Whangarei Quilt Exhibition 2020

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!

The Great NZ Quilt Show 2019

Phew!  Aotearoa Quilters once again put on an awesome event.  The Great NZ Quilt Show was held in Rotorua, and I had the opportunity to attend all three days, both viewing the lovelies and helping out.

I helped out at the door, selling tickets; as a white glove lady, showing people the backs and closeup details of the quilts; and on the AQ stand selling raffle tickets and templates for the new colour challenge that AQ unveiled at their breakfast (silver and hexagon shape btw.)

I also got to help out of the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) stand, which AQ generously let us have set up to inform everyone of what SAQA was and hopefully attract a few new members.  And I think we signed up at least five!

All of those helper jobs let me blab away about quilts and techniques and colour and all the things I'm passionate about, so they are not really jobs, I love doing them!

But I know you don't really want to hear about my croaky voice from talking too much, you want to see pictures!  So here goes.  These aren't all the prizewinners, they will be up on the Aotearoa Quilters website shortly, but they are quilts that caught my eye for some reason or another, and, since I love talking about quilts so much, I'll be giving you a rundown on exactly why they caught my eye.

These three quilts were part of the NZ Through Our Eyes challenge display.  I'm excited to report that all quilts submitted for this challenge are travelling to Canada for the Ailsa Craig Quilt and Fibre Art Festival in May.  The top quilt is mine, titled Subantarctic, the middle is by Lorraine Holmes, Braided River - Raikaia and the bottom quilt by Shirley Sparks, Hinemoa.  I liked how these three quilts looked together and I appreciated how, throughout the whole show, the quilts had been hung sympathetically so that they worked as a whole display as well as showcasing individuals.

Another NZ Thru Our Eyes quilt, only 8" x 8".  Look at that glorious colour scheme!  And the detailed hand stitching gives a wonderful texture to the background without distracting from the subject.

Here was another pleasing collection from the NZ Thru Our Eyes.  Anne Groufsky made Christchurch Window 1 and 2 on the left and Margaret Rogerson with Layers on the right.  The windows particularly caught my eye, beautifully composed and with interesting colour schemes, the stitching was such an important element in bringing them to life.

At first glance I thought these three must have been made by the same person because they looked so good together.  But no, from left to right: Rae van't Hof, Weatherboard Gothic; Donna Cumming, A Maori Paddle; and Lorna Newsome, Aotearoa - Land of the Long White Cloud.

The church reminds me of the small country churches we have dotted around the countryside and one in particular that I pass on the way to work.  I'm a sucker for clean lines and symmetry and both the church and paddle exhbit this in spades.  The button NZ is very clever, for at first glance this seems simple, but Lorna has managed the shape almost exactly, which I can imagine is much harder than it looks.

Mary Jane Sneyd.  Me and My Sisters. What gorgeous painterly work!  And it's not photos on fabric, this is applique at it's finest.  My phone tried to insist that I tag a few of the woman as it was sure it recognised them!

Here's another by Lorna Newsome, titled Swan and Rush.  As I said, I'm a sucker for symmetry.  I also appreciate the slightly unusual treatment of the subject matter - no lifelike stitch painted birds, or dreamy romantic perfect swan on pond applique, but an interesting arts and craft style rendering.

Timeless by Shirley Sparks.  I really enjoyed the painterly quality of this quilt.  The hexagon is a timeless shape in quilting, but this is quite a different treatment of them.

NZ Bush Walk - Please Stay on the Track, by Valda Sutton.  Valda has been working with the circular format for a while and I'm pleased to see her stick with it and hope she continues to push it to see what else she can do with it.  This was laid out on a plinth in the middle of the show and it was a good counterpoint to have something horizontal to balance all the vertical quilts.  I wasn't able to get directly above it for a perfectly circular shot.

La Passacaglia by Maggie Bentley.  La Passacaglia quilts aren't anything new anymore, but this one has a particularly pleasing difference with colour scheme.  And I immediately thought of my quilting buddy, Jane, who the colours may appeal to.

Anna Williams, Catch a Falling Star.  Lovely piecing with silks, lovely quilting, lovely flow across the top, just an all round lovely quilt.

Whytangi by Merrilyn George.  I listened to some viewers comment that it seemed very somber and why hadn't she made it more cheerful?  I took the time to ask if they'd read the artist's statement, which commented that this treatment of the poppy, a symbol for our ANZACs (returned servicemen), may more accurately depict the effects of war.  So for me, the quilt was poignant rather than somber.

