Saturday 9th November

Lots of people came to see the tapestry but we only had one contender who has seen it several times and confessed she hadn't worked on it as she was worried she'd "mess it up."  I shared with her that I had been an observer (and photographer) of it for the past 6 month and had felt the same way but I'd conquered that fear and now was hooked! Once I started, and  all it needs is to start with ONE stitch) I didn't want to stop! So don't let your fear of messing it up with having a go. You won't regret it!

 Fleur (front) of Kamo and Beverley Compter,

 Tapestry Master and host for the day.

Good on you, Fleur for giving Tapestry weaving a go.
 I'm so glad you enjoyed yourself and plan to return soon.
We looks forward to seeing you again!

Tuesday 5th November, 2013

Our visitors today who worked on the tapestry include...

 Judi Downing, from Canada (left) and Anne McCloskey, from Auckland. They have been good friends for 45 years and regularly catch up.  Judi's next port of call is Christchurch where she will visit with friends 

she met 35 years ago on the Cook Strait Ferry during a 3-Day Strike.

Anne with Jill, one of the Tapestry Hosts, explaining what to do...

and Dianne, another of our Hosts.at the rear in the green top. 

Thanks to all the Tapestry Hosts for all your hard work and commitment!

This is Rose from Ruakaka.. She said she really enjoyed having a go on the tapestry.

and Helen, from The Palms Village in Tikipunga.

Helen with her friend, Cynthia who also lives at The Palms.

Caron Harrison who has come back to Whangarei from the UK to sell her house in Maunu.   She and her husband, Nigel who was a Cardiologist at Whangarei Base Hospital and the Conductor of the Northland Sinfonia, have twin grand-daughters back in the UK so are in the process of relocating to be closer to them.

Joel and Hannah, from the UK. (Brighton and Norwich) They are travelling through New Zealand from Christchurch to Auckland and had driven down from Cape Reinga after a visit.

A big thank you to everyone that stopped in and worked on the Whangarei Community Tapestry!

3rd of November, 2013

 Here's where we're at on the 3rd November 2013....making our way up the "mountain"

 First to visit and do some work on the tapestry was Hennie, visiting from Winton, Southland. 

On her left is Chloe, who is 12 and lives in Kamo 

 Hennie moved from Holland to New Zealand with her husband Herman 7 years ago as they wanted to be closer to their daughter and grand-daughter.

 Chloe was having a fun "Day Out" with Grandma, Debra (seated far left) and Granddad, Dennis (standing, on left) They're visiting from Queensland, Australia. 

 Herman happily watching his wife, Hennie work on the tapestry.

 More people checking out what's happening...

 This is Madeline Dyer, from Jane Mander Village in Kamo, Whangarei. It was her 87th Birthday on the 27th October and she was enjoying spending the day out with her friends, Dorothy and Martie.

Working on our tapestry makes one very happy!

 Madeline's friend, Dorothy Bartlett from Kensington

 

 The three ladies, all hard at work *smiles*

 Martie Rossouw, also from Jane Mander Retirement Village.

 They said they really enjoyed themselves and all wanted to give me a hug before they left!

 Daryl, (seated on left) was born and raised in Kawakawa, but now living in Melbourne. She is over visiting family and friends Claudine, standing (and watching the progress) and 12 year old daughter, Elleisha-Jade.

Elleisha-Jade was very good at weaving, having just the right tension which is really important in tapestry making. They stayed and chatted for approximately an hour. Thanks for stopping by and working on the Whangarei Tapestry Project. We hope to see you again soon!

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!