Kia Ora Everyone
It’s a very cold blustery day in Thames today, the fire is on so a good opportunity to sit down and write to you all.
I mentioned in the March newsletter about the wonderful amount of entries in the Brown challenge and challenged you all to do the same for the members ‘Lines’ challenge. Wow, did you deliver! A record 51 quilts were received, so a big thank you to you all for getting behind the challenge. You made it an exceptionally hard job for the judge to select the 20 to travel NZ for the year. Congratulations if you were one of the lucky twenty. As with any competition of this type it means that a lot of you will be disappointed, but we do want to thank you for taking the time to enter and supporting Aotearoa Quilters.
I am looking forward to seeing the twenty selected at Taupo Quiltmakers Exhibition. Don’t forget that if you are coming to Taupo you are welcome to join us for dinner at the Cosmopolitan Club on Saturday. Just make sure you book first, joining the Aotearoa Quilters Group.
Because of Covid restrictions we have not been able to have many quilt exhibitions, but now we are spoilt for choice. The same weekend as Taupo is the Whangamata Quilters exhibition where the Brown Challenge is on display, so get along to that if you are able.
We have a very busy Winter program planned for you all with many varied activities. Charlotte’s 31 day program starts in July. I was in Dubai for the last one and thoroughly enjoyed the prompt words she gave out each day. It gave me a purpose in the day and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing what others were doing.
Something that a lot of you have been asking for is help with photographing your quilts. Well at last we have something to help you. Join us on the webinar with presenter Trudy Cleveland giving us all the information we need on how to take better photos. We realize the time and date may be difficult for some of you but working in with American time zones also proved to be difficult.
You can then put your learning and experiences to good use by entering the Random Challenge. A very exciting idea, no pressure, just a lot of fun and something very different to keep you occupied and your sewing machine busy!
When you have got through the winter months you might be attending Symposium in Wellington where we hope to see you. We will be having the Members Breakfast together with the AGM and will send out those details once they have been finalized. Both the Lines and Brown challenges will be on exhibition. We need your help though. Four members have completed 6 years on the committee and the rules state that they have to leave. Can you give up some time and help us because we cannot continue to do what we do without a full committee? If you would like more information please get in touch with me.
Keep safe, stay warm and best wishes.
Valda