Friday 31 December 2010

Happy New Year

あけましておめでとうございます

I found this lovely account of Japanese New Year traditions at http://www.zuzu.org/japan.html
 
AKEMASHIE OMEDETO GOZAIMASU! - HAPPY NEW YEAR!
by Achur, age 12 - illustrations by Alex, age 10


card
The most important and most celebrated part of the holiday season in Japan is New Year's day, known as O-Shogatsu. It's a very busy time between the 24th of December, when school gets out, and the first of January.
Before the New Year, Japanese people clean their houses from top to bottom. Then they put up New Year's decorations, especially Kadomatsu which are made from bamboo, pine branches and strips of white folded paper. When the house is clean and decorated, then everybody gets busy preparing New Year's food.
One of the most important New Year's foods is Mochi. In our neighborhood, we have a mochi-tsuki party every year and make our own mochi. We gather on a Sunday morning in an empty lot. In one corner of the lot, someone starts to cook rice on an open fire. When the rice is cooked, it is placed in a special wooden dish and is pounded with a big wooden hammer. All of the neighbors take turns pounding until the rice mixture becomes a big ball of dough. Then everyone gets involved rolling small mochi balls which are eaten with different kinds of sweet or salty sauces and toppings.
Karuta On New Year's Eve, Japanese people spend time at home with their family. They eat, play games, and watch special New Year's shows on television. Just before midnight, people can also watch temple ceremonies on t.v. where a huge gong is stuck 108 times to wipe away the 108 sins of the past year.
Although Christmas cards exist in Japan, most people send traditional New Year's postcards called Nengajyo. Some people sends hundreds of them. This custom is very nice because if you post your cards by a special date in December, the post office will deliver them all bright and early on the 1st of January. When you wake up on that day, your mailbox is full of happy wishes for you.
After New Year's breakfast, people get dressed up in their kimonos to go to the shrine or to the temple to pray for good luck and good health in the new year. This is the first temple visit of the year and is very important. After praying, people visit the temple market. All around the temple grounds, there are booths and little shops set up where you can buy traditional foods, cotton candy, balloons, toys and temple souvenirs.
Daruma Daruma can also be purchased at the temple market. These are papier-mache figures that come in many sizes and that have two big white eye spots. Daruma are used for making New Year's resolutions. With a magic marker, the buyer blackens in one of the eyes while making a resolution. If, during the year, they accomplish their wish, they can blacken the other eye to show they succeeded. At the end of the year, people return used darumas to the temple for a special burning and buy new ones.
After visiting the temple, Japanese people return to their homes to eat, play traditional games and just relax. Children fly kites and play with wooden tops. Adults play poetry games and pratice calligraphy.
calligraphy Probably the most important holiday tradition for Japanese children is O-toshidama. These are little envelopes containing money that children get from their parents and other relatives. Even though the Japanese holidays are very different from holidays in America and Europe, since children are expected to be good all year in order to get O-toshidama, in a way, it is just like Christmas.

Achur, Adam and Alex are from Latham, NY. In 1991, they moved with their family to Tsukuba, Japan, where they are the only foreign students in their small Japanese school. The first year was hard, but now they can speak, read and write Japanese very well. Their little brother Alex, age 4, started Japanes Yochien (kindergarten) this year and loves it!
- originally published in the Holiday 1993 issue of ZuZu

Welcome 2011

2010 ended well, Sara loved her new quilt which I can now reveal,
Sam liked my Black Forest Trifle
and they both had to have a rest to get over the excitement.
DS David also came over for lunch but managed to avoid getting his photo taken, he and Al were talking camera and IMacs!  It was so lovely to spend the last day of the year with my very favourite people.

Thursday 30 December 2010

To Do List for 2011

A Christmas celebration with big grandson, Wills, yesterday
brings me nearly to the end 2010 and to that time of year when thoughts wander to resolutions, lists of things to do etc etc.
My dear friend, Michelle, has been blogging her "Goals" and seems to be making good progress in tackling them (well done on the nets Michelle) and I wondered if making them public had helped.
Like so many of us I have quilting projects in various states of development from
a twinkle in my eye  
via 
brand new carefully chosen fabrics, threads and pattern 
to 
a bag of cut, partially stitched and abandoned cloth
So I thought I would go public too.

Firstly though, drum roll for a finish please!
The quilt, now called "In the Pink", I was making for my DD, with fabric we chose in Spring 2009, is finished and all ready for her to enjoy.  She worked with me on developing the design, which was inspired by "Daisy Blue" by Marie Kruger in Patchwork & Quilting magazine (197, June 2010).  There have been some hiccoughs - I will never, ever hand sew through batik fabric on steam-a-seam again (hopefully) - but I am very pleased with the finished quilt as I hope Sara will be when she sees it.  Until she does I can't show you the whole thing but here's another tease.  
(The first tease was here).

