Arty Bras and the Tutors Exhibition

How about a few more pics to finish up our look around the Symposium Exhibition?  I climbed the stairs at the Convention Centre - it was a stinking hot day which made the stairs seem even steeper and discovered the Brazen to Brilliant Arty Bra exhibition.  Such a lot of colour and embellishments, cup sizes big and small, and all for a good cause.  Viewers could vote for their favourite arty bra , with the gold coin donation going to the Breast Cancer Foundation.  There were decorated bras as far as the eye could see.  Pink, red, black, some with fluffy animals on them, and I even noticed a fancy Christmas bra.  Eeek! Is that a big black spider in my photo on the left?  I didn’t notice that before!

Pretty in pink, except for that ugly spider!

I rather liked this selvedge bra, nice and understated

I can’t quite remember which one I chose.  Not that it matters, as we all  like to support this very good cause.  There was a Cancer Society volunteer on duty handing out the paper to write our viewer’s choice number on, and she was also well prepared with various Cancer Society pamphlets to offer to people who may be worried about their health.

She is a bit “ooh-la-la” 

Next I caught the shuttle bus to the Palmerston North Girls High School to check out the Merchant Mall.  But first I spotted the tutors exhibition and went in to have a look.  And look who I found – Christine and Anne from my former quilt club, Pinestream Quilters.  It was lovely to see them again, and we had a good chat and  caught up with each other’s news.

Christine and Anne from Pinestream Quilters

The first quilt which caught my attention was “Summer and Winter Island Strips with Oystercatchers”, by Sheena Norquay, from Scotland.  It was a very elegant quilt, full of wonderful quilting and I loved the tiny little embroidered oystercatchers.  

Summer and Winter, by Sheena Norquay

Betty Busby’s (from USA) “Coral Sea” was truly a watery wonderland, full of realistic fish, coral, sponges and an inquisitive turtle swimming lazily by.  There was such a lot of detail in this piece.

Coral Sea, by Betty Busby

Just look at this fellow!  New Zealand tutor Adrienne Walker made this wonderful “Roadside Rascal”.  He is full of all sorts of interesting textures and embellishments, and I think he is great!

Roadside Rascal, by Adrienne Walker

Mary Pal from Canada, exhibited her wonderful piece  “Horse of a Different Colour”.   Such wonderful free motion machine quilting, and I love the soft colours too.

Horse of a Different Colour, by Mary Pal

Australian tutor Helen Godden made “Rainbow Lorikeet”.  It wasn’t till I had admired the wonderful coloured bird, that I noticed all the different textures which Helen had quilted into the background. What an amazing quilt this is.  I’ve just noticed that all the tutor’s quilts I really liked had an wildlife theme.  I’m obviously drawn to the subject, the colours, and it goes without saying, the glorious machine quilting too.

Rainbow Lorikeet, by Helen  Godden

Finally I made it to “Quilters Heaven”, where all the merchants had their stalls set up.  It was fairly busy, people wandering all around, checking out this stall and that one.  There was plenty to see, people to chat to, and I wandered slowly around, looking to see what I could see.  Shall I let you into a secret?  I went home without making a single purchase! 

Are they buying or just looking like me?

I had a great day at the exhibition,loved looking at all the quilts, and bumped into people I knew, which is always nice.  There has been a huge amount of work to get this event up and running, I’m sure, and a big vote of thanks must go to the organising committee.  I didn’t register for any classes at Symposium – perhaps next time.