Creatrix: Contemplation – Finding our unique voice takes courage, time and practice, its an ongoing, endless but ultimately fulfilling adventure, out into the wilderness of being
Over the past 18 months my life hasn’t been where I thought it would be, lol as life is sometimes!
I have been stuck in a weird, uncertain limbo waiting for the universe to show me the way to go. During this uncertain time I turned to the one thing that sustains and nurtures me (my soul), my creativity. Also being acutely aware of the approaching deadline to produce a body of work for our COOTS (Central Otago Outside the Square, Fibre Arts) exhibition.
Groping around in the metaphorical wilderness for inspiration for what my series would be, I came across an author; Lucy H Pearce and her wonderful books and publishing company. I latched on to her most recent book (at that time) Creatrix: She Who Makes. This book was balm to my soul. I bought the kindle version and I can honestly say I have never highlighted so many passages from a book in my life – it was just what I needed at that moment. I have since gone on to purchase the hard copy because it’s such a great book to dip into from time to time when you need a boost or a pertinent quote:
‘I am Creatrix, Constantly becoming Endlessly flowing Without limits. I am she who Dances, One foot on the moon, One on the Sun, Thread of time in hand And weaves Through the stars’ Lucy H Pearce
This poem was the basis of my ‘Creatrix’body of work.
Creatrix: Carpe Diem To be a Creatrix is to dedicate oneself to the cycle of creativity, dive into our intuitive self for ideas and inspiration
Creatrix: She who Creates A Creatrix creates art that is an expression of her inner world and a reflection of what she has sensed and/or experienced in her outer world
Creatrix: Lotus You can’t have the beautiful lotus flower without the mud from which it emerges. A representation of the creative journey. (And life)
Creatrix: Stitch Witch Being a Creatrix takes trust, courage and ingenuity to nurture the inner self and uncover the magic from within
Many of the fabrics in these pieces I have printed and dyed myself. They also contain layers of text, meaning and personal symbolism which, I think adds an element of complexity and depth to the work. Whether or not the viewer sees them or not is irrelevant – I know they are there and the infusion that those components bring to my work means a lot to me.
During this time ‘in the wilderness’ while I was making Creatrix: She who Creates, the first quilt in this series, I was often visited by a Blue Heron which is very unusual in this part of the country – I looked up the meaning of it:
This bird is known to bring good luck and prosperity to one’s life. It is a symbol of good luck, success, good fortune, and growth. It teaches us how to become flexible and how to be patient while things change around us, but also how to use our intuition when making decisions and how to trust ourselves more often than not. The blue heron is an excellent guide for those who are looking for new opportunities or want to make changes in their lives. It teaches us that everything happens at its own pace so there’s no need to rush things along if we want them done right!
OMG! lol – I am not known to be the most patient person and was thrilled but a bit grumpy when I read this meaning – looking back now I can laugh but at the time I wasn’t happy to just hold tight and be patient (hurry up and wait) . I wanted to get on with my life but the universe had other plans for me. I am very grateful that out of this time came a body of work that I am proud of and that reflects my continuing tactile life journey. Although if I had known it would take nearly two years before I would move forward from this limbo I’m not sure I would’ve been so accepting.
This Creatrix series is currently on show from 22 March – 21 April 2024 at the Lakes District Museum and Gallery in Arrowtown, New Zealand with the COOTS fibre artists group – this is always an exciting, diverse and visually engaging exhibition.
The Journey: without doubt, life evolves differently than our expectations. This quilt is about surrendering to the sometimes-gruelling, sometimes-joyful life journey, of letting go, not knowing where you will land. You cannot discover new oceans and distant vistas unless you have the courage to let go of the shore.
Matt
On 8 June 2021, three days before his 47th birthday, my dear brother, Matt took his life, ending a harrowing journey living with bi-polar. I won’t go into Matt’s experiences here – you can read his inspiring story on his blog. https://mymentalhealthjourney.com.au/blog/
To say this was absolutely devastating is a woeful understatement. Matt was such an enthusiastic, bubbly, funny and very kind human. His emotional intelligence, resilience, strength and compassion for others, his big heart and enthusiasm for uncomfortable conversations was aspirational and we shared a special bond.
