Alone Again- the first week

DH is back in South Africa. From the time I dropped him at O’Hare International Airport, to the time I was able to talk to him was 24 hours! Communications in other countries is NOT like here. For some reason his new iPhone doesn’t work. When he landed in Durban, the guys from work picked him up and had a few staples to help him get through his first night back in the Condo and I sent a jar of instant coffee with him. He was up this morning… well closer to noon so he could get his car and then make a short trip to the grocery and pay for the lease on the condo.

I took a class last week and I’m still thinking about what I learned. The instructor did not bring any information in hand outs. She really wanted you to read chapters from one of her books. So I took notes, lots of notes. Also we had to write down the exercises… that we were to do in class. There was one exercise that several had different interpretations for after writing it down. Also, I like to take a short bit of info home from a class to help me remember the class and instruction. Granted this class was not expensive, but I would have liked some printed material to keep. I think classes would be a better value if we didn’t have purchase items we never even open in the class. I think- that is why some students don’t come with all the items on the materials list. It doubles the cost of the class. I would sugges an instructor give a list of items we DON’T need to bring, but might be nice to have in class.








On Friday, a friend and bee member (Susan L) asked me if I wanted to go up to Northbrook to a Fiber Arts Show, sponsored by 3 different entities. It is held at the Botanical Gardens of Chicago, so there were some greenhouses to explore too. I saw some really great stuff, fibers, beading, some awesome quilts and some really pedestrian quilts. My favorite quilt was the Herons.

It was done raw edge applique, but it looked so lifelike.



This is a detail shot of the Heron quilt.

And the one that I had a childlike affection for was the African Quilt. It had animals, vegetation and bugs of Africa. The appliqué was so well done I could even name all of the animals, even the deer, (there are so many varieties, and they look alike).

There was one small quilt in the challenge that the beading detail caught my eye.

I saw one that was all photos, printed on the fabric and minimal embellishments to enhance the photo accordint to the maker, (it needed more!). But I have the photo for inspiration.

I had a good time in the greenhouse, and Susan got her camera out and joined me!!! I don’t know the names of most of them, so it’s just photos.

The 1st has interesting color, #2 is cactus flowers as are #3

#4 are pink flowers ; }, # 5 & #6 look like blue butterflies!!!




Well, that's all for now- More Later!!!