A major part of the quilting has now been done, although it’s been a bit stop and start. A recorded book helps keep me focused. Dare I think that tomorrow might see the last of it complete? I love the effect of hand quilting with the metallic thread. It’s not fast, although the stitches are big, as thread needs to be eased through carefully so that if it twists it doesn’t break

Postscript: tuesday 26th – all the quilting was finally finished last night and this morning the quilt will be bound, sleeved and signed, by lunchtime. I really enjoyed all the hand quilting and have plans for something more, in this genre, soon.

but it may not be what you want or need just now. I have commented before that you find the most amazing things for sale down in the sunday market, and these rolls of Made in Uruguay labels ( a la Cash’s woven name tapes) were just sitting out in the sun waiting to be snapped up by some garment manufacturer, I guess. … I’d have bought some if I could think of anything to do with it … well now that I think of it, I probably could have at least put one on every quilt I make while I’m here….well, next time we go I’ll keep a look out, if the stuff is still there I’ll take it as a sign and buy some to do something with. Perhaps something creative. Of course, if I go seriously looking for it, it won’t be there, may never appear again, things are like that here, quite often. Even in the regular supermarkets, things come and go from the shelves, sometimes reappearing, sometimes not. I suspect it is mainly fairly recent expats who really fuss. (We’ve got a pretty good stash of Vegemite, and sufficent hot english mustard to last for 6 months or more, probably) I have become progressively less bothered, and find myself shrugging my shoulders with out-turned palm gestures these days. There will always be something, it might not be exactly what I want, but it will probably do. Asi es Uruguay.

Wandering through some of my photos weeding out some not so good ones, and so on, came acrosss this other textile related one , taken down at the sunday market on Tristan Navaja recently. It shows just part of a veritable mountain of 1-3m hanks of bra elastic, various widths, basic colours of black, white and several skin tones, plus an odd pale blue and an awful green which hasn’t been in vogue in undergarments for decades, to my knowledge. Still they do say if you wait around long enough any fashion will come back again. So, is green the coming colour for bras and knickers, perhaps?

Someone said it got down to -5C this morning, I believe it, a strong cold wind and large heavy clouds racing across the sky greeted me as I stepped outside. All day the wind has blown, patches of blue appearing and quickly disapearing, a few spots of rain but not enough to wet the ground. We have very dramatic interesting skies here, which as a sky watcher I find thrilling at times. These are not this morning’s clouds, but those that preceeded a noisy wet windy storm we had a 2-3 weeks ago.

Sorry, these pictures will just not arrange themselves as I have directed them, I must have some finer points to learn yet. The other pic, of a sea mist rolling in over the city on an otherwise sunny day is something that happens quite often here, too. Sometimes it sits there a few hours and then evaporates or blows on, other times, especially winter, it becomes a fog that sits around all day. One time we were flying out, as we boarded the plane we were urged to hurry and be seated as a mist was rolling in and could prevent our scheduled take off. Another interesting plane/departure event was the night a few years ago when a cloud of mosquitoes came aboard with every passenger, it was terrible; people were swinging and swiping at them with papers and magazines, the cabin was not a pretty sight! and the hosties ran out of insecticide before the doors were finally able to be closed for departure. No pic, leaving that one to your imagination.

As I sit here and stitch away, I have been thinking about how multi-skilled contemporary quiltmaking is really prompting us to be. personally I have never seen quiltmaking and my great love, interperpretative stitchery aka creative embroidery as being any more than two backwaters of the same needlearts pond.

So far this piece is really an embroidery with beginning bits done with the aid of bonding/applique – how quickly that enables colour to be laid down. Of course other skills allow that, too , such as painting, spraying, printing of all kinds, various hand dying technqiues and stencilling.

Since the “Tree of Life” quilt, (mid may archive ) I have been thinking about my own personal language via symbols. These received a boost today as I read the posting on Dijanne Cevaals’ blog of some wonderful and carved fabric printing stamps from dried gourds. In one of the comments a responder gave the source of the meanings of many of these , although Dijanne herself with her familiarity with Africa clearly knows and understands what she has acquired, and appropriately with her strong connection with Africa she will probably use them in some interpretive way, too.

As I stitch away, I am listening to Craig Unger’s House of Bush House of Saud which explores the incredible links between the two families which have so influenced American , Middle Eastern and World, politics and economies since the 1970’s. Fascinating even if only a quarter of it is true. Talk about global interconnectedness. Joseph O’connor’s Star of the Sea, set between Ireland, the Atlantic and New York 1847, was wonderfully read by John Kavanagh. Once I am propped up in bed for the night I am reading Che by John Lee Anderson, a large tome which if I read it lying down threatens to break my nose if I nod off. I am enjoying it immensely, having tracked down the book after enjoying the movie Motorcycle Diaries, covering just a couple of years’ travel around the southernpart of South America while Che was still a young man. In the movie it is clear several experiences impact on him deeply, and just suggest why he became such an icon of idealism in the latter C20th. The movie left me wanting to know more about his life.