A couple of months after his death I decided to go and have some quiet, reflective time on my own in Ruby Bay, near Nelson, NZ
I rented a quaint little house on the beach and let the sand, waves, beautiful sunrises and balmy weather soothe my grieving soul. A week there alone, I made some life altering decisions and the vision for this quilt , ‘The Journey’ came to me.
I came to a ‘knowing’ that our time in Queenstown was done, I felt that we needed to find a place that felt like home, where I belonged, I wanted a more temperate climate where we could grow vegetables and fruit all year round and have less stress and more tranquility.
Now to convince ‘the Builder’. We were in the midst of building two multi-million dollar homes so I knew his commitment to our clients would not waver. But I also knew he was tired, bone-wearingly tired and needed a break.
It took some serious open conversations, questions and really listening to each other which culminated in the hatching of a plan and getting our ‘ducks in a row’, preparing our house for sale, making an estimated time for completion of our projects. February was the ultimate time of year to showcase our beautiful home and so it was put up for sale then. We had a lot of interest and it sold within 3 weeks.
OMG shit was getting real now, we requested a delayed settlement and set to work finishing the building projects and packing up our house. We couldn’t tell anyone about our plans as we didn’t want rumours getting back to our staff, which might make them look for a more secure job and leave us with two unfinished homes. This was an anxious and lonely time as we were unable to talk about and share our decisions/excitement/anxieties with friends or family.
All through this process we were (and still are) both wracked with doubt and continuously questioning if we are doing the ‘right’ thing!
The builder had to turn away lucrative upcoming projects in favour of an unknown future – that was seriously hard for him/us, having had a successful business with financial security at our backs for all these years was a privilege and bought us such comfort and surety – what the hell were we doing turning away from that and heading off into the unknown.
Once we secured future jobs for our guys we were able to talk openly to friends, family and staff about our plans, our staff promised to stay on until the end of the projects.
Selling our beautiful home
We purchased a caravan and on 9 June 2022 (exactly a year plus a day after Matt’s death) we drive into the unknown to have a break for a few months, drive around, spend time with nature in beautiful Aotearoa, and just ‘be’. Once we have rejuvenated we will ponder on what we would like to do and where we feel drawn to live.
I can hear and see Matt, clapping and cheering us on, this is exactly what he would love for us to be doing.
So here we are living brave, surrendering to the journey, letting go, braving the wilderness of uncertainty, not knowing where we will land, just trusting – we are aiming for new oceans and distant vistas – digging deep for courage to accompany and guide us on our journey.
For those of you that have read this far Thank You so much for taking the time to ‘hear’ my story. If you happen to see this quilt in an exhibition, you now know the story and journey that brought it into being.
Technical details regarding ‘The Journey’ quilt made using my own deconstructed screen printed fabric (details of how I make my fabric is here), fabric collage, raw edge applique, machine quilting
I want to share with my readers a glimpse into the underside or thinking that motivates and inspires my work as a quilt artist. Often art is seen as a simple skill or execution of knowledge but I know it is more than that.
‘Belonging’ is part of a body of work which I call my Courage and Integrity Series I have been working this on this series over the past two to three years reflecting my own journey in life.
This series is so close to my heart and has really allowed me to challenge my skills to bring my vision alive. Every artist has their story and for me my story is about being vulnerable and brave to represent it physically, for others to appreciate, enjoy and reflect on.
DISCLAIMER: All quilt arts created by Wendy Ward (thats me) are created through personal experience. All of my quilts acknowledge a source of outside inspiration (if there is any).
‘Belonging’ True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are. Belonging to ourselves means being called to stand alone. To brave the wilderness of uncertainty, vulnerability and criticism. Inspired by Brene Brown’s book ‘Braving the Wilderness‘ – In studio photo – not great, lol – it actually does hang straight!
‘Belonging’ is the most recent and largest quilt (180 x 150cm) I have completed in the series and took a lot of emotional excavation to create. After reading Brene Brown’s book ‘Braving the Wilderness’ I jumped into the ‘arena’ and summoned up the courage to bring my authentic self into my art. Most of my art/series’ has involved personal stories but not at the level this one has.
I have developed the use of figures as my own personal symbolism and use them in many of my designs. I have written about how this series started and some of my processes here (in a previous post).
