Hoffman Exhibition

With no work for the last few days, I took the opportunity to travel into Wellington to Minerva, the home of the New Zealand Quilter magazine. The shop was hosting the annual Hoffman Challenge, organised by Needles and Threads of Geraldine. The rules state that the quilts must be no larger than one square metre, not to be square or rectangular, and must use a recognisable amount of the challenge fabric.

Minerva, Cuba Street, Wellington

Close up photography of the challenge pieces were not permitted, but I was allowed to take an overall photo of several of the quilts. Fifty-five entries were received, and twenty-two were chosen to travel around the country. My choice was “Tree Top Snack”, by Debbie Benton (not related) of Turakina. This showed the head of giraffe snacking on leaves set against a bright blue background depicting the African sky. My second choice was “Forest Floor Daisy Chain”, by Lois Templeton of Waiukau, consisting of three large interlocking circles, strung with daisy chains. This is on the right of the photo.

A view of some of the entries

The postcard shows the winning entry “Gossip”, by Margaret O’Çain of Dunedin, and shows two native ladies gossiping before heading home with their supply of water. The challenge fabric obviously suggested “Africa” to the maker.

Postcard of the winning entry

I didn’t leave the shop empty handed and came away with two books. The first was “Glimpses of New Zealand”, by Gail Lawther. Gail and her husband have enjoyed a couple of trips to New Zealand and the book is full of her wonderful photos, facts and figures, and thirty long narrow quilts inspired by her experiences. I’m sure I will get lots of ideas from this book.

My second purchase was “More Retro Aprons”, by Cindy Taylor Oates. Have to admit that I am a bit of a messy cook so I always wear an apron, and these looked so much prettier than those I already have. The patterns are multi-sized (so much more sensible than one size fits all) so I should be able to get the right sizing.

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