NZ teaching trip report

I posted regularly about my NZ teaching tour while I was there, on social media. I wasn’t able to also post here, as it is a little harder to do. So today I’d like to share with you some of the images from my trip.

I had a wonderful time, and really enjoyed sharing my knowledge with the students. The trip was simply wonderful and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to do it!

I’m on my way!

Smøyg in Auckland

We had a lovely time over two days with smøyg in Auckland.

Stitching in a beautiful, naturally lit room

Making good progress

Frisian Whitework in Waikato

In Cambridge, we had two days of Frisian whitework, working on my Tree of Life design.

Where I was staying, while teaching for Waikato Guild, was simply lovely. Look at the view! Look at all that green!

Hardanger Mystery Sampler in Waikato

We planned this trip only shortly before I went. That meant that when I was proposing the classes, I hadn’t yet designed or stitched this project, so it was known as the Hardanger Mystery Sampler. I thought that they were quite game signing up for a project that they had no idea what it was, other than Hardanger!

At the end of the class, they’d achieved all this! I was thrilled!

Mountmellick in Waikato

My last two days for the Waikato Guild were on Mountmellick embroidery. They learned a heap of stitches and started putting them on their cushion fronts.

While in Cambridge, they wanted to thank me for the huge amount of pre-stitching I had done for the Hardanger class – 2 hours for each student – and so they presented me with a medal! It was such a lovely surprise!

Carole presented me with the medal.

It was in Cambridge that I was finally able to meet Barb, the wonderful woman who took a chance and invited me to come to teach them in New Zealand. On 25th August, Barb made a phone call asking if I was available, seeing I wasn’t going to London anymore. Why not?! And so, on 31st October, I was on the plane heading to NZ. THANK YOU, BARB! You’ll never know how much it meant to me that you did this!

Hardanger in Auckland

Back to Auckland for another class; this time Hardanger.

Mountmellick in Whanganui

The final destination for my whistle-stop tour was Whanganui, where I had an enthusiastic class of Mountmellick stitchers.

Off to Whanganui. Not the smallest plane I’ve ever been in, but certainly not huge!

And then it was home, in a happy but exhausted state!

Thank you to Barb for the invitation and for all your organisation. Thank you to Trudie and Ann for organising your parts as well. Thank you to my billet hosts Penny, Louise, Cheryl and Anne.

Thank you to all the guild groups who hosted me: Auckland, Waikato and Whanganui. Thank you to all the students who came. Thank you for your beautiful stitching.

Thanks for all the fun we had together, the laughs, the sharing of ideas, the sharing of food, and thankfully not too much of the sharing of viruses!

I look forward to coming to New Zealand next year for the ANZEG conference in July, in Dunedin. My classes are already fully booked. (Hooray!)