Contour Lines Exhibition

28 Nov

Our 2021 Exhibition ‘Contour Lines’ opened at the Academy Galleries on 13 November. Boasting 83 quilts it was the largest we have had, and our hanging team had to think outside of the box to display as many as possible. This led to some being hung from the roof!

We also had a huge variety of quilts in both size and styles. And of course the quality was evident in every entry!

A huge thanks must go to our Exhibition committee who organised and re-scheduled two previous Exhibitions due to COVID. They worked tirelessly to get it off the ground, and set up for our enjoyment. Thank you to Fyvie Murray, Anna Hicks, Philippa Doyle and Marilyn Daly.

We are also incredibly grateful to our wonderful sponsors. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Black background with Absolutely Positively Wellington City Council Me Heke Ki Pōneke

Our raffle winners were:

Quilt: Rachel Jewel-Hunter from Feilding

First fabric hamper- Alison Elliott from Queenstown

Second fabric hamper- Jannette Lillas from Upper Hutt

Our winners were:

Challenge Quilts:

Our members challenge was to make a panel depicting a New Zealand folk song.

Quilt with two faces sharing an eye sewn in a stain glass window style. Most of quilt is shades of blue, with black lines and one red eye — Paulina Mudgway ‘Blue Lady’

1st Challenge- Paulina Mudgway ‘Blue Lady’

I found myself a blue lady

Runner up challenge- Jill Bowman ‘Wide winged bird’

At the end of the day, across a moonlight sky, comes a wide winged bird, sent to close my eyes

Quilt with feathers sewn on in the shape of two inverted triangles, with lighter feathers at the top and darker at the bottom. The background is a neutral brown/grey — Jill Bowman ‘Wide winged bird’

Detailed portrait quilt of a woman hanging from a car window with her hair blowing. Behind her is a cityscape with highrise buildings and cars — ‘Green Light’ by Riet van Koeverden

Viewers choice Award- Riet van Koeverden ‘Green Light’

I am waiting for it, that green light, I want it

Best in Show: Anna Prussing ‘There is a crack in everything’

Title from a song of of Leonard Cohen ‘there is a crack in everything… that’s how the light gets in.’ Made for my son Mathias Jordan who has spent many hard years to become a full time musician, letting the light in for everything.”

New & recycled fabrics, cotton batting. Quilted by Anna on a domestic machine

Quilt in scrappy squares of blues, browns and greys with pops of yellow — Anna Prussing ‘There is a crack in everything’

Detailed quilt made up of squares with a variety of birds and flowers throughout. Cats appear in some boxes as well to keep an eye on those birds. — Fyvie Murray ‘There are cats in my garden’

Life members award- Fyvie Murray ‘There are cats in my garden’

I began this quilt in Griet Lombard’s ‘Sparrow in my Garden’ class as a way to utilise unwanted table linens and embroidered cloths that no one uses anymore

Life members award- Amanda Evans ‘Kaleidoscope’

When our sons were little a favourite in the Christmas stocking was always a Kaleidoscope. there were hours of fun to be had with it pressed to one eye, making new patterns. When one of them saw this new quilt he declared “it’s the best kaleidoscope ever!” Happy days..

Quilt with a dark background, and symmetrical colourful polygons, some with spikes and extra details similar to the glittery shapes found in Kaleidoscopes — Amanda Evans ‘Kaleidoscope’

Quilt made to look like a beach scene, with scrappy layering making up the sky, distant hills, water and sand. The water looks rough with many white peaks, and many different blues and greens, including a lighter section that looks like a rip — Trish O’Kane ‘Rangi pai āpōpō- good weather tomorrow’

Life members award- Trish O’Kane ‘Rangi pai āpōpō- good weather tomorrow’

A big storm eases. The sky has cleared, wind is dropping, sea is still running strongly. Tomorrow will be a great day for sailing, possibly fishing. Made for friends who live in Russell and gaze east to the Bay of Islands. Machine-pieced curved-seam oblongs in strips, couched thread quilting

Life members award- Fyvie Murray ‘Improvisation II’

Quilt based on rectangles divided into triangles, trapezoids and lines with the occasional circle. The process was improvisational with sections being shifted around until a satisfying outcome was achieved. Uses silks from a bridal gown, cocktail dresses and lingerie.

