Quilting

Quilting in New Zealand

Patchwork and Quilting is relatively new as a craft in New Zealand. There are some "waggas" and other roughly made quilts in existence from the years before the sixties however most quilts date from then onwards.

In the late seventies and early eighties many women took up the craft and the first NZ "Symposium" was held in late 1984. There was another in 1987 and every odd numbered year since. The more recent Symposia have seen an attendance of 5-800 registered for classes and several thousand attending the associated exhibitions.

There are more than 110 groups/guilds in existence in New Zealand, ranging in size from 500 to 6 members. There is also a National Association which has a membership of over 500.

Local groups cater to their membership with monthly meetings, classes, exhibitions and Open Days. The meeting programmes range from out-of-town speakers to work days to demonstrations. The National Association does not have regular meetings for members, only the AGM, but it provides Workshops by Mail, a Shop Directory, a Tutors' Directory, a touring Challenge exhibition for members and at the next Symposium, in September 1999, will sponsor a seminar for teachers to improve their skills.

In the past several years "invited" exhibitions of New Zealand quilts have been taken to the World Quilt and Textile Exhibition in Pasadena, CA, to the Pacific International Quilt Festival in San Francisco, CA, and to Quilts Canada in Vancouver, Canada. Individual quilters have also exhibited quilts in Japan, Germany, UK, USA, Australia and other countries. Two New Zealand quilters have had quilts accepted to Quilt National, the most prestigious "Art Quilt" exhibition in the United States.

Marge Hurst
Quilter
January 1999