Quilt Symposium : Part 1

Just had a long weekend away in Taupo for our National Quilt Symposium. Lots to show and tell you so this is Part 1 ...
Travelling the Desert Road last Thursday afternoon. Easy to tell we are mid-winter in New Zealand. 

and then we turned a corner

Very lucky to have sunshine & blue skies almost the entire time we were away.

6 of our quilt housegroup stayed together for the weekend. It was a great time of sharing and laughter.

Day 1 (Friday) started with shopping

I have brought home a few well-chosen supplies

Stencil at left called Sea Foam.
Design at right is soft metal to bend around a candle (purchased in gift shop Taihape) that will be repurposed as a stencil.

Lovely dyed wool - the roll on the left is a Sue Spargo range

On the left, images and charms from Distressed Threads.
On the right, beading needles and Thread Heaven to try out.

At lunchtime, I went to a talk by Robbi Joy Eklow - if you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know I have loved her work for a long time.

She was entertaining to listen to, and her quilts are so beautiful.

She talked about quilts she's made and showed us her studio - see some of that at her blog HERE.
In the afternoon, we went to see the quilt exhibitions which I'll share in the next post.