Araña de Nazca January 2009  I don't quite know why I didn't get around to doing the January 2009 Journal Quilt, which depicts one of the famous Nazca lines, The Spider.  The figures were formed by removing all of the small, angular-shaped pieces of rock from between the lines, so that the figure shows up as a bas-relief.  No-one knows the purpose of the lines - astronomical data, calendar, indications of underground water supplies in this most desiccated and barren of regions, but they have intrigued people ever since they were found in the early 20th century.  Some of the figures can be appreciated only from an aircraft, which begs the question as to how the artists created the lines in the first place.

Ferns are omnipresent in New Zealand and it is no wonder that the silver fern has been adopted by the All Blacks as their logo.  Ferns come in a variety of styles and sizes, from tiny, delicate ones to the huge Ponga, often as high as four or five metres.  One I particularly like, and whose name I will learn at some time, has smooth, notched fronds which range in colour from pale green to rust, orange and apricot.

The pohutukawa tree, a native podocarp, has the most glorious red flowers which come into bloom in time for Christmas, hence its alternative name of the New Zealand Christmas Tree.  So my December Journal Quilt had to feature these lovely blooms.  Close observation of the flowers showed that the base of the frond and the tip was lime green, and I found some sequins and beads of this colour in a fascinating shop called Arthur's Emporium in Whangarei.  I had also noticed that some of the leaves were a reddish orange, so I put these in the piece too.

Maori art, seen in their carvings in particular, has the most beautiful, sinuous curves and the koru - the unfolding fern frond which illustrates the life cycle of humankind - takes many forms.  The carvings are often done as lines, such as those found on the amo (barge boards) of Maori wharenui or meeting houses.    Red, black and cream are typical Maori colours, the red made from red ochre, found only in a part of South Island, black from soot mixed with kauri gum and cream from clay.  These sensuous designs have captivated my imagination, so one of my Journal Quilts had to be based on this art form.

The first part of the passage from Tonga was easy and I spent most of my night watches just gazing at the sea and the stars.  On one night with a crystal clear sky but no Moon, as Coromandel slid through the water, I watched the explosions of bioluminescence as the water frothed away from the bows.  It was magical.

The tapa cloth which I saw in Tonga was superb, and yet again I was intrigued to see the pinwheel pattern used here; it seems to be one of those universal patterns which all cultures have used from time to time.  It was used on pottery by the Guangala culture of Ecuador, by the Chimu of Peru, in French Polynesia and now in Tonga.  So this piece had to have pinwheels somewhere.

Everywhere we went we saw starfish on the seabed, usually of the bright blue variety, but occasionally beige or brown.  The blue ones had elongated arms, whereas the brown ones had shorter, more stubby arms.  So this is a stubby!  The fish-hook is found throughout the Pacific, with jewellery worked in shell, bone, wood and jade, as well as gold, silver and pewter.  So these are fabric ones.

Throughout the Pacific I've seen some stunning examples of basketweaving, and the intricacy of the latticework patterns has been a great source of inspiration.  Whilst visiting the market in Alofi, Niue, to get some vegetables, I saw a number of ladies involved in making baskets, from winding the strips, to plaiting straw, weaving, then finishing off with thick handles.  I couldn't resist buying the one from which this pattern was taken.

Whilst in both Moorea (French Polynesia) and Rarotonga (Cook Islands) I was privileged to watch ladies working the appliqué that is called tifaifai in French Polynesia and tivaevae in the Cook Islands.  It is believed that early Christian missionaries taught the ladies the skills of sewing and appliqué and these have developed over the years into an artform found not only in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands but also in Hawaii.

Consequently, one of my journal quilts had to represent a tivaevae.  The background fabric, a white-on-cream cotton, was hand-dyed in Moorea at the same place where I dyed the fabric for May's Tiare Moorea.  The appliqué shape is taken from a rubbing of a breadfruit leaf, so it is not symmetrical - it is the actual shape of one specific leaf.

I planned a second tivaevae which is more traditional in style, being a four-fold pattern with an outer border.  However it is still a WIP which I must get around to finishing!

Whilst in Cook's Bay, Moorea, in May a group of us had the opportunity to do some sun-dyeing with a lady called Magali, a Polynesian who had learned her dyeing skills from a Frenchwoman and who was now developing this skill.  In addition to making a pareo - that indispensable item of Polynesian clothing - I dyed this small piece of calico, using templates of small hibiscus flowers.  

the flowers are quilted around the edges of the dyeing, then leaves and stems were added.  The final touch was couched gold thread with a sprinkling of bugle beads to represent the stamens of the flowers.