Exotic Wildflowers by Mary Metcalf.  I had to take a detail shot of this so you could delight in all the colours and details as I did.  So fun!

Peace by Piece. By Lois Parish Evans.  I see a theme of symmetry happening!  An interesting quilt with beautiful workmanship.  There are clever shading details on the white lillies, which take them from being white shapes to lovely curved flowers.

Jean McLean with Lava Flow.  Stunning use of colours and the section below imitated the way lava cracks as it cools and you can still see the red glowing under the crust.  Jean won best of show with another of her applique quilts, she has a real talent for it.

I adored the colours in this quilt, Southern Abstraction by Rachel Ratten.  Rachel said the colours of the wild South were her inspiration, and I can totally relate from my recent trip around the South Island.  The turquoise of Lake Tekapo, the purples and pinks of the lupins, the tussocks, the blue and purple of the mountains in the distance....

And another quilt that firmly reflected my memories of the South Island.  Lindis Pass by Rae van't Hof was a small delight.

My Mother was Dutch and this quilt called A Piece of Holland by Ann Gregory was just a beautiful reminder of her.  Such a peaceful, beautiful and cohesive quilt, no wonder it won first place in the large category.

My favourite piece in whole show.  "As man disappears from sight, the land remains".  Merrilyn George has such a strong sense of place that comes across in her landscape quilts.  And I adore these colours.  Whenever I drive through the central North Island, I see Merrilyn's quilts everywhere I look.    And this one has a sobering message too.  Closeup below.

And last but not least, Kaleidoscope by Mary Metcalf.  Perhaps another in my symmetry collection?!  I love this play with how one block can look so different when made out of different colours.  The change in scale and the half blocks lift the level of interest nicely.

So that's it from my photo roll.  There was plenty more to see, great merchants and other attractions like the daily judges talks and the guest speaker, Linda Werner, who was very interesting.  Next time the Great NZ Quilt Show comes around, I urge you to come along and see for yourself!

Credit Where Credit is Due

Dragon Applique Quilt made by Charlotte Scott.  Pattern availabe for purchase at AotearoaQuiltDesign on Etsy

Amongst seasoned quilters, it is the expected norm when showing photos of quilts from a show or exhibition, to also share the makers details, and designers and quilters as well if they are different from the maker.  When professional organisations, such as SAQA (Studio Art Quilts Associated) call for photos for a catalogue, they also ask for the photographers name if it wasn't the artist.

But in the more casual arena of hobby quilters and the uninitiated non-quilting masses who visit quilt shows, it is quite common to see a whole slew of 'eye-candy' shared on social media, without the similtaneous sharing of makers and/or designers and quilters details.

Big can of worms.

As an artist, if I share my quilt in an exhibition, it's disappointing to then have it shared willy nilly across the world without people knowing who made it.  And yes, I say across the world, because with social media, we truly do have a global audience for anything we share.

But it's not just hurt feelings.  Many artists rely on teaching or lecturing or book sales to make a living.  If their work is being shared without credit, how will people know which quilters they want to ask to their guild to teach or what books they want to buy?  How can they dig deeper to find out more about an artist they admire, if they don't know who the artist is?

It's also contributing to copyright infringements.  If Jane shares a photo of a 'lovely quilt' that she saw at her local show, Mary sees it on Facebook and shares the post, Mary's friend Lily, who doesn't know Jane, sees it and shares it too.  Several shares down the road, perhaps to Instagram, then to Pinterest, Louise sees the 'lovely quilt' and decides she wants to make one too.  What she doesn't realise (because Jane never shared the details of the maker or designer) is that this is a quilt made from a commercial pattern that is offered for sale by a small-business designer.  Louise copies the design and makes her own 'lovely quilt'.  Louise would have preferred to buy a pattern (the hard work already done for her) but she didn't know who made it or designed it.  She puts the quilt in her local show.  The small-business designer misses out on a pattern sale, and when Louise's quilt is judged, the judge happens to know that this is a quilt from a pattern, which Louise has not credited and so Louise is penalised.

The great thing about all of this is that it's really easy to share details of the makers!  Digital cameras and phones are the perfect tool.  You can take a snap of the quilt, then immediately take a snap of the quilt label.  Share them both!  Even better, write the name of the maker etc in the caption of the quilt photo and then ALSO share the photo of the label.  Then no one has any excuses that they didn't know the maker's details.

