Quilt Symposium Manawatu

I went to the thriving metropolis of Palmerston North and lost myself among people and things textile. It was very, very good. The exhibition was superb, ranging, as it has to, from traditional to high art. It seemed to me the judges had used a fairly conservative eye in jurying quilts into the show, but then, it's a difficult job, and I don't envy them. My quilts looked pretty good hanging in some fine company. This quilt won best of show. The sky seems to be painted, and is beautifully quilted, the hills and sea are pieced. There was lots of discussion about this award, but generally people agree it is a beautiful quilt. What do you think?

Across the Bay II by Chris Kenna, Wellington

It was a very busy 5 days. I did a class with Sue Dennis. It was a great 2 days. There's something special about Queenslanders, they always make me laugh. I'll show you what I made when it's photographed. I like it a lot! I also did a class with Susan Carlson. Not so good results (yet) so I'm not showing you. I'll do some more work on it in future though, because it's going to be great. Susan was a lovely tutor, the work the class produced was really wonderful. There were lizards and fish and flowers and a house. She teaches fabric collage, and I'm making a rose. You must check out her pink rhino and her Polkadodo on her website here. I volunteered one day, and ended up helping out in Bonnie McCaffery's portrait painting class. She's a very classy lady, very professional, and I was impressed with her use of a video camera and data projector so everyone could see what she was doing. Bonnie's website has video and audio podcasts, well worth a look.

The next Symposium is in Wellington in 2009. That's something to look forward to.