2011: A great ending…

I enjoyed my stint as Guest Speaker at the ATASDA Queensland Branch December meeting presenting my talk: Travels to Uzbekistan & Kyrgyzstan

…I was still so excited and inspired from my trip (more details below) with Gabriella Verstraeten (and InterAisa Tours) that it was difficult to know when to stop…so I hope those who attended, enjoyed the talk and display as much as I did. Doing the extra research and checking finer details always helps the memory (especially as you get older!) and it was a great opportunity to show the textiles (and other stuff) I purchased for my collection…which seems to be growing larger!! It also encouraged me to sort and label some of the thousands (yes thousands..thanks to digital photography) of photographs I took…so many amazing embroideries, lots of felt, incredible buildings and those blue tiles!!! So thank you to the Queensland Branch committee for inviting me to speak – allowing me to share some of the wonderful stories of the trip.

WILD THINGS

Wild Things was once again a wonderful weekend … Wendy and I have so much fun working together to create all the textile goodies that are available for sale at the exhibition. Held again (this was our 3rd year) at the Richard Randal Art Studio, in the grounds of the Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens, it was another great opportunity to purchase a wide range of affordable Textiles.

Dates for 2012 are set….. Friday November 2 – Sunday November 4 …so make sure you put them in your diary. It’s the first weekend of November, not the last (as per previous years) and again there will be no Opening Evening…. so come and battle the crowds on Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday.

TRAVEL

In September, I had the opportunity to TRAVEL with Gabriella Verstraeten and InterAsia Tours on a Textile Tour to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan … and it was absolutely amazing. One of the best trips I have been on; the scenery, architecture, culture and art, all so inspiring. It was a larger than normal group, but we were still able to achieve the tour goals. Gabriella ‘runs’ a’ great Tour; it was an incredible and amazingly busy itinerary (and I’m not complaining!) with many visits to local/home felting, embroidery and weaving co-ops. My camera finger was never bored, mainly clicking the beautiful architecture and its decoration and the incredible suzani embroideries. Accommodation and dining was varied, with visits to local homes (home cooking), sometimes making the food difficult to believe. Our local and national guides were great and I for one, was quite sad to say goodbye to them…finding ice cream in the middle of the desert is quite a feat…and that’s just one of the stories.

Before traveling to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, I spent time (with Rob) in Rome and Sicily, also taking a cruise (on a very small ship) along the coast of Croatia to Montenegro, then spending time Istanbul. It was a most enjoyable trip, with several days spent in Rome and Istanbul (what a fantastic city…my favourite at the moment, all those splendid blue tiles), a week driving across Sicily (the tunnels and bridges are amazing, and so are the mosaics and the ruins!!) and the coast of Croatia and Montenegro is truly beautiful (lots of ancient architecture here as well).

I have just discovered I have a Croatian Great Grand Father, so it gave a different perspective to that visit. Lots of photos (again thanks for digital photography!) and plenty of inspiration for artworks….I took a days rest in Kaula Lumpur before joining Gabriella on the trip to ‘the Stans’…..I was away for quite a few weeks in total, but what a journey!!!

 SCHOOLHOUSE QUILTERS

In November, my local quilt group, SCHOOLHOUSE QUILTERS, celebrated 21 years with a delightful cocktail party, where members, their family & friends mixed with our local & federal members, Councilor Margaret de Wit & Jane Prentice MP.

A display of quilts decorated the Kenmore Library meeting room (where day & evening monthly meetings are held). Attendees were treated to delicious nibbles and champagne while being entertained by members of local community group SPACE, who were recipients of the quilt group’s Charity Quilt Raffle for 2012. As founding president it is rewarding for me to know that after 21 years, the group is still providing friendship & support for its current 80 strong membership.

I was both delighted and humbled to receive Honorary Life Membership…thank you to all members for continuing to make my dream a reality.