My family has been through some considerable tragedy and the dark part of this quilt represents that. The ‘fractured’ figure walking from the tragedy represents me emerging from this tragedy a bit broken but still ‘me’ (with little bits of colour showing through the cracks; the influence of other people in my life and their affect on me). All the figures have been created by collaging little pieces of fabric in each colour representing; that although we are different colours we are all made up of lots of different experiences and influences that shape us. The yellow figure is also a further representation of myself being able to acknowledge and welcome the broken part of me as part of who I now am and having the courage to keep moving forward on my journey with her walking alongside me. The deconstructed screen-printed background (thanks Leah Higgins for your brilliant book) of the lighter side of the quilt illustrates that the future is not a clean slate but carries remnants of the past. The group of people represent society (and my family) and being brave enough to be myself amongst them. The ideas and techniques for this quilt happened reasonably quickly but I spent a long time moving the figures around forward and back to get the layout to my visual satisfaction. This quilt demanded to be large!
work in progress for ‘Belonging’‘Belonging’ in progress
Belonging’ along with the others (detailed in an earlier post) was part of a body of work that was exhibited with my fellow COOTS members at our biennial ‘Visions’ exhibition earlier this year – unfortunately due to Covid-19 our exhibition was shut down early (after only 10 days). Even though the exhibition was cut short I sold two of my pieces (‘Braving the Wilderness’ and ‘Courage’), such a validation to me for creating authentic and vulnerable work and being brave enough to put my art ‘in the arena’.
I have never entered an international quilt exhibition before and consider myself to be reasonably inexperienced in this domain. I entered ‘Belonging’ into the Festival of Quilts exhibition this year (2020) and was so elated and thrilled to be shortlisted in the art category.
‘Belonging’ in progress – for the sewing nerds you can see the stitch and settings I use to attach my figures to the background
The tools gained from Brene Brown’s books have been instrumental in my life, since I have read and reread them. In general, assisting my approach and helping me handle my experiences with integrity and generosity (not every time, but when it really matters). Thanks Brene for your inspiration and empowerment, for helping to make this series of work so authentic. I go forth bravely, ‘daring greatly’, ‘rising strong’ and ‘braving the wilderness’.
This tactile journey we are on is an amazing experience and made even more incredible by testing the skills and learnings that go into our every day psychology and behaviour, making us who we are and who we are becoming. I stand steadfast on my artistic journey and I will, wherever I can uplift, support and boost women who are being courageous, vulnerable and authentic in their approach to their art – this is what creates a fabulous art community for all to share their skills, talents and stories.
If you are still reading, thank you so much for taking the time to read about my process, experience and my story.
Having dabbled in thickened dyes in a class with the fabulous Clare Benn (whom I felt so privileged to have been in her workshop), I then discovered another UK artist called Leah Higgins and her fantastic book ‘Breakdown your Palette’. Leah’s step by step instructions and fabulous photos lead me to experiment with breakdown screen printing – I was head over heels in love – as my instagram followers can probably attest – after seeing many photos of the process posted there.
Screens dried and ready for printingscreen ready for printing
I wanted my art to contain authentic pieces of fabric created by my marks and my hand – as those who know me know that I am fascinated by mark making and the human need to make our mark on the world – some of my quilts have illustrated this along the lines of architecture being a form of making our mark.
Anyway after a few days of creating fabrics, I then started using them in my work. ‘Braving the Wilderness’ was the first in this series and uses a figure that I have used before in other work as an illustration of myself (of course I am tall and slender!! Haha). I have been using figures on and off over several years in my work – I just can’t seem to let them go.
Braving the Wilderness: Choosing courage over comfort (the words on the quilt are not actually on the quilt) this is a copy of a photograph my daughter put on Instagram at the opening of our COOTS exhibition earlier this year.Home is Where your Story Begins. For most of us our home is our haven, where we get to really be our true selves, take care of ourselves, and others whom are fortunate enough to be invited into our homes
‘Home is Where your Story Begins‘ incorporates a lot of symbolism I have used in past works – the architecture, house plans, the human figure, maps and rusted fabrics – all lead to who I am as an artist. What we do in our past influences our future and what we learn comes out (after a lot of cogitation over time – for me).
detail of ‘Home is Where Your Story Begins’Courage: Show Up, Be Seen, Live Brave
‘Courage: Show Up, Be Seen, Live Brave‘ was next in the series using figures that have been patched together to illustrate that all of us are different colours but we are, every one of us, made up and shaped by our own experiences, influences and other people in our life journey.
