One of the ladies I met at WPQC, Marie Finegan, gave me a small gift for Christmas - half a dozen 10" squares of Kiwiana fabrics.  The cushions I have on board Coromandel were looking very sad and faded, so I used one of the pieces to make this cushion.  I don't know the name of the flowers, but I've seen one or two trees with them on - I think they're bracts rather than flowers, but they really glow in the sunshine.

When I was in Tonga I sent an email to the Whangarei Patchworkers' and Quilters' Club which I had found on the internet.  The response came from a lady called Lynda Parker and I have been both amazed and touched by the warm welcome I've had from both the group and the ladies who call themselves the Wot Nots.  Having not been near a quilt shop for over two years, and having not seen many quilters, other than Nicole of Gannet and Celine of Ally Cat, I was feeling very lonely as far as my quilting life was concerned.  However, it's now received an injection of enthusiasm and creativity, so that I've got at least five Journal Quilts in the making - what about my ambition not to have any UFOs and PHDs!

Whangarei P&Q Club Christmas Special

One of the most unusual uses I have seen for quilts has been in Tonga.  It is a tradition to place quilts at the head of graves.  Many of these are in the appliqué technique in tivaevae style, often with the name of the person on the quilt too.  The top one is of red, white and green cotton, whilst on top of the grave itself is a crocheted coverlet.  Another grave had a Lone Star quilt in red, blue and silver.

The lower one, in tivaevae-style again, is of a thick purple plastic appliquéd on white cotton. 

I was familiar with the Tivaevae of the Cook Islands, thanks to Chris Dixon, but was not aware that there was a similar tradition in Tahiti and Moorea, except here it is called tifaifai.  There are two types: tifaifai pû, which we would call patchwork; and tifaifai pa'oti, which is appliqué in the Hawaiian tradition.  I learned of this from a tourist guide to Moorea, so when Andy and I hired bicycles to see the island, I took the opportunity of stopping to watch Miri Vidal at work.  She was kind enough to let me watch her as she appliquéd a leaf motif to the background fabric.

On the wall of her living/workroom was a beautiful hand-sewn tifaifai with motifs of breadfruit and pineapples, two familiar items around Moorea.  Miri prepares the tifaifai by first designing the pattern, then cutting out and tacking the appliqué to the background.  One can purchase these to sew oneself or Miri will finish them for you.

Hand-Sewn Tifaifai

Whilst in Moorea I spent a couple of days sun-dyeing pareos with other yachting ladies.  Magali, a Polynesian lady originally from Raiatea, provided us with the cloth, the dyes and the templates.

Fatu Hiva is the last of the islands in the Marquesas group where tapa cloth is made.  The inner bark is taken from trees such as the breadfruit, mulberry or banyan tree.  It is then soaked, beaten flat, soaked again and beaten until a thin, fine "cloth" is produced.  Originally the Marquesans would take off their clothes fro swimming, but this was discouraged by the missionaries, so the people began making their clothing from cloth and hence the pareu was born.

Embroidery from Islas Uros - the Floating Islands of Lake Titicaca

Whilst visiting the floating islands made from totora reeds on Lake Titicaca, I bought this delightful embroidery from Delia.  The background fabric is loosely-woven gray alpaca, with the embroidery stitched in chain stitch - punto cadena.  The shadings are beautifully subtle cream to brown, via yellow and burnt orange, and where possible Delia used naturally-coloured wool.

The themes are from Aymara, Quechua and Inca legends, such as the tuti or ceremonial knife in the top right corner and the Puma in the bottom left.  There are also representations of the Condor and the Serpent, the other two symbols of Inca iconography, representing the Air, and the Underworld, just as the Puma represents the Air.

In several locations around Peru I had seen embroideries such as those on the spectacle case on the right.  These were done by machine, but I was unable to discover the provenance of them and, given my skepticism about where they were made, had been reluctant to buy any even though they were very attractive.   Whilst looking around the market in Chivay, I saw a lady who was making these small cases on a very old Singer treadle machine, manipulating the fabric with a dexterity which put me to shame!   My skepticism subsided, and I bought this little case from her.

This young girl is dressed in the traditional dress of the girls and women from the Chivay and Colca regions. The hem of her skirts, her blouse, waistcoat and hat are heavily embroidered by machine, in the same way as the spectacle case above.

At first I thought that these would be worn only on festive occasions, but later I saw that most of the women wore their embroidered clothing all of the time, even when herding alpaca and working in the fields.