The Ribbon

After hearing of my prize win I decided I needed to travel to Hamilton to collect it in person and, of course, view the other quilts on show. They were of a very high standard and I am pleased to be in good company. Congratulations to all the other prize winners and to all those who had quilts selected. Heart-felt thanks also go to the AQNANZ (Aotearoa Quilters National Association of New Zealand) committee who all worked very hard to mount a great looking exhibition despite noen of them being resident in Hamilton.Thank you also to Anne Scott of New Zealand Quilter for the very generous prize book voucher to use in the Minerva bookshop. I am planning a trip to Wellington soon! My quilt looks great on a black background, don't you think?

Quilts Aotearoa was part of the Hamilton Craft and Quilt Show run by Expertise Events. We arrived about 15 minutes after the opening time on Saturday morning and there was only a small, fast moving, queue for tickets. I headed straight for the quilts (of course!) and there was hardly anybody looking at them at that time. It made it easy to really study the quilts and get photos. The crowds did grow later in the day but I am sure the $14 entry fee was a bit of a discouragement for some people.

Along with the quilt exhibition there was a fantastic Creative Fibre exhibition. This shawl made me want to get out my long unused knitting sticks. It was made by Pamela Strode of Te Awamutu and she spun the wool and knitted the shawl. It won Most Outstanding entry using more than 70 % merino. If it hadn't already sold I would have been very tempted to buy it myself. I guess I'll have to hunt out those sticks :-)