All these pieces were created after reading the work of Brene Brown, a shame researcher, who has an amazing sense of humour and exceptional storytelling skills. I will talk about my larger piece ‘Belonging‘ in my next post.
When I first decided I would go to IQF in Houston I googled to see if there were any hints etc for me going as a first timer from the other side of the world – I didn’t find much – so I resolved that after my visit to Houston, I would do a blog post to write about the hints and ideas that I would have found helpful.
Indigo Party by Maggie VanderweitView of the pool from my room (Marriott Marquis)
Okay – if you can stay at either the Hilton or the Marriott Marquis – they are both attached to the Convention centre where IQF is held. This saves the need to have transportation and you can always go back to your room during lunch breaks. Also if the weather is bad you are undercover getting to and from the Convention Centre. I noticed that about two weeks after Festival the IQF organisers put a post on their Facebook page that accommodation was open for next years event. So if you really want to stay nearby book your accommodation early. I have heard that some people book from year to year.
View of the Convention Centre from our hotel
It is worth noting that our hotel (the Marriott) charged my credit card, upon check in the equivalent of four nights accommodation and then proceeded to charge each nights accommodation as the days went on (this meant that a considerable amount of money was ‘tied’ up by the hotel during my stay). On the second last day, they wiped all the charges and then charged the correct amount. So I would recommend taking two credit cards – one for accommodation and one for spending.
Coffee pod machine in hotel – also useful for making tea
For those of us who don’t drink coffee there is no electric kettle in the hotel rooms – but there is a small pod-type coffee machine, so you can just run the hot water through the machine to heat it and run it directly into your cup (with a tea bag in it) They do provide plain tea, but of course I like herbal so took my own.
Interestingly, I advised my credit card companies that I would be away at an Expo and that vendors from around the globe would be there so that they wouldn’t decline any transactions. At one point my bank did phone me to ask whether it was me using my card, lol must’ve got concerned at the rate I was making purchases.
Okay now we have made the hotel choice. When the class options come out, make your choices – and because they now have online enrolment it makes it easy for us international ones to get into the classes they want.
When registering for your classes, functions and lectures be aware that the lunchtime is two hours – so it is definitely worthwhile taking in a lunchtime lecture or going back to your hotel as Festival does not open until Thursday night (classes etc run from Monday to Sunday).
On a side note – Festival is different to Market – Quilt Market is for designers, shop owners, importers/ exporters/ wholesalers to peruse and make purchases – you are not allowed into Market unless you have the required (pre-authorised) credentials. So Market runs for about a week prior to Festival. I think it finishes at the end of a Monday. So most vendors leave on the Tuesday after Market and a lot of new ones spend 3 days setting up ready for Festival (Which opens on Thursday night).
Lanyard on registration
Anyway – back to Festival if you are going to classes it is advisable to register at the Convention centre on the Sunday afternoon – you get a bag with all the details on where your classes are etc and you can walk around and find your rooms etc.
WEAR COMFY SHOES. That was the advice I was given and it was absolutely true – nothing prepares one for the sheer size of IQF. The convention centre runs for about 12 blocks. When you enter one end (from your hotel) you literally cannot see the other end its that far. Apart from class days you spend a lot of time on your feet, so be kind to them. Even the distance of walking to and from classes is considerable. For those who are less mobile there are facilities onsite to hire electric motor scooters (they look quite fun)
The quilt show and exhibitors (vendors) are on the lower level. Level 2 is all the admin, registration etc. Third level is ballrooms (where functions are held), classrooms etc. There are huge porthole windows on level 2 so you can view the exhibitors and get exited about opening night.
The classrooms are air conditioned and I would recommend layering of clothing – it was very rare that I took my cardigan off in the classrooms, but on the Festival show floor I never wore my cardigan – It was air conditioned but not cold – the classrooms were definitely cooler.
View of Quilt show from second floor porthole window
Okay – eating. Near to the convention centre (a few blocks away) is a store called Phoenicia – it has relatively healthy food, ready made salads, meals etc as well as a grocery type layout – they also have an attached restaurant and an area where you can sit and eat what you have purchased in the store. We bought snacks and foods to keep in our fridge in the hotel room. And after a hotel breakfast on the first day, we went back to Phoenicia and purchased food for breakfast and kept that in our room and just had that each morning instead of in the hotel restaurant. (This allowed us more money to spend in the vendor stalls instead of on our hotel bill) and saved time waiting for hotel breaky.
