Whangarei holds a quilt exhibition every second year. Luckily, 2020's exhibition was scheduled for later in the year, and managed to avoid the worst of NZ's Covid lockdown. We were still in Level 2, which meant limiting the number of people in the hall at any one time, but everyone was just so happy to get out and see a quilt show, I don't think anyone minded.
The club held a Hundertwasser themed quilt challenge and here are two of my favourite quilts from that.
'The Letterbox' by Sheila Ujdur. Quilts had to be A3 size, portrait or landscape orientation was allowed, and the quilt had to be inspired by artist Friedrich Hundertwasser's work, without copying his work directly.
'Among Trees' by Helen Barron, which won a second place in the silver section (entered a challenge before but not had a placing.)
Unfortunately I didn't win the raffle quilt, but I loved the colours and the design, so I took a quick pic. Isn't it lovely? The winner would be very pleased to have that lovely quilt to snuggle under.
Rikki Going started this quilt, 'Stoned with Karen' in a Karen Stone workshop. I loved the colour combination and the regular grid work combined with these snippets of irregular colour. Very interesting to look at.
And another of Rikki Going's quilts. 'Desert Blooms' inspired by a Laura Heine design. It was just so different from anything else in the show. Full of life!
'Daisy, Daisy' by Maria New was made from a Deborah Louie pattern and the good use of black and white fabrics combined with the heavily petalled flowers worked really well. It won viewers choice from the club members and I can understand why.
I snapped a shot of this little house quilt by Jan Silvester because I have a thing for house quilts. I've never actually made one! Funnily enough, there seemed to be others who have the same feelings as you'll see several more house quilts as you read, the show was well populated with houses!
I've seen this tree design before and it always appeals. This was made by Rikki Going, it's called 'Forest from the Trees' and it's from a pattern in the Simply Moderne magazine.
What's not to love about a good plus quilt? This is 'Black and White Plus Colour' made by Rosslee Baker, quilted by KR Quilting.
And equally, what's not to love about a good scrap quilt? I love stars too and I love the different blues around each star that then combine to make a quarter square triangle secondary block in the background. This is called 'Rikki's Stars' made by Maria New.
This is called 'Mini Sampler' by Sheila Ujdur and it was just a sweet little quilt. Something you'd find on a cozy log cabin wall. Nice workmanship too.
This quilt was called 'Autumn' and was made by Janet Greeks. I was excited to see this piece as Janet had taken part in the Aotearoa Quilters 100 Days Project that I had organised earlier this year and this was her project. She had made a study of using different embellishment techniques and the pieces looked fabulous up on the wall.
This was 'Bed Warmer' by Terri Mills. Unusual in shape, construction and colour, it would be sure to brighten up the foot of any bed! I just had to grab a shot.
This was a true crowd pleaser! 'Bench Seat' by Donna Rowan was made as a block of the month project through Apple Basket Quilts and these are all Sue Spargo designs. Doesn't it look so tempting to sit on, despite the sign?!
Here's another of the house quilts. 'Hobsonville Point' was made by Anne Groufsky and quilted by Leanne Hopper. Anne made this from a quilt kit purchased from All Things Bernina. The sharp triangles in the second border give a lot of life and energy to this neighbourhood.
I don't think I'd ever have the patience or precision to make such a lovely job of sashiko so this also needed to be in my photo collection. 'Kiwi Sashiko' by Sheila Udjur.
And one more for the house quilt collection. 'Houses for Kirstin and Rob' was made by Margo Wakelin from a book 'Quilt with Tula and Angela'. The quilt was quilted by Leeanne Hopper. I love the topsy turvy houses with the large fabric prints as feature walls.
'Stitching Bee' by Beryl McDowell. This was made as a block of the month project through The Country Yard shop. And it's a very sweet, subtle and homely quilt with the combination of small print fabrics and stitcheries.
The club also had the Aotearoa Quilters travelling exhibition 'Journey' on display. They made a great mini exhibition in the back room. And you can see my quilt, 'Soul Bird', in amongst them.
Had to get a pic standing next to it of course! And it was pointed out to me that I was awfully colour coordinated - not planned at all...
These are two of my favourites from the Journey collection. I think they look so good next to each other and the quilting on each is superb. Left is 'Journey to the Pyramids' by Margaret Rogerson and right is 'Road Trip' by Shirley Sparks.
In the back room there was also Aotearoa Quilter member Sonya Prchal with her solo exhibit. I couldn't get close to say hello to her as she had a mesmerised crowd watching her demo her thread painting techniques. But I did manage to get a snap of part of the display. These are some of her smaller works. Always such stunning work!
I thoroughly enjoyed the show, I helped support a few of the merchants by treating myself to a few goodies, and I drove home inspired and happy!
