recent travels

From the date of the last one a post is long overdue. I had 5 wonderful weeks travelling in Europe so it is time to share some photos. Apparently I've been back 3 weeks now, though it doesn't feel like it.

Before that, here is one of a wall hanging I made before the trip to showcase a piece of Italian lace. Friend Dawn gave several of us a piece of antique lace cut from a larger piece she found in Italy last year. It was interesting to see how differently the pieces were used when we revealed them on Tuesday. Sorry, I didn't photograph the others.

 

This has a confetti style workshop sample, remnants and part of a graduation silk as well as the given lace (the one with the tassles) and a little bit of beading. I am calling it 'Last pieces'.

I have been embellishing my crazy quilt started about 25 years ago. There are only 25 blocks being hand worked, and I have been slowly working on it in between other things (including a queen size crazy one by hand and machine for daughter Rachel). I think it is time to finish it now.

 

I am working on another couple of small challenges/projects too, but more of them later.

Now for an instalment on my travels, a five week trip taken with my friend Bronnie. Firstly we flew to Riga, Latvia to be met by friend and quilt artist Maryte Collard from Lithuania, whom I met at the European Patchworkk Festival in 2016. You can find her work here.   http://marytequilts.eu/   After one night in Riga and a tour through the city next morning we spent 4 nights in Lithuania. It was wonderful having our own 'local guide' - we saw and learnt much more than we would have otherwise. It was lovely seeing Maryte's work too.
After that we had a 2 week tour of Poland and 2 weeks visiting family before returning home.

So, to Riga, with firstly a visit to the Dome Cathedral

Of course we noticed the plaited rag rug in the area for children

The cloister had interesting museum pieces, lovely flowers and a pretty, laden crabapple tree in the courtyard

Then we took a tour throught the narrow streets of the Old Town

 

 

 

 A contingent of police or security officers marched into the square for some instruction or a briefing(?)

 

 One of several large bronze sculptures in a children's play area - big enough to sit on

 

 A street market 

 

The Lida, a  huge cafeteria style restaurant on the edge of the city with  gardens and playgrounds. Not sure of the significance oif the windmill

 

 

 Evidence of the international drink near the car park

 

 On the road to Lithuania

 In Lithuania, the Hill of Crosses - site of memorial crosses raised initially to the memory of young men fighting against the Russians around 1948, but re- erected and added to over the years.

 

 At the base of a large cross

 

 Maryte, and two quilts made from African fabric for a school in Ghana (which she has just delivered)

 

Maryte with an amazing scrap quilt made by hand. The scraps come from her from her other pieced quilts (some in the backgroungd of the top photo) made from her own dyed fabrics.

This is getting lengthy (and it is past lunch time!) - I think I'll continue with Lithuania in another post.        

where did August go?

What strange weather we are having. We have had wind, rain and dust storms, and the month ended with the hottest August day for many years, but it is back to cold and rainy today with gale force winds.
The time seems to have flown since I returned from Tasmania, and I have done quite a bit of stitching. Part of this was at the always friendly and relaxing, annual retreat, for the 'Material Girls' at Mannum on the River Murray. Once again we stayed in the Caravan Park Bunkhouse,

 

and hardly noticed the wild, windy and rainy weather on a couple of days. Otherwise the days were bright and sunny and the river looked splendid.

There is no bridge - traffic crosses the  river by the 2 ferries.

 

The old paddle steamer the 'Marion' is berthed near by. It takes cruises and functions.

 

The water level was quite high - a much better sight than in the following photo, the same view as the last, but taken in drought time in 2008. Then the lagoon was a sea of deeply cracked mud, and mooring points along the river were way out of the water in many places.

The bird chorus each morning (and much of the day) was wonderful. A recording would have been good - I did get this galah

and by the river's edge I watched 8 pelicans do their morning grooming.

 

 Thought the two headed creatures in this one a bit amusing - actually the centre one is 3 birds.

 

I did quite a bit of stitching - 2 table runners for a Threads group project for a local aged care facility,

some piecing and planning for a quilt to use a large bundle of coordinated fabric that I won a while back,

and some more embroidery on my one major unfinished work - a crazy quilt started about 25 years ago! It only has 25 blocks - I'll get there one day. I have about 7 blocks to complete, but each time I look at the 'finished' oness, I think I should have done more work on them... Still much to do on       these.

Between stitching we checked out the craft market and local shops, and enjoyed a great meal (no room after main course for a dessert!) at the Mannum Hotel.

Following are a couple of photos of the very picturesque town of Strathalbyn that passed through on the way to Mannum.This Norfolk Island pine has not recovered after being stripped by cockatoos

 

 

 Since then I have made some journal covers after a session at Threads group

 

and been working on a project with lace and paper. This is a couple of pieces.

 

It will be some time before this work is finished (especially as I havent quite figured out how I put it all together)

Out and about I enjoyed going to Adelaide Oval for a football match (even though my team lost!) and took these photos as I crossed the footbridge to the station with thousands of other folk after the match.

 

 

And a bit of the natural world - part of a splendid bird's egg,fallen from a tree

  flowers on a small conifer, 

 

 a fungus (?) in a lawn,

 and cheeky sparrows inside a restaurant!

They come in and out under the door, through a gap of about 2 inches/5cm at full flight!

That's it for now. Thanks for stopping by.