Artists can protect themselves to some degree by adding a watermark across their photographs, but this will only protect those photos that they share themselves.  We need to rely on the community to also do the right thing.

But I think the show organisers need to help the community do the right thing too.  The last big show I went to did not have an photography policy advertised, or if it did, it was not obvious enough for me to have noticed.  It would be very easy to have a notice posted that says simply that photography is allowed, but that makers must be credited if photographs are shared in the public domain.

Quilts Inc, who run The International Quilt Festival in Houston, have clear photography rules in their brochure, which state:  "You must include an artist credit and note that the photos were taken at International Quilt Festival. This helps us protect the rights of quiltmakers."  That's a pretty straightforward statement that would be difficult to misinterpret, but it would also be helpful to have it prominently displayed at the entrance and in several places around the exhibitions. 

And back to the community, if we see people sharing photos of quilts without crediting the relevant artists, we need to gently educate them.  I belive that most of the uncredited sharing is due to basic ignorance of this issue, rather than disregard and malice, so be calm and pleasant in your education!

There are many more aspects to the discussion on sharing and copyright that I haven't covered, but I think this is the important tip of the iceberg.  With so many recent and upcoming quilt exhibitions, and the ever increasing reach and use of social media, it's an issue that needs more discussion.

Brenda Gael Smith, of Serendipity Patchwork and Quilting, has a much deeper knowledge of copyright than me and has kindly pointed me in the direction of a short article by Austin Kleon called 'Credit is Always Due' and also the relevant section of the NZ Copyright Act 1994 that deals with sharing work for the purposes of reporting current events, or for review.  Both are well worth a quick read.

So please, give credit when sharing other peoples work, encourage others to do the same, and don't share work if you don't know who made it.

Wellington Quilters Exhibition and an interview with Fyvie Murray

While I was in Wellington judging the Wellington Quilt Exhibition, I recorded a podcast.  Part of it is an interview with the president, Fyvie Murray and part of it is 'a day in the life of' snippets of my day as a quilt judge.

Fyvie actually won Best in Show, which neither of us knew at the time of the interview.  Her silk quilt, Wellington Sampler, was a lovely work depicting iconic Wellington landmarks.  Fyvie displayed skilled stitching and quilting on the difficult silk fabrics, and an unusual colour palette that contributed to an eye-catching quilt.

Photo by Wellington Quilters Facebook

I haven't interviewed or recorded in a little while, I feel rusty!  But it feels good to get back on the podcast horse.  I love sharing our quilt stories.  Enjoy!

Download this episode (right click and save)

The Art of Fabric Exhibition

Yesterday I flew to Wellington.  Today, the lovely Chris Kenna and I judged the Wellington Quilters exhibition.  Phew!  What a day!

We started ed at 10am and were finished by about 3.30pm with a bit of a break for lunch.  It was pretty smooth sailing, with a well organised exhibition, straightforward categories and judges who were in good agreement on the top contenders in each category.  But it's still hard work, not only because you are walking back and forth, back and forth, but because you know you are dealing with people's precious hard work, and you have to be very secure in your final choices.

I'd like to say a big thank you to the Wellington Quilters and Fyvie Murray, the president, for entrusting me with this responsibility.  It's a big charge and I take it seriously.  I've entered plenty of shows and had plenty of judges look at my quilts, and now that I'm on the other end of it, it's good to know how seriously judges take the job.

I'm not going to list the winners here as I don't want to steal anyone's thunder, and to be honest I don't have a full list with me!  I'm pretty sure Wellington Quilters will have the winners up soon on their webpage or facebook, so I've put those addresses below for you.

I've really enjoyed being in Wellington. It was my home 20 odd years ago and I loved seeing so many familiar buildings along with the new.  It also made me smile to see the steep narrow streets, the houses that have a very particular 'Wellington' look to them, and to hear and feel the familiar wind (Wellington is famous for it!) I enjoyed a walk this afternoon and saw a Kaka (endangered species of native parrot) flying overhead from the predator proof bird sanctuary that is right next to the city.

But I'm home again tomorrow on an early flight,.

Goodbye Wellington, thanks for having me!

the art of fabric 
Fri 5 - Sun 14 Oct 2018

NZ Academy of Fine Art

1 Queens Wharf, Wellington, 

Tickets $7 Concession $5

www.wellingtonquilters.org.nz
www.facebook.com/wellingtonquilters