Friday, June 29

Shopping in Copenhagen

It was raining pretty hard in Copenhagen when I was recently passing through, all the more reason to check out Danish stores, right?

We walked into a type of dollar store, this one had everything for either 10 or 20 kroner, which is 2 or 4 Euros. Check out the cool cups, plates, and Thermos-like bottles!

Thursday, June 21

Gaudi’s mosaics

Gaudi left behind some amazing mosaic work all over Barcelona, Spain, especially in Park Güell. Here stands the world’s largest park bench completely covered in broken tile.


Every color is represented and multiple patterns are thrown in, but the bench is divided into sections with similar background colors. Maybe we could pick up a few pointers about color usage in quilts from this work.

Underneath the bench is a room filled with columns where the ceiling is covered in mosaics as well.


What a great place to spend a couple hours!

Friday, June 8

Lost in Venice

Venice is known in images.

Gondolas and canals.

Pigeons in front of St. Marks.

Glass and masks and art supplement the standard tourist souvenirs of postcards and knick-knacks making window shopping extra special. Drooling over the displays in Gucci and Fendi doesn’t hurt, either. As I strolled the streets surrounding St. Mark’s, I decided I’d walk back to the ship, rather than take a vaporetto (city bus). I’d get a chance to see the streets and the small canals, and sure, even though I didn’t have a map, Venice isn’t that big.... Okay yes, I did get lost and yes it was more than once, but I managed to stumble upon a small museum with an eye-catching display of its own.

The slogan for the show was “When time turns into art.” I was late, so I didn’t investigate whether the art took a long time to make and thus made it beautiful, or if the show was vintage items. But the work outside looked like it was made of metal strung together with wire. It could have been both vintage and time-consuming, but it looked like a quilt and was definitely worth getting lost to find.

Wednesday, June 6

Patchwork Floor

Coasting along the narrow lanes of what we assume is Athens, Greece because we can’t read the signs, the taxi begins to vibrate with the large drops of rain hurling from the sky. Zeus? It stops as the driver tells us to get out now, that he won’t go further up the hill. We walk up the even narrower passage between apartment buildings, almost able to touch both walls if we reach out our arms. We follow the crowds to the entrance of the Acropolis.


Without a guide or any previous research, I take photos of piles of rubble once part of the great Parthenon--I think.

What mesmerizes me the most? Not the legends nor the enormity of the structures in front of me. It’s the fabulous stone walkway beneath my feet. The recent rain has washed away the chalky dust, revealing deep gray, tans, and even brick red. Beautiful.

I could make a quilt like this. Pieces placed where they fit, no design, just color.

Sunday, June 3

Rhodes, Greece



With the sun shining brightly and the temperature regularly a balmy 80, the last place I expected to find intricately beaded and embroidered quilts was Greece, but when I was in Rhodes today I came across several stalls of them.


Mainly I found rugs and embroidered or crocheted tableclothes, but there were some quilted gems that I had to run across the crowded street to ogle. This reverse appliqué quilt with blanket stitching and star embroidery was different than the rest and I have to make something in similar colors. I LOVE IT!