Halloween Cake from Phoenicia
There is limited food at the convention centre for lunches (but it is sufficient) the only thing is you have to queue for it. They have a choice of usual fast food type meals and also there was a salad option. Bear in mind that you do have two hours for lunch so there is plenty of time to go out.
For those who have registered for classes you get an early preview of the Quilt Show and Vendor stalls on the Thursday night for two hours prior to it being open to the public. At no time did I feel crowded or hassled by people – there were over 1000 vendor stalls there and the isles are wide, I think there were 25 isles with about 55-57 vendors in each isle. Coming from NZ this was just an Aladdin’s cave of treasure – there was a huge variety of vendors with something for everyone, and not too many double-ups in terms of products. A lot of the vendors were selling their own products and it was nice to talk to the maker. There is also a ‘bag check’ outside the hall doors so when your purchases are too cumbersome or heavy to carry you can check them in to be held for you (at the time we went it was a $2 fee for each bag) We were given very large bags by some vendors so we could load them up and have them checked. (No wheelie bags were allowed on the show floor)
The show floor opens at 10am each day from Friday till Sunday and closes around 7pm Friday-Saturday and 4pm Sunday. The preview night is from 5-9pm. On another note the shopping malls in Houston also open at 10am.
In the city, the pedestrian crossings don’t make a noise (signal to cross) so you have to watch the lights to signal when to cross – its the little things, lol. We used Uber and it was fantastic. There are not a lot of pedestrians in the city and we later found out that there are kilometres of underground tunnels that all the office workers use to get about – as it is too hot outside – they even go to their doctors, hairdressers, etc underground in these tunnels.
Beautiful food from Xochi
We stayed in the Marriott Hotel and we ate (several times) at their Mexican restaurant Xochi – it was sensational food and the selection of Margaritas were also worth trying, yum
We were at IQF from Sunday to Sunday – we needed all that time as we filled the first four days with tours, classes and events and then visited the quilt show and exhibitors over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday and we needed all those days to see everything. I did one of the Quilt Museum tours which took us out of the city and gave me an insight into the surrounding area – we went to a couple of quilt shops and a little town called Le Grande which is where the Museum was. If I went back I would go on the tour to Galveston as that looked interesting too.
Sign outside the Show entrance – interestingly several restaurants had smaller versions of this in their windows
I would recommend registering for one of the ‘Sampler’ options this was really interesting (you were free to walk around the ballroom where up to 24 artists, makers, inventors were giving mini lectures, demonstrations etc of their technique, product etc it was a really worthwhile time. While you are queued up waiting to go in you are given sheets of A4 paper, one from each demonstrator detailing what they will be demonstrating or teaching and you can make your choices on where you will go once you are in the room. You can then roam around for up to 2 hours watching and learning.
We also went to the Awards evening which was very professionally ran and the way the winning quilts were displayed was so respectful and honouring to the makers.
Ally and I in our ‘kiwi’ costumes
We went to Quiltapalooza which was a fun night sitting around tables with 500 other ladies who all love the same things. Their were door prizes, table prizes, raffles and lots of laughs with a boxed dinner provided. Our table even won second place in the ‘make a monster’ competition with the materials provided on the table. It was Halloween which really added a fun touch to the night and prizes were given to those brave enough to venture onto the stage to show off their costumes.
Quilt Diva waiting in the queue for Quiltapalooza
Prizes from Quiltapalooza- necessitating the need for a second suitcase!
All the events I have talked about above we had pre-registered online for when enrolments opened a couple of months prior to the show. We had an absolute ball, was worth the travel to this bucket list event and I would go back (after I have saved some money).
I hope this might give some insight for those who have not been to Houston Quilt Festival before and help you with your preparations.
Farewell Guacamole and Margaritas and Hugos, Houston Airport
I will make further posts on all the quilts at the show.
Over the past few months, I have been collaborating with my young (now 6 year old) nephew, Caleb to translate his amazing drawing of his local community into fabric (a quilt). Caleb’s mum took him out (this started when he was 4 years old) into his surrounding local community and talked about the meaning of being part of a community and interaction with both people and buildings. Over various outings he would draw (in situ) some of the buildings in his area. She would send a picture to me via private message showing me his drawings. Immediately I first saw them, I thought wow I would love to do these in fabric. Time went on and so his collection of drawings grew.
