I went to a quilt exhibition yesterday. Sadly both Claire and Debbie had to work and not wanting to make the hour long drive alone I asked Tony to come along. He drove me. :-)
The International Quilt Challenge Exhibition held in association with Aotearoa quilters is on the road travelling around new Zealand at the moment.
Quilters from New Zealand, Japan and France took part in the challenge, with each country nominating iconic natural wonders around the world. Then one quilter from each country would interpret said wonder into fabric and create 20 inch quilt.There were ninety quilts in total, with thirty subjects. I didn't get photos of all of them, nor did I get artists details, but hopefully I did at least remember which country the quilters come from.
If you google images for each of the subjects you will see some of the stunning natural sights that inspired these talented quilters.
Sadly, my camera is not the best, but hopefully you get an idea of how amazing some of these pieces truly are.
The Great Blue Hole in Belize.
This piece was made by the NZ quilter. Her free motion quilting was lovely.
Staftafeli, a national park in Iceland with an amazing ice cave.
The NZ quilter created this amazing blue piece.
The Japanese interpretation was completely different, and very frosty feeling.
Halong Bay in Vietnam.
Another beautiful interpretation by an NZ quilter.
And the Japanese depiction.
The Giants causeway in Northern Ireland.
This piece by the NZ quilter is 3D The hexagons speak for themselves if you have ever been to or seen images of the causeway. It is made up of great basalt hexagons, as they cooled the volcanic rocks set into 'crystals' rather than the usual basalt slabs we are more accustomed to seeing. The buttons in the centres of some of the hexies depict the water that lies in some of the hollowed out tops and in places there were extra quilted hexies sewn onto the quilt, these depicted mosses and lichens that grow on the rocks. And of course, because she is a good kiwi, she made sure to include a pair of jandals (Flip flops.) in the bottom right.
The Japanese composition also referenced the hexagonal rocks and their fiery origins.
Aoraki Mount Cook. NZ
Mount Cook is the tallest mountain here in NZ, known as Aoraki to the Maori people.
The NZ quilter produced this striking artistic depiction.
The Japanese quilter depicted it in a more scenic light, showing the great numbers of lupins that flower in the national park.
Moreki Boulders is another iconic NZ natural feature.
I only captured a part of the NZ quilt which you see below.
The Japanese quilter has again chosen a more scenic interpretation.
Antelope Canyon in Arizona USA. A beautiful rock formation created by wind and water.
The NZ quilter.
Japanese
And french quilters all produced quite different interpretations.
Piton de la Fournaise, which in English means Peak of the Furnace. This is a volcano on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.
Of course NZ knows a thing or two about volcanoes and the local quilters interpretation depicts that.
I didn't capture the Japanese quilters entire work, but you can see a little of it under the Kiwi piece. It was more reminiscent of flowing lava than the peak of the volcano.
And below, the French piece, again featuring the fiery peak.
The Great Barrier Reef, an Australian national park.
I didn't capture the NZ quilt, but as you can see from the tiny taste of it above, it was a stunningly typical reef scene.
Of the three interpretations, I was most struck by the French piece.
These tiny diamond shaped log cabin blocks were amazing. each log finished at quarter of an inch!
In her description the quilter explained that the tiny pieces represent each of the organisms that live on and create the reef and the paler lightening strike shape is representative of an S for SAVE. Hinting that we humans must do something to protect and look after the reef before we lose it.
In an effort to show how tiny those pieces are, I got Tony to put his hand in there. He was very good and didn't touch the quilt. I taught him well. :-)
A Fjord Norway.
Kiwis also know a thing or two about Fjords as the NZ quilter shows here.
The Japanese quilter went along a more artistic and interpretive route.
I wish my camera was better and you could see the beautiful quilting, both by hand and machine.
The French quilter depicted a typically scenic and peaceful Nordic Fjord.
And for my final group of images..
the Northern Lights.
The NZ quilters depiction was strikingly colourful.
The French quilter used those same bright colours against a darker sky in this stunning quilt.
My camera really does not do justice to these stunning works of art, nor could it capture much of the detail that went into them. The whole exhibition although small was truly inspiring. It will be 'on the road' for quite some time so if you get an opportunity to view it, do go along.
The nasty virus I mentioned in my last post has moved out of my throat and is now sitting in my sinuses, thank goodness, life is more comfortable now.
If I could just get it to shift outta my ears...
Although it is/was painful and uncomfortable, I was still able to stitch (And visit exhibitions) and picked up the elephant project again. I've made great progress with that, and will share next time.
