A gift

Bob bought me a nice surprise gift while he was in Africa recently. These two batik panels above are waiting to be included into a new quilt. Now where is that day with more than 24 hours?

South African National Quilt Festival 2015

I've always harboured a secret desire to visit Africa one day. In fact I've made a number of African inspired quilts over the years and these details are from a quilt made with friends after a day of swapping and sewing blocks for us all.

Now I'm very excited as I've been invited to be the tour host on a Down Under Quilts 13 day, small group, escorted trip to South Africa culminating in the South African National Quilt Festival! Tour dates June 24- July 7 2015 with options for extensions.http://activetravel.com.au/Trips/south-africa-quilting-fair/
Active Travel, based in Canberra have put together a very interesting tour, but we need a minimum of 10, maximum 16 participants. Is this something that appeals to you? I would love you to join me on this new adventure in the company of textile enthusiasts. A little rubbing along the way, anyone?
 

What were they thinking?

This lovely piece of commercial print fabric has been in my stash for a while and is perfect for a backing that I need now. However African animals do not include the tiger among the big cats. Tigers are found on the Indian subcontinent and widely in zoos which help preserve the population as numbers in the wild diminish. We were lucky to see one while on safari at Rathambore, Rajasthan last year.
 

Africa

Bob had a short trip to Malawi, Africa and came home with a gift for me.

This fabric is commonly worn by the local women as sarong skirts and used as baby carriers. He was told the bright colours are more favoured than the duller colours of Malawi manufactured cloth, which he was unable to buy.