My Journal Quilts came to a full stop as we crossed the Pacific.  The salt air soon blackened needles and cloth felt distinctly damp, so I put everything on hold until I got to the Marquesas.  Our first stop was Fatu Hiva, where I bought a length of cloth from which I fussy-cut this group of flowers and leaves.  After making up the quilt sandwich, I quilted around the outlines of the leaves and flowers, quilted some details and then added beads to the centre of the flowers.

Whilst crossing the Pacific, quilting came to a halt, thanks to the salty atmosphere on the yacht which started to turn my needles black!  So I'm a bit behind now, the lack of electricity having an impact on what I can do effectively, especially by way of using an iron to make sure things are flat before making up the quilt sandwich.

One of the museums in Cusco had a wonderful collection of ceramics from the Aymara Culture.  This design is based on one of these.  The vase was simply huge, at least half a metre high with a rounded bottom to fit into the holes in the tops of stoves, which are fed with wood from below, just like the one we saw on Isla Amantani.

The black lines are whipped running stitch and the little things in the centre are the same as I used for the rivets in Gatun Locks.

We've seen quite a few whales and dolphins whilst on passage, but when we were in Puerto Lopez we took a whale-watching tour.  It was wonderful watching Humbolt Whales rising lazily above the surface and then dipping under the water again.  This Journal Quilt is based on the photo I took of one of the whales broaching - leaping out of the water and falling back in great fountains of spray.

The majority of houses in Ecuador have iron grilles over the windows to prevent burglaries.  Some are very basic grids, but others are of delicate wrought iron work.  In addition, some houses have wrought iron balconies.  The design is based on a balcony which we saw in Cuenca and I found it unusual because it reminded me of Celtic spirals.

The fabric is again a leftover from my sampler quilt, a cream cotton with a white flower print.  I used a terracotta quilting thread - it's the only colour proper quilting thread I have on board, but is lovely to work with.  I think my hand quilting is improving, but I still need more practice.  I may well do another one of these to make into a spongebag, but using a different pattern, more art deco, but again based on wrought iron.

July 2008  Guangala

This quilt is based on a pattern from a piece of pottery I saw in the museum in Salinas which was attributed to the Guangala Culture which lived in Ecuador from about 200 BC to 800 AD. Most Guangala pottery has but three colours; terracotta, ochre and black.  We saw these colours used still in the comminity we visited whilst in Amazonia.  Much early Ecuadorian pottery is adorned with geometric shapes, spirals appearing only occasionally.  The pinwheel patchwork pattern is also seen frequently.

The fabric pieces were first sewn onto a backing fabric before the bias tape and ricrac braid were added.

Occasionally I find that an idea for a Journal Quilt leaps at me out of the blue.  This quilt, pieced using the American technique, is based on a multi-storey office block I saw from the top of Las Peñas in Guayaquil, which immediately made me think, "Checks and balances!".  The building's walls were of smoky brown glass, and the rays of the sun seemed to catch some of them at different angles.  

Those who know my sampler quilt will recognise the blue fabrics, but the yellow fabric was purchased in Viana do Castelo in Portugal.  The quilting pattern, simple double V shapes, is taken from a wrought iron grille on a window in La Libertad.

On 26-27 May we transited the Panama Canal in Coromandel Quest, an exciting time for us, as it marked the end of one stage of our journey - the Atlantic Ocean - and the start of the second; the Pacific.  The locks at Gatun were built in 1913, and as the bottom gate closed behind us I noticed the pattern made by the locking mechanism - Flying Geese! 

The island groups of Los Roques and Las Aves have crystal clear water and blindingly white sands, as befits coral islands.  We had Isla Palmera in Las Aves all to ourselves and we idled away several days reading, snorkelling and revellng in the tranquility.

This Journal Quilt is based on an underwater scene of fish swimmming around coral heads, captured under a lyer of sparkling blue gauze, purchased in a fascinating fabric shop in Willemstad, Curaçao. The coral and fish are caught under a layer of gauze, whilst the fishing boat was fussy-cut from a fat quarter with a nautical theme which I bought at the Quilters' Guild AGM in Scarborough.  Echo quilting secures the fish and coral.

In February we cruised from Grenada to Los Testigos, then on to Isla Margarita.  Whilst we were in Porlamar we watched a total lunar eclipse.  The Moon slowly turned pink as the shadow of the Earth passed across its face - an enchantingly eerie experience.  Whilst in the Venezuelan islands, from Los Testigos to Las Aves,  I was taken with the quantity of cacti which I saw.  The two on this piece epitomise those that I saw on Testigo Grande - the tall, spiky ones and the smaller lobed ones.

This Journal Quilt portrays the aridity of Los Testigos and two particular cacti, looked down on by an eclipsed moon.  The moon and cacti are appliquéd, and then embroidery with stranded cotton was used for the cacti spines using rice stitch.  Whipped running stitch, stranded cotton interlaced with variegated coton perlé, is used for emphasis in the clouds.  The quilting pattern on the sand is taken from a photo of the beach on Testigo Grande.