I have found some lovely tutorials on Catherine's blog and definitely want to make these two:

crayon roll tutorial

quilted potholder tutorial

but here I go again with planning new projects....back to the list...

I've had a sort out and a think and some projects have been adandoned, probably forever. They are the sort of things that might end up in a UFO swap but I am not going to feel guilty about them, I must have learned something from the work I did do on them.
Then I have prioritised the projects I am going to finish.  As I'm typing this I have a feeling I've been here before!
My Wiggly Nine Patch remains layered and pinned but I have finally decided how I'm going to quilt it so that will be my first 2011 project.
I didn't get my sampler quilt finished in time for the cold weather so I must finish it early in 2011.  It needs a lot of work still and I think I feel rather overwhelmed by it even though I've had some great suggestions from you for finishing it. 
After those I feel I shall deserve a new project so I shall start and finish a quilt using the blocks from "Round and Round le Jardin" using Japanese fabrics.  This was from a worshop with Jane Bottomley and the quilt has received a lot of compliments.
Between these big projects I also have to make some more kanzashi - fabric flowers.  I was going to write a tutorial but there's a great one by Sandy here.  Thanks Sandy.
I also have an ongoing commitment to BQL fabric postcard swaps and Global Piecers swaps.
So, my to do list for the beginning of 2011 is:
  1. Quilt and finish Wiggly Nine Patch.
  2. Complete Sampler Quilt - sashing, assembling, layering & basting, quilting, finishing, phew.
  3. Japanese Round and Round the Garden quilt project.
  4. Kanzashi (portable project)...BQL Fabric Postcards...Global Piecers swaps.
I'm not setting time limits on these but I'm not going to start anything new until they are finished and when I've done Number 1 I'll add another to the list, the postcards and Global Piecers will remain as continuous projects of course.  That's the plan anyway, are you full of good intentions for 2011?

Monday 27 December 2010

Christmas in Pictures

 Sam is rather partial to smoked salmon
 My lovely son, David, and lovely daughter, Sara, at Christmas breakfast
 Sam with his pressie from his Aunty Sal in Australia
 And with his new trike from his Grandad and Me ...thanks Saz :)
 David and Sam reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar Annual
 My sister and neices begin building the Taj Mahal in Lego
 Daddy and my neice, Emma, start carving the turkey
 Buffy was born on Christmas Day nine years ago and reckons that qualifies her for turkey too
 My beloved tries to find out what's in his cracker
Daddy and an impressive Christmas pudding in flames

Al and I are now home (before the snow falls again) and will be celebrating more Christmases on Wednesday and Friday.  I hope you are having a lovely holiday and finding some time to sew, or at least read that new quilting book or magazine that was in your stocking!

Thursday 23 December 2010

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas Global Piecers.
I hope by now, snow permitting, that all the Secret Santa goody bags have arrived at their destinations and all the Christmas swap blocks too.  I'm looking forward to seeing what everybody does with their blocks - maybe in time for Christmas 2011.
I have some ideas for swaps for next year (although it's never too late for suggestions) so watch out for details of a Round Robin quilt in January, our birthday FQs plus something for Springtime, possibly on a green theme...
Now that I've set you thinking please relax and have a wonderful Christmas, a healthy and happy new year.  Thank you for your friendship and support and enthusiam for Global Piecers over the year, roll on more swapping and fun.

Mystic Nativity by Sandro Botticelli

With my very best wishes to you all for a wonderful Christmas.
Thank you for visiting my blog and for your comments and inspiration during the year, I appreciate you all very much.
I hope you will be able to relax and enjoy yourselves and find some peace over the next few days.  May the New Year bring you health and happiness and plenty of time and inspiration for your quilting projects.
God bless us all.
I love this glorious painting by the Italian painter Allessandro (Sandro) Botticelli of the celebrations in heaven and on earth after the birth of Jesus. This oil painting from 1500 has been referred to as the Mystic Nativity
because it is believed to symbolize the Birth of Jesus as well as his Second Coming. It was painted during a time of great unrest and many thought the end of the world was imminent.

Christmas image from ReusableArt.com

Meri Kurisumasu めりーくりすます メリークリスマス

Thank you for visiting this blog and for all your comments and support over the year.
I would like to send you my very best wishes to you all for a wonderful Christmas and a happy, healthy and peaceful new year.
May all your sashiko be perfect.
Artist: Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
Image Appears In: Christmas