I was then commissioned to translate his drawings in fabric. On a brief visit to Melbourne in 2018 I had a consultation with the artist and had copies made of his drawings.
The original drawings
I then came home and cogitated for some time on how I would execute his drawings. My primary objective was to maintain the integrity of Caleb’s ‘mark’ and the character of his line and drawing in my interpretation of his journey.
I came to the conclusion that it was beyond my capabilities to execute this at the size it was, it would require a lot of embroidery rather than appliqué and fabric. So I enlarged the drawing from 2 A3 drawings to 2 A1 drawings, this then allowed me to use fabric for all his black lines rather than thread.
In a nod to my quilting/patchwork interpretation I decided to ‘piece’ the background/sky and road. I chose to use a variation of the pinwheel block for the sky to signify breeze and movement and a checkerboard for the road.
Pieced pinwheel blocks for sky
Pieced Background sky and road
While I was piecing these blocks, I was mulling over how I would proceed with the quilting. After processing various scenarios I decided that I would quilt the whole background and then appliqué the various elements on afterwards and stitch around them to secure them down.
Selecting colours
Next I pulled fabrics from my stash, making sure to select either batiks or fabrics with a very close weave to mitigate chances of fraying, as there were going to be lots of small intricate pieces. I used a light box and traced the reversed drawings onto Vlisofix (fusible webbing) which was then ironed onto the appropriate colour and cut out by hand. All parts of this quilt were hand traced and hand cut in order to preserve the artists mark. I have learned since making this quilt that I could’ve used a ‘scan and cut’ machine, but to be honest the numerous pieces of cutting wasn’t arduous and quite easy to do whilst watching TV at night.
Vlisofixed fabrics ready for cutting out
I had some help, on occasion, from Jago who was very interested in the project!! I couldn’t have done with without my clover mini iron, my omnigrid super sharp small scissors and my stiletto, reasonably simple tools but made my job so much easier especially doing all those tiny bits of windows for the church.
Stitching the wordsUsing whipped chain for the larger letters
I traced Caleb’s writing onto white cotton, backed with a fine knit interfacing to hide the thread knots and carrying on the back, this also stabilised the fabric while I was stitching it. I used whipped chain stitch in pearl #5 for the larger letters and used pearl #12 in backstitch for the smaller letters.
Embroidered signs
Once all the components were were executed, I then had to decide whether I would applique them to the quilt, then stitch around all the shapes and black lines or whether I would stitch all the lines, leaving the outside ones and then stitch around the outside lines once it was applied to the quilt. I then also had to decide what kind of stitch to use, whether it was a blind hem, blanket stitch or just a plain straight stitch. Lots of samples were made before deciding to straight stitch all components separately and then appliqué them onto the quilt and stitch through all layers to anchor them. This posed the dilemma that because all the black lines were quite thin the sewing machine needle and thread would ‘push’ the weave of the fabric to the outside and it would start to ‘fray’. I resolved this by using Sew Fine thread and a #70 Microtex needle. My machine did not like the sew fine thread in the top and bottom and it would shred every few minutes, this was so frustrating but I had no other option and just persevered on. Towards the end of doing this marathon of stitching I discovered Aurifil 80wt cotton, my machine loved it and I had no problems, but I only had a few short hours left to do by this point!
Laying out the components prior to quiltingConsultation with the artist
During the process I had a visit from the artist and we had a wee consult, I asked whether he thought it needed anything added or subtracted. He said it needs people and cars and offered to draw them for me there and then. The artist requested ‘texta’s, paper and a clipboard’ hmmm I assumed ‘texta’s’ were our equivalent of a sharpie marker and yes that was perfectly adequate for the job, using a rotary cutting mat and a bulldog clip sufficed for a clipboard, lol. Caleb had specific instructions as to where the extra components where to go.
‘The sun has to go above the pointy part of the roof of my house. The family has to go between the two houses.’
The family
Hmm I had to take artistic licence and vary the instructions a little. There was not enough room between the houses for the family, so they went under a tree outside the school, the sun was placed as per instructions.
After doing all the stitching inside every shape and line (eye rollingly boring part) I appliquéd each piece into place and then stitched around the outside and through some parts of the middle of each piece to anchor them to the quilt.
Finishing off
While Caleb was giving me the extra drawings and instructions I asked him to sign his name (as every artist always signs their work), which I then stitched and added to the back of the quilt beside the label.
