I am partially deaf. Last night 4 male lions came into our camp roaring away. They even came around our tent and I didn't hear a thing!!!! I HAVE to get hearing aids sorted out!!

This weekend we are at our camp in the Masai Mara (www.maraedensafaricamp.com), time to do some maintenance on the tents before the high season. What a paradise! While taking tea on the balcony of our tent this morning I saw zebras, gazelles, warthogs, impalas, and 3 jackals! We heard lions in the night. Yesterday a group of banded mongoose came to the mess door- very curious creatures. Watch this space for pictures!
 I was also able to lay out the blocks for a new quilt, ready for sewing together when I get back home.

 

 

QuArKe Challenge

 

 

While on our quilting retreat Charu set a challenge. We each began with a 17'' x 24'' piece of fabric and a bag containing 10 instructions that we had to pick out, one by one at random, and follow- no cheating! I found it immensely liberating because when I make a quilt I usually have the finished piece in my mind and work towards it. This time I had no idea what I would create! I was very pleased with the result and then I picked instruction No 9- CUT IT INTO HALF!!! Well worth finishing I think....

 

 

 

 

Manyika Retreat

 

 

I have just returned from a 3 day retreat with members of my 'Quilt Artists of Kenya' group. We went to 'Manyika' a 90 year old  house situated in a coffee plantation just outside Thika.


 

The house is full of character and has beautiful gardens with a magnificent view of Mount Kenya from the front door! It proved to be a wonderful environment for creativity and we were able to achieve a great deal. Watch this space for examples of my work.

 

A couple of weeks ago I participated in a class given by Ragbhir  using a wedge shaped ruler to make a curved table runner. It was a challenge as Ragbhir had never taught before but she did a wonderful job and the result of my efforts produced something I am proud of. My fabric selection worked so well and I was also able to practice my machine quilting!

Another year is underway and I feel I must be more diligent in my up keep of this blog! 'Earth' is this years theme for my Voyage Art Textile group. I am working on a piece based on a photograph of rock art taken by my nephew in the Kimberly mountains of Australia. Watch this space!


Last week I experimented with 'Ice Dyeing' which was very exciting. I loved the big reveal when the ice finally melted and I rinsed off the fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last weekend Peter and I took a trip to Amboseli, a game park at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. Famous for it's elephants we saw huge families of up to 70 feeding on the lush vegetation in the swamps. We were very fortunate to see lions and, our favourites, hyenas. The mountain showed her glory to us each day. All very inspiring.

 

 

Indigo & Orange

 



This is my latest Voyage Art Textiles piece. I have used indigo fabric I dyed during a class given by Magie Relph . The strip cloth is from Daboya in Ghana. My embellishments are sourced locally and are made from brass, ostrich shell and bone.