Labour Weekend

 Labour Weekend brought many people up North to Whangarei.

Oliver, 8 and his sister Lauren, 11 are from Warkworth. 

They both enjoyed having a go on the mini looms.

 We had a group of women visiting New Zealand from different countries.

They met at the BASE BACKPACKERS in Auckland City and travelled up to Whangarei together.

Lisa-Marie is from Austria

and Shan Shan is from Singapore.

It was so lovely chatting with these ladies. They stayed, talked and wove for some time. 

 

This is Marion from Germany. She is travelling with a friend, Petra who was hungry and went looking for something to eat instead of doing some weaving with the others. 

 Naoko showing Marion how it's done. You don't want to do it too tight, it pulls the warps in or loose, it's loopy and baggy and exposes the warping.. Amazing how these four women from different parts of the world met and came together to see/work on our tapestry!!

 Then we had Emma (5) her Mum and little brother visit.

 Her broken arm didn't seem to phase her!

 Emma's brother Dane wanted to have a go at weaving too. Start them young, I say!

 Dane is only 3 years old.

 SMILE for the camera!

What cuties...so good to see their enthusiasm. 

Sunday 20th October 2013

It was a quiet tapestry day today with no 

volunteers coming in to assist with helping 

people interested in having a go a some weaving.

Counter staff step in and explain a little bit 

about the community project to those who 

seem interested and people are happy to return at a 

later stage, when a tapestry assistant is available.

 I got talking to these two ladies visiting from Waiheke Island.

Petra Molitor (right) is with the Waiheke Island Spinners and Weavers. 

 Averil Patterson (nee Adams) looks on with Petra works a few rows.

She said her parents, Bob and Ruth Adams lived at Reyburn House before it was moved to it's present site in 1986, where it is now the home of the Northland Society of Arts and its art collection, as well as being a New Zealand Historic Places Trust Category 2 listing. It is Whangarei’s oldest house and lies beside the Hatea River in the heart of Whangarei and is a gracious, lovingly preserved colonial building.

Thanks for stopping by ladies...come see us again soon! 

Saturday 12th October 2013

 Look at how AMAZING the tapestry is looking!! Thanks so much to our committed Tapestry Volunteer's and all those people who have taken some time out of their busy schedule to weave a few lines. You are doing a great job...keep up the good work!

 Inga and her daughter Louisa, from Auckland were first to do some weaving on Saturday. Inga started the Top Sail Restaurant, Onerahi in 1992 and was up in Whangarei, visiting some friends.

Inga's daughter Louisa 

Tina and Victor (from Whangarei) taking photos of their friends weaving.

 Tina taking more photos of Louisa for keepsakes.

 Next we had Elisabet from Spain.

She is a Police Officer in Barcelona but is taking a break and travelling around New Zealand for 6 months. She was reading about Whangarei as a good place to visit on the Lonely Planet website and the people she was staying with in Auckland said they had a sister living in Whangarei, so they organised a weekend visit.

..and her she is, at The Bach with us....that's for participating in our tapestry project, Eli!

Naoko our very committed tapestry volunteer helping Elisabet weave. 

Elisabet said she really liked working on the tapestry and found it very relaxing.

Thank you so much for "Giving it a Go" Elisabet!

Debbie, a local here in Whangarei, was Eli's billet for the weekend.
Hope to see you again soon!

This lovely wee lass is Florence (5). She lives in Manchester, U.K and is visiting her Grandma, her Aunt Dianne (pictured) and Uncle Charlie. She came over with her daddy  and turns 6 years old in a weeks time when she will be going back home for a Surprise Birthday Party.

This is Nikki and her Mum, Simone. They live in Tikipunga.

Nikki is 11 years old and enjoyed having a go at weaving.

Once they were confident with the technique on the mini-loom, they moved onto weaving on the main loom.

Lastly...here is me. Your blog host, Julia. I finally got to have a got at weaving. I've been watching people working on it and photographing the progress for some time now but wasn't sure I "had it in me" to weave. But I did..and it is SO addicting, but in a really GOOD way! So come on in and "Give it a Go" - you might just surprise yourself and really like it!

Sunday 7th October 2013

Almost 6 months ago we commenced work on the Whangarei Community Tapestry...and isn't it coming along fabulously! We didn't have any volunteering weavers come in on Sunday so I made myself available to chat with people visiting to see the tapestry progress. We had a few families with children interested as it is the Spring School Holidays so had some willing subjects happy to be photographed while having a go on our "Give it a Go" looms. 

 This is Jodie. she is from Auckland and that's her dad in the background. 

They are thinking about the possibility of moving to Whangarei in the future.

 Iain (9) and his Mum are from Auckland too.

They live in Brown's Bay, North Shore

and in Whangarei for the school holidays.

 Iain's Mum having a go at weaving on the Give It a Go loom.

 This is Lotta and she is 9 years old as well!

 Lotta also lives in Auckland (Grey Lynn), and is visiting friends with her family.

 This is Mia, (Lotta's sister) and she is 11.

 Both she and Lotta enjoyed doing a little weaving.

 Lotta and Mia with their Mum, Linda and Dad, Patty.

 Patty working on the Whangarei Community Tapestry....

...and the whole family! Thanks for visiting...do come back and see us again!