Armidale Symposium Reunion

Intoxicated, Val and I just had to take advantage of the patchwork and related subjects, taught by tutors from the UK, the USA, New Zealand, and top Australian tutors. So, off we set, along with 898 other attendees, to be in the wondrous environment of slashing, sewing, burning, dyeing, painting and cutting fabric.

The symposium at Armidale had been planned for one week to accommodate 300 women. It became 900 women over three weeks! I was lucky enough to be given the absolute joy and pleasure of planning and compering a patchwork fashion parade each week. Twenty years later, Val suggested we arrange a reunion in Melbourne, and she booked a hall.

We remembered the excitement and enthusiasm we had experienced and never forgotten, of our lectures, classes, lunches, exhibitions and most importantly the friendships we forged and bonded over those inspiring weeks. These friendships have become stronger over the last 20 years. The Armidalian friendships will never be broken and it is these friendships which were so evident at the 20th Anniversary Armidale Reunion held in Melbourne on Sunday, 4 May 2008.

It was a perfect autumn day with just a gentle breeze. After morning tea Val welcomed everyone and made special note of the significant contribution of emails and phone calls we\\'d had wishing us well, many nearly in tears with apologies of booked trips, poor health or commitments preventing them from coming. There were many of our dear friends who also attended the 1988 symposium who couldn't make it to our 2008 reunion, but were with us in spirit; including the editorial team of Down Under Quilts magazine - Deborah Segaert and Lorraine Moran.

The Armidale Symposium comprised of many integral components, not the least of which were the tutors, the classes and the students. These are the things we reminisced over the most on that Sunday in May 2008.

Just a few of the inspiring tutors we had, and are still influenced by, include Lorraine Moran, a born teacher who specialised (then) in patchwork clothing (jackets and vests) and who never gave up on a student; Pauline Burbridge (UK), a leader in contemporary quilts; Jan Myers (USA), a veteran with the dye pot, and who was amazed we could hang our washing outside – she lived amid the Chicago pollution; Sharon Craig (USA), so enthusiastic and inspiring; and our own well-loved and sadly missed June Lyons. Sweet gentle Prue Paape from NZ, who cajoled students into seemingly impossible techniques, (we all cried when she had to leave) and colourful Yvonne Porcella and Carol Bryer Fallert – both prize-winning patchwork artists from the USA were also remembered.

Pick-up the latest issue of Down Under Quilts to read about the rest of the reunion.
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