Can't get enough

It seems that most of my posts from the last couple months have centered around Guatemala. It's such a beautiful country with rich traditions that I can't help myself and today is no exception. I have forgotten to show off these photos of Guatemalan handmade textiles I found on one of my travels. The embroidery is fun and bright,

the combination of fabrics is unexpected, but it works,

and the colors are great.

We'll be back there next November and I'm already looking forward to it. Now I've got to search my house for where I can put something like this.....

Wow

On a walk through Bern, Switzerland, we came across this chalet and all I have to say is Wow.

Santorini

This summer we spent the day in Santorini, Greece, and it was fabulous! If not for anything else, the color study of the deep blue of the ocean and the crisp white of the buildings. Of course it was almost required to do the donkey ride to the top. I succumbed to tradition and rode one up.

Wait, not that one. This one....

It was so "fun" I walked back down, but first I had to check out all the beautiful storefronts and displays. Check out those shoes!



Of particular interest to me were the stores with embroidered tablecloths and decorations. So intricate, they were just calling me to try embroidery again.

Guatemalan Kites

The other afternoon I walked over to the cruise ship terminal in our port in Guatemala and it was filled with music, dancing, and local crafts and food. It was a great way for those passengers who wouldn't leave the ship area to see some of the Guatemalan culture. What I noticed first were a display of huge kites hanging from the ceiling.

Handing out brochures about the kites were women attired in traditional dress.

Apparently the kites are flown on All Saints Day and the Day of the Dead to act as conduits, bringing the peoples' ancestors back from their resting places for one day to spend with the living. The most intricate kites are from the region of Santiago Sacatepequez.

I had to take a photo of each one that was hanging in the terminal to show you how different the geometric designs can be. Wouldn't any of these be a great jumping off point for a geometric quilt?

I love finding things like this in my travels.

Livingston, Guatemala

The other day we took a small boat from Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala where the ship docks to a small town on the sea where the Rio Dulce meets salt water.

It's called Livingston and because it is on a peninsula, the only real way to get there is by boat.

Its secluded nature means it's a backpacker's haven, but doesn't mean that the six-block mainstreet stops selling souvenirs and handicrafts to tourists. They had some beautiful purses.


The real treasure for me, though, was that it was the first sunny day in about a week of rain. That means laundry day! We passed clotheslines and fences and sides of buildings plastered with drying clothes. I even found these cool quilts hanging in between two houses further up the main road with about ten local boys playing soccer just in front.

Holiday Time in Switzerland

Yes, yes, I know we're in the Caribbean right now and it's sunny and hot and that's fabulous, but it doesn't feel like the holidays. It feels like a holiday, but not the cozy, surrounded-by-family-and-good-wishes holiday season. So I'm indulging myself with photos of the last time I was in Switzerland over the holidays--in 2005! Here is Zurich with these fabulous star lights up on the streets in the older section of town.

The famous shopping street, the Bahnhofstrasse, always had lights up for the holidays. A couple years ago they changed the more traditional lights for these modern ones. Uproar! But now they've grown on people, and me.

You see, it's not just fluorescent-light-bulb-like lamps hanging down. They change color and light flashes down the length of the street, making it look like it moves. AND when there are more people walking down the street, the lights flash faster. When it's calm, the lights flash much slower. I think that's pretty cool. Maybe we'll see it next year. Happy holidays to you wherever you are!!

Caribbean Christmas

It's not my first time in warm weather around the winter holidays, but after four times it still doesn't feel like Christmas without the snow and cold, even when they put up a driftwood tree. This one was in Grand Cayman.

Whether it's cold and snowy or warm and sunny, I hope you enjoy this holiday season!

The Sun

When we were on the Wind Star, Remko had to be at work at 4am and I usually couldn't really get back to sleep after he left, so I saw a lot of sunrises.

We normally would be heading into port just after the sun came up, so even if it was a port day, we were still surrounded by water at 5:30am.

It made for some beautiful scenes with the ocean completely surrounding the ship and the pinks and oranges and blues all mingling together.

Sunsets are also a spectacular sight on the water.


This has nothing at all to do with quilting or design, but I love these two times of the day and wanted to share that with you.

Tortuga

On our itinerary, we stopped at an uninhabited island named Tortuga, which was certainly a far cry from the prison island in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. White sand beach, lounge chairs, and a couple buildings where we could bring our barbeque grills.



As any tourist destination has these days, the island also had a gift shop, even if it was in a tent.

I think this is a cool way to use felted wool to make these tropical birds.


I've never seen sequins stacked before, like in these bracelets, and I might have to try that as an embellishment.

What about a really geometric quilt using this two-color block design?

I think it's so fun to get inspiration wherever you are!

Last One

Okay, this is our last trip to San Diego for awhile. (I have to leave my options open, I don't know if I'll ever be back!)

I really enjoyed the architecture of the stores and the flowers--even the cacti were lacy and cool.

My last find was these thread paintings.

Again, I can't imagine the time required to loop the thread back and forth in these patterns. The complexity intrigues me and makes me want to try it.

This last image in a little blurry, but it was so dynamic that I wanted to include it.

I love these colors--the artists definitely weren't afraid of mixing so many bold hues together. For my next quilt, I should learn something from that. Be bold with color!