Welcome to the March newsletter

I was first introduced to quilting from a library book. I hand pieced a panel of tumbling blocks as I didn’t even own a sewing machine! I got sick of hand piecing and so put the panel away after a while. A couple of years later I bought a second-hand sewing machine for $50, appliqued that first panel to a another piece of fabric to make it bigger, machine appliqued a couple of dragonflies onto the border and even attempted some machine quilting.

(much loved and much faded but I still have it, 18 years later) 

I was so proud of that quilt and used it as a pushchair blanket for my first baby. One day, pushing my son around town I saw a sign for a quilt exhibition. Of course I had to go in, after all, I was a quilter too! That exhbition, put on by the Kerikeri Quilters, was the start of my love affair with quilting. It. Blew. Me. Away. The colours! The patterns! The quilting stitches! The vibrancy! The quilter behind the counter pointed me in the direction of beginner quilt making classes and I was off running.

My reason for relating this story is to remind you of the power of a quilt exhibition. That young woman pushing a pram around oogling the quilts might just end up being obsessed with fabric, the VP of Aotearoa Quilters and teaching others the joys of textile art! I am forever grateful for the members of Kerikeri Quilters for sharing their work and lighting that fire within me. I had no idea the depth and breadth of possibilities of quilting – the book I had found was nothing compared to seeing the works in real life, which is why I’m so passionate about quilters sharing their work, and so excited to be involved in the Great NZ Quilt Show.

So yes, this newsletter has a lot about the upcoming show. Thank you for such a great response to the entry call, we have had over 150 beautiful entries, which will make for a wonderful exhibition. And we hope that now the exhibition entries are closed, you have time to finish a donation quilt to bring to the show.

Please consider being a volunteer for an hour or two at the show, it really helps us out, see below for details. The members breakfast and prizegiving attendance registrations are now open on the website, those details are also below.

Class signups close at the end of March, so get in quick and remind your friends or pass the class info onto your guild secretary to include in their newsletter.

And onwards and upwards to the next call for entries – the red colour challenge is due in May.

Last but definitely not least, we hear from member Denise about her trip to QuiltCon!

I’m off to enjoy the beautiful weather we are having, it makes up a little for the dismal Summer!

Ngā mihi

Charlotte Scott
Vice President