Finished
It was such a fun project to do and I was fully engaged throughout the process. I submitted Caleb’s Community’ as an entry for the New Zealand National Quilt Symposium bi-annual exhibition. I was delighted that it was selected.
Detail of Caleb’s CommunityCaleb’s community 195cm x 78cm (78”x 30”)NZ National Quilt Symposium 2019 Winner Art Quilt
I was absolutely delighted, excited and humbled to be awarded winner Art Quilt category at our National bi-annal exhibition. My job with this quilt is now done and it will wing its way to Australia now to be with its co-collaborator. It was such a joy and a valuable learning project to completed, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of doing this quilt. Who knows, if you are involved in early childhood learning you may see it at one of Kelly Goodsir’s presentations.
Today we were up early and away to the Cu Chi tunnels, we went by speed boat as it was slightly quicker than the bus and we got to look around well before all the tour buses arrived. Our guide was very knowledgeable but quite intense, he really stared at you when he was talking – quite unnerving.
Once again the photos are all out of order, here is Trev climbing into one of the tunnels, we only got to try them for size at this point, later on we had the opportunity to go in one.
A booby trap pit
We also had the opportunity to shot guns – Oh boy, they were so loud, but you could here them all the way through the bush, so it gave quite an authentic experience. Trev shot an AK47 which is what the Viet cong used and I shot a M16 which is what the Americans used. We were asked if we wanted to shot off a whole magazine of a automatic machine gun mounted on the back of a Jeep, but that was around $250USD, so we declined!
A guide showing how they got into the tunnels
These are rice paper drying on bamboo racks, all through Vietnam these are made every day, you can tell the hand made ones by the pattern on them. The ones we get in NZ are all machine made and very hard and brittle, they keep theirs wrapped in big leaves like banana leaves to keep them supple and ready to use.
There was even a sewing machine for making the viet cong uniforms. Some of the tunnels had big rooms in them for making weapons, cooking and dining, the rooves had been taken off so we could see inside.
The Vietcong sandals made from car tyres
We then had the opportunity to go into a part of the tunnels (there are over 250kms of tunnels), I went to go in, but decided it was not for me. There was another group right up behind me and I felt very uncomfortable, they had widened it slightly for westerners, but even still I backed out.
Here is Trev coming out the other end, he doesn’t look happy, he said it wasn’t a nice experience and that I had made the right decision not to go. We had the choice of doing 20, 40 or 60 metres, one lady did 60 and wanted to go further! She was Irish and not a small lady either.
This morning we took a ‘back of the bike’ tour of Ho Chi Minh city. It was exhilarating and fun, some of these photos are out of order.
Trev making Vietnamese coffee, they used condensed milk and a filter, it was very chocolatey
There were lots of these small 3-wheel delivery vehicles. I asked my guide if they buy a large item how do they get it home, she said everything can be delivered by scooter, even washing machines!! There are 13 million people in Ho Chi Minh and there are 8.5 million scooters.
We went to a market, I have no idea what these eggs are.
View from our hotel pool
Later we had a tropical storm, it was spectacular and didn’t last long
View from our room
Back to the scooter tour, our guides were skilful drivers and we didn’t feel unsafe.
Going down some very narrow alleys amongst peoples homes.
They took us to the cathedral, post office and temple.
The buses here have indicators that sound like sirens, when you are in your room you can hear them all the time, I thought they were police at first until we were out on the bikes and heard them. The buses and larger vehicles have extremely loud horns they are so loud you jump when they toot them. They toot them all the time!
This afternoon we decided to get a massage, oh my goodness, seriously nothing relaxing about a Vietnamese massage, Trev talked me into going to a place near the hotel, it was dodgy, dingy, down a back alley, I was certain that I would be bruised and sore the next day. The girls asked for a tip before we left the room and when we handed over 20,000 dong note each, they said no – obviously that wasn’t enough. So we said we would pay at reception. We gave them 100,000 dong (about NZD$6) to share – they still looked peeved. No way was I paying them more it was the most severe massage I have ever had.
We went to dinner up the tallest tower in Saigon, apologies for the quality of photos, the phone doesn’t take good night shots. They had a band at the bar that sung popular American songs, hilarious with their accents, the woman was good but the two men weren’t great, they looked the part though with their long hair and sunnies on!
