Happy New Year to you all. I hope 2025 brings you all good health and good times. If you made a new year resolution, I hope it won’t be too difficult to achieve. We have spent this holiday period at home doing odd jobs and packing. We are shifting house at the end of February and it is amazing what you find. In a chest I found the quilt pictured below. It is one of the first quilts I made for my then 3 year old daughter who is now 43.  Looking at it now, I can’t believe it is all hand quilted, has quite a lot of embroidery and it depicted everything she loved at the time. I am not too sure why I still have it, but she now has a 3 year old daughter, so maybe it will be passed on as it is still in very good condition.2025 will be a very busy year for Aotearoa Quilters. The Great New Zealand Quilt Show will of course be the major event of the year and is being held from the 16^th – 18^th May at the Airforce Museum in Christchurch. From now on the newsletter will keep you updated on the events that will be happening at the show.

The main thing to know is that you need to get your entry in for the main Quilt exhibition. Conditions of entry and entry forms are on the website. Online entries close on the 14^th March so please get your entry in before that date.

We are thrilled to announce our guest exhibit is coming from France. There are 30 quilts selected from the European Patchwork International Contest called ‘Ocean’. It should be very interesting looking at work done by Europe’s artists, what techniques they have used and how they have achieved the theme.

Our other guest exhibit is equally exciting and that is ‘The Presidents Challenge’. Seven of AQ’s regional groups have been working hard to make wall hangings that depict their region. I have been delighted to hear of the enthusiasm for this challenge and look forward to seeing them at the show.

The members challenge ‘Winging it’ will also be opening at the show. Have you got your entry in?  Online entries close on the 28^th Feb. It will be the last time that the ‘Colours of Spring Challenge’ will be exhibited, as this will close after the show.  Details of the next colour challenge are included in this newsletter.

It has become apparent over the last few years that NZ has a need for people with the right skills to be able to judge quilt shows. With this in mind, we offered a judging seminar over 2 days of the show. The 20 slots available were filled very quickly and I am sure this will prove to be very interesting and worthwhile for those attending.

At the last GNZQS the demonstrations were very popular so by popular demand we are continuing with these.  There will be more of them during the day, a designated area for them with more seating, better lighting and best of all no charge. As planning progresses, we will let you know what the topics are so you can plan ahead.

With 19 merchants shopping should not be a problem. Heather has worked hard to get a variety of merchants that all have a point of difference.

We have selected the community groups that will be receiving the quilts that you donate. We are very pleased to be able to donate quilts to Early Start and The Christchurch Aunties, so hopefully you are thinking of a quilt that you may be able to donate to these worthy courses.  More information about these groups will be in a following newsletter.

I hope this all sounds exciting for you and we look forward to seeing you at The Great New Zealand Quilt Show.

Regards
Valda Sutton
President