In the early evenings, sitting in Coromandel's cockpit, I could watch the endless play of sunlight and shadow on the mast reflections in the water.  This quilt is based on one of those evenings.  It was strip pieced, using the American technique and the quilting pattern is based on the curving water ripples on the surface of the lagoon.

Water, I think, is endlessly fascinating, which is why I can spend hours just watching it.  It can be soft, gentle, friendly, smooth, spiky, savage, hostile, welcoming or repelling.  

We arrived in Barbados on 16 December after our Atlantic crossing, anchoring in Carlisle Bay.  Near the Barbados Yacht Club the beach was fringed with palm trees.  This Journal Quilt reflects this scene, the palm fronds waving in the trade winds, the sea beyond, with the surf crashing on the beach and all under a cloudless blue sky.

I used Bondaweb for the palm branches, but it didn't stick very well.  However, the palm fronds are meant to be blowing in the wind, so perhaps this isn't such a disaster after all!  I wish I'd had a paler blue for the sky, but this was the one in my stash, so . . . !

The trunks of trees, with their infinite variety of colours and textures, have always proved a rich design source for me.  From the delicate, paper-think layers of the silver birch to the coarse, deeply indented bark of an ancient oak, I have used them to inform my work.

This Journal Quilt is based on some sketches I did of the trunk of a coconut palm.  It was interesting to look at the scars left as the palm leaves fell, leaving different colours in the bark.  Linking the different colours were vertical marks caused as the tree grew.  It is strip pieced.  The vertical lines on the bark are whipped running stitch, whilst the quilted leaves in the margins are based on the shape of a palm frond.

Continuing on our journey southwards, we took four longer passages from Cascais to Porto Santo, Porto Santo to Madeira, Madeira to Tenerife and Tenerife to La Gomera.  All of these islands are volcanic and I was enthralled by the different colours of ash and lava which I saw in the cliff faces; red, ochre, terracotta, grey, brown, black.  The cliffs at Quinta do Lorde and Sao Lourençao in Madeira and the one at San Sebastian de la Gomera were particularly dramatic, and I took dozens of photographs of them.

September 2007  Matoshinos

The Moorish influence in Portugal can be seen in the beautiful tiled houses.  From these abstract tiles developed the azulejos - blue and white masterpieces of ceramics depicting scenes from everyday life, such as the grape harvest, as well as historic scenes.  Whilst walking from Leixoes to Matoshinos, I photographed a wall of tiles from which this block was developed.

Our first port of call in Portugal had been the town of Viana do Castelo, where I was both surprised and delighted to discover a special tye of embroidery used by the women to decorate their tablelinen and festival costume.  I used panels of this type of embroidery, which was in blanket stitch, whipped running stitch, lazy daisy and french knots, to frame the block top and bottom.

The blue fabric is left over from my sampler quilt, whilst the yellow fabric was purchased in Viana do Castelo.  The embroidery is based on the typical embroideries of that town.   The white embroidery is done with coton perlé, the dark red in stranded cotton.  The central flowers are worked in whipped running stitch.  It is quilted in-the-ditch. 

We made two attempts to cross the Bay of Biscay.  On the first occasion we had to turn back to Falmouth for repairs to the chain plates, then on the second occasion we ran into a gale, fortunately from the north.  This Journal Quilt depicts Coromandel Quest during a thunderstorm when a bolt of lightning appeared to hit the sea no more than a couple of hundred yards from the boat, so the rigging is stitched in Marlitt blue thread.  The quilting is in billows in the sky and echo quilting along the waves.  Sparkle is added to represent the wave-crests, using beads and sequins, whilst the lightning bolt is stitched in silver thread.

In July we cross the Irish Sea from Arran to Bangor, County Down, then cruised down the east coast of Ireland.  In the Crinan Canal we had been to see the cup and rings marked stones at Cairnbaan, then the Celtic crosses and spirals at Glendalough.  So here I have the purple of the Scottish hills, the Green of the fields of Ulster and Eire and the blue of the Irish Sea between them.

June 2007 Sunset in Pierowall

Westray is one of my favourite places, with its aura of timeless tranquility.  the main village is Pierowall, and Coromandel was berthed here in early June 2007.  From the harbour wall one has a view westwards across the bay towards the sunset.

Andy and I had been to the Pierowall Hotel for a few pints of Red MacGregor and a bowl of smoked haddock chowder.  We finally left because we were both tired, although it was still daylight.  We sat on the wall to watch the sun go down, then realised that it was 2240 hrs.  The sun set in a reddish golden glow as the little boats bobbed on their moorings.