Quilt made of blues and whites with pops of red and yellow made in rectangles but the colours divide them into triangles and trapezoids. The Quilting is straight lines that run with the shapes looking very angular and intriging — Fyvie Murray ‘Improvisation II’

Detailed quilt reminiscent of old cookbooks and kitchen papers making a display with many elements. A scone recipe stands out, lots of cakes and several pink sections. There is a quote that says life is too short to fold fitted sheets. Also birds — ‘Glory Box’ by Julie Hildreth

Life members award & Academy Choice- ‘Glory Box’ by Julie Hildreth

Now is the special occasion on which to showcase the beautiful tea towels and fabric items my Mum Elaine stashed in her glory box to use only for ‘best’. My favourite, the pink tea towel I bought with favourite sayings Mum often said. Made in loving memory of Mum xx from upcycled tea towels, fabric items and Kaffe Fasset fabric purchased in an op shop

Life Members Choice- Kay Coolbear ‘Alcea Rosea (Hollyhock)’

Started in a class with Camilla Watson in 2015. My first art quilt. Finished during August 2021 Lockdown. I loved the design process and how that translated in my choice of fabrics

A colourful quilt of pinks, reds, oranges and greens. Each rectangle has a hollyhock leaf on it in a contrasting colour — ‘Alcea Rosea (Hollyhock)’ by Kay Coolbear

A detailed quilt with a muted background and bright green plants and leafs rendered in exquistite detail. There are lillies, palms hanging hearts, hollyhock and other unknown plants — ‘In the (green) garden’ by Fay Holdom

Justine Samson Award- Fay Holdom ‘In the (green) garden’

I live green and gardens and the combination of these attracted me to this quilt pattern. This is my version of Julie van der Putten’s pattern ‘In the garden’ with the first block started at a Symposium. It has been beautifully quilted by Rayna Clinton.

Judges choice- Margaret Robinson ‘Ben’s Landscape’

This is the next in a series of 21st quilts for my late cousins grandchildren. Ben is now a qualified surveyor, and the earth toned fabrics with the contour lines quilted on it by Hannah seemed appropriate. But he likes the rugby players on the reverse side! The design is by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr

Made of natural colours, browns, reds, light blues and yellows and whites, this quilt is made of interlocking rectangles and squares with the colours making lines within those shapes — Margaret Robinson ‘Ben’s Landscape’

A muted quilt with squares that show flowers and nature scenes. There are woirds such as lve, faith and hope on it. — Frances Velvin ‘Blessings’

Judges choice- Frances Velvin ‘Blessings’

Based on a series by McKenna Ryan, I designed a further 3 blocks and sampler sashing to complete a unified design. Soft tones and low contrast conveys a sense of serenity and quiet confidence that God’s blessing bring -faith, hope, love, peace and joy

First time entrant- Trish O’Kane ‘Tutukiwi (Pterostylis banksii)’

Tutikiwi is a small green-hooded native orchid with wonderful curving dorsal and lateral depals. Started 40 years ago from photos in a native NZ plants books. It spent many years in cupboards, due to tricky and complex piecing. Breakthroughs? A WQG UFO weekend, STARCH and Hanna Dowsett’s key message: Never give up

Green orchid flowers reach to one another with red and deep green linking them. The border is four different greens in increasing sizes that create a striking green quilt — Trish O’Kane ‘Tutukiwi (Pterostylis banksii)’

A small, dark quilt with a thick border. The middle is made of random squares with tight stitching making patterns without a formula — Catherine Coucher ‘Boro exercise’

Excellence in Hand quilting- Catherine Croucher ‘Boro exercise’

Clare Smith’s boro class involves putting two layers of patches on a foundation then cutting to reveal the glowing layer underneath, instead of leaving things raw-edged, I added visible mending. Blocks of running stitch look like a veil floating over a secret opening or protection over a wound

Machine Quilting- Claire Hodgson ‘(Miss Porters Quilt) Verdigris’

This pattern by Di Ford is a reproduction of an 18th century quilt from the American Quilt Museum in Bath, UK. I chose to construct this and quilt it in 3 sections to make the quilting easier. The quilting designs are all original.

The centre is a 8 point star similar to a snowflake, it is surrounded by smaller squares alternating the 8 point star. Around the outside is feathers, with a vase of flowers at the corners and in the middle. The outer border is squares on point — Claire Hodgson ‘(Miss Porters Quilt) Verdigris’

Muted quilt with squares on point made up of smaller squares to create a woven effect. The smaller squares are greys, yellows and browns — Jane Stewart Dickson ‘Single Irish Chain with Feathers’

Merit in Machine Quilting- Jane Stewart Dickson ‘Single Irish Chain with Feathers’

Started in April 2017 when my husband went to the US for a four week course and I was home alone. I fancied making an irish chain quilt for myself and enjoyed the piecing and colour arrangement, Deciding to quilt a free motion feather pattern turned out to be bigger job than anticipated. Finally finished in Lockdown April 2020

Best Traditional- Gillian Kissling ‘Magnitude of Love’

A wedding quilt for our daughter. Constructed with English paper pieces, symbolising the connectedness of friends and family extending the love and support. Working from centre out, I felt it needed something strong and steady to frame it and my friend Claire Hodgson came up with the idea of hanging diamonds, my favourite part of the quilt.

The centre is hexagons made up in sevens suspended in grey. Red surrounds it and the border is diamonds that hangs on point and have red beads between them — Gillian Kissling ‘Magnitude of Love’

A wreath of green leaves and bright flowers is on a white background. the decorative quilting is clear, and made of flowers and leaves that mirror and enhance the colourful wreath — Amanda Evans ‘Summer Garland’

Excellence in Applique & the People’s Choice Award- Amanda Evans ‘Summer Garland’

I’d been making flower garlands to wear to music festivals and decided to make one for our bed too. Using blossoms and leaves from our garden, I chose this very raw edged applique to capture the rough and wild beauty of the flowers and plants where we feel most at home.

Merit in applique- Helena Hawke ‘Plenty’

‘Plenty’ is a reference to its fruits and flowers. Also to the skills I needed and to the help and encouragement which kept me going.

A detailed quilt on a white background, with colourful subjects. Hearts, plants and flowers make up the subjects. Around the outside is a vine looping around with flowers and leaves extending from it. At the top middle is a vase of flowers — Helena Hawke ‘Plenty’

A small quilt with hexagons arranged in diamond shapes with beads in the centre. There are some hexagons arranged as flowers in the centre — Anne Buckell ‘Liberty Hexagons’

Excellence in piecing- Anne Buckell ‘Liberty Hexagons’

I was gifted some 1” lozenge EPP blocks by Barbara Johnston. After much indecision, I assembled them and added 50% more hexies (2270 in total). I felt button quilting was more suitable for such a small piece rather than stitching, Having said I’d never have the patience to work with 1” hexies, I became hooked and really enjoyed the challenge of making a small quilt from left over blocks.

Merit in piecing- Christine Singleton ‘Galaxy’

I’m happy to have finally finished this quilt. It was started over 5 years ago using fabric from my precious batik collection. It also has batiks acquired from a friends collection from after she passed away, making it extra special. Pattern from Caliente Quilts by Priscilla Bianchi

A colourful quilt made up of 6 points stars that swirl sideways sorrounded by hexagons of a contrasting colours. The border is a deep blue with the very outside being strips of the colours as the stars- blues, greens, reds, yellows, oranges and greys — Christine Singleton ‘Galaxy’

Quilts of light squares with browns, greys and yellow interspersed. Pink lettering says I went into that strange place looking for connectors now there's a ghost in here with me — Catherine Croucher ‘Ghost Quilt’

Best Contempary & merit in hand-quilting- Catherine Croucher ‘Ghost Quilt’

This is about psychotherapy. Don’t get hooked on the therapist. The quilting is an analogy for life: trying to make progress in small increments, obstacles getting in the way of your rhythm and the final goal a long way off. Also things can get hairy

Excellence in upcycled- Philippa Doyle ‘Homes & Hospitality’

Remembering the homes and amazing hospitality of my parents through our favourite foods my mother made for us. This special memory quilt made from her ‘posh’ tablecloth and their clothes bring my whanau much joy.

Blue windows are off with the names of childhood foods embroidered between them. The background is white — Philippa Doyle ‘Homes & Hospitality’

Hexagons with a deep blue border are joined in this quilt. They start with light yellows at the bottom and travel to reds and greens before ending in blues at the top — Frances Velvin ‘Blue sky through autumn leaves’

Excellence in Use of colour- Frances Velvin ‘Blue sky through autumn leaves’

One of life’s little pleasures is to lie in the thick bed of autumn leaves and look up through branches to a clear blue sky. What joy the colours of autumn bring, to sustain us until the fresh green buds of spring appear. Begun in a honeycomb Spin class with Anna Hicks.

Merit in use of colour- Margaret Robinson ‘Esther’s swimming waves’

21st birthday quilt for my cousins granddaughter Esther, who is a budding marine biologist. Made from Jenny Bowker’s Shimmering Stars pattern and quilted with waves by Sue B’s quilting services.

Quilt of blues and greens that connect and blend to look like a deep shimmering pool of water — Margaret Robinson ‘Esther’s swimming waves’

And, of course, what everyone wants to see- the quilts that were entered into Contour Lines Exhibition

Our friends at Speldhurst Quilters Guild have also made a video featuring these quilts.

'Blue Lady'

'April Sun on Cuba'

'Damn the Dam'

'Green Light'

'Hine e hine'

'I see red'

'Outlook for Thursday'

'Poi E'

'Something in the water'

'True colours'

'When gods lie'

'Wide winged bird'

Nancy Goggin

Nancy Goggin closeup

'Galaxies'

'Galaxies' close up

'Reduce, reuse, recycle #1'

'Spring Quilt'

'Fabric manipulation -sunset colour'

'Summer Garland'

'Summer Garland' closeup

'Kaleidoscope'

'Kaleidoscope' closeup

'Quilters guilt'

'Contoured Waste #5'

'There's a crack in everything'

'Circle takes the square'

'Eye Candy'

'Liberty Hexagons'

'Liberty Hexagons' closeup

'Liberty Hexagons'

'Stash so large you can see it from space'

'Boro exercise'

'Epiphany wedges'

'Ghost quilt'

'Ghost quilt' closeup

'Great big zig zags'

'Little Boxes'

'Galaxy'

'(Miss Porter's Quilt) Verdigris'

'Family Memories'

'Family Memories' closeup

'In the (green) garden'

'In the (green) garden' closeup

'Blessings'

'Blue sky through autumn leaves'

'Sleepover at Nana's'

'There are cats in my garden'

'There are cats in my garden' closeup

'Improvisation II'

'Swedish Kilim'

'Magnitude of Love'

'Magnitude of Love' closeup

'Magnitude of Love'

'Plenty'

'Plenty' closeup

'The magic of Christmas -a lockdown special

'Single Irish chain with feathers'

'Pacific Sunlight'

'Pacific Sunlight' closeup

'Bejeweled Kaleidoscope'

'Colour Play'

'Afternoon Delight'

'Afternoon Delight' closeup

'Lockdown Stars'

'My Place'

'What can you spy?'

'Sunrise of the Papamoa Track'

'Birds of a feather Tryptich'

'Birds of a feather Tryptich' Tieke

'Birds of a feather Tryptich' Tui

'Birds of a feather Tryptich' Takahe

'Something special for my special girl'

'Jazzy Jewel Box'

'All my Christmases come at once'

'Glory Box'

'Christmas in the forest'

'Japan remembered'

'Alcea Rosea (Hollyhock)'

'Mediterranean Blue'

Te Ao o Ngā Honu/ The World of Turtles

'Ben's landscape'

'Pacifica'

'Esther's Swimming Waves'

'Paint Pots & Pomegranates'

'My African Quilt' closeup

'My African Quilt'

'Hexagon Stars'

'Hexagon Stars' closeup

'Lancaster Oak Leaf'

'Wine with everything'

'Hole in the wall'

'Homes and Hospitality'

'Homes and Hospitality' closeup

'No. 1 Willis Street'

'Fern Frond'

'Hyde Park'

'Scraps of Love'

'Tutukiwi (Pterostylis banksii)'

'Rangi pai āpōpō – good weather tomorrow'

'Desert Stars'

'Sweet peas for Hilary'

Lorraine Saunders

Contour Lines Exhibition

Our raffle winners were:

Our winners were:

Challenge Quilts:

Best in Show: Anna Prussing ‘There is a crack in everything’

Exhibition Review

Jeannette Lazet