Well folks, you might think with this question that I have gone over the edge, but it is true....I was wondering about quilt shops in Auckland, New Zealand.

Our youngest daughter and her husband have relocated there for 2 years while she does grad work. I just bought tickets this week for my DH and I to visit in October. I can hardly wait to see our DD and DSIL but I hate to fly and this flight is a doozy. 7-8 hours from the east coast to the west and then 12-13 from LA to Auckland. Maybe if I know of some juicy LQS to look forward to it will help :wink: My daughter also wanted to discuss material and patterns for the quilt I have promised to her for her graduation in July of 2011 (how's that for planning ahead?), so we could put the quilt shop excursion to good use.

Anyway, I know that this board is international so I thought there might be some wonderful New Zealanders out there that could help.

Thanks in advance.

I'm at the other end of the Island, sadly, otherwise I'd offer to take you round all of them! :-)

There are some awesome quilt shops in Auckland. I'll dig out the NZ quilter and give you a list if you like.

Blue, If you have the time that would be totally awesome!!!!!!! Melissa (our DD) has only been in NZ since July and busy with grad school, so although she said she would try to find some, she hasn't had the time...and she's not a quilter, so it isn't a fix for an addiction like it would be for me. :lol:

No worries! :-)

I order from a couple of them online, but I'm pretty sure there's more that I don't know about.

I'll come back later on tonight with a list for you. You might be a little horrified by our prices though, quilting is a very expensive hobby here!

It is expensive here too, but not as high as there. I have looked at some fabric with Kiwi birds and Maori symbols on it from a NZ shop that only sells online, and did have a little "sticker shock" (as we call it here in the U.S.). But, fabric would make a great souvenir of my trip...don't you think? :D

Once again, thanks for your efforts on my part. I really appreciate it! My DD and DSIL have told me they find the folks in NZ to be very generous and kind.

Oh absolutely!! I do believe it's law, you must buy some NZ fabrics while you're here! LOL ;-) ;-)

If you mentally convert the amount back to USD, then it's probably not such a shock.

But we do have some stunning fabrics that are unique to New Zealand. And even just walking into a shop over here will be a cool experience for you, it will be interesting to see how different you think the styles are. I wish you were coming down this end! ;-)

Fabricland - Papakura (south of Auckland - about half hour), Quilters Dream - Massey, west of Auckland... cushla's village fabrics - Devonport, nice ferry ride over the Auckland Harbour.... calico cottage - west auckland.... patchwork passion, Onehunga... The Old sew and sew - Pukekohe... south west of auckland... wisteria cottage - waiuku, west of Pukekohe... There is one at Manukau, but can't think of the name... it is new... tell your daughter to have a look in the yellow pages for addresses and phone numbers... have fun !!!

There is another at Papatoetoe, south of Auckland, Stitchcraft.... also the apple basket patchwork shop at Kaiwaka about 2 hours north of auckland. Got cafe attached... lovely... various shops much further south of auckland... not in the auckland yellow pages so I can't tell you their names...

Blue, I wish we could meet too. I think we will be back next June or so, maybe we will have a little more time then and could arrange to meet. Until then I will just continue to drool over your beautiful quilts from afar! :D

Joy, Wow! What a list! Thanks, will probably have to look them up in the yellow pages when I get there, as she is totally wrapped up in school right now. She will just be finishing up a semester when we are there, so hopefully she will have some free time for us to explore the LQS.

There you go! :-)

The only one I know is Cushla's... they have a great website and I spend a lot of time drooling over their patterns.