts 2015 - instalment one

I visited the Festival of Quilts, run by the Auckland Quilt Guild, on Friday - opening day.  It's one of the quieter days, as all the full time job holders wait till the weekend, but it was still busy with enthusiastic viewers.

It's Sunday today - the last day of the show.  I thought I'd be considerate and wait to share my pictures and thoughts until everyone had had a chance to view and experience for themselves.

These photos are a few of the quilts I admired and I'll be sharing why I admired them in particular.  I have some more photos to share later.

Above is 'Korowai Ma' (which roughly translates to white cloak in Maori).  Made by Annie White, it won first prize in Amateur Wall Quilt (sponsored by Sewing Machine World).

Annie's quilt was original and unique, exquisitely made and had wonderful touches that elevated it to something special.  The top band is woven.  Every petal is backed with colourful fabric which gives a faint blush of colour to the petal underneath.  There is cording underneath each row, along the top of each petal, which finishes it nicely and also lifts them slightly.

Just stunning.

The quilt above is called 'Seasonal Stereotype' and is by Robyn Rognstad.  This is Robyn's own design and I admired it for the clever construction of the Turkey and the subtle use of colour.  I like to see completely different, original work, and this was one.  

My next quilt to share is called 'Circles 'N Squares' and is by Judi Schon.  Judi won Best Commercial Machine Quilting (computer guided), sponsored by Quiltique.  Judi made this pattern by Debby Maddy and quilted it with patterns from Sharon Perry and Nancy Haacke.  What really caught my eye with this quilt was Judi's masterful eye for appropriate fabrics that really complemented the quilt design and then even more masterful selection of quilting designs.

The photo below shows a closeup of just how well the quilting designs worked.

Here's something a little different, it's only a small quilt, but it stood out in the crowd.

The quilt is called 'Frida' and is made by Ngaire Fleming and quilted by Leonie Wihongi.  It won a highly commended in Wall Quilts, Multiple Makers - sponsored by Auckland Quilt Guild.  Frida Kahlo is instantly recognisable even when constructed with this fractured style.  There was nothing else quite like it in the show.

This next quilt struck me as masterfully capturing the feelings behind the making of it.  On first view, it is frenetic, chaotic and a little disturbing.  When reading the artist's statement, all becomes clear.  "This quilt started as therapy when dementia started affecting my life.  It has caused a great deal of stress and damage to sibling relationships."  The quilt is called 'Dementia: The holes in the story" and is by Chris Behersing.

So.  There you have a few of the quilts that for one reason or another made me stop and look again.  I hope you enjoyed them and stay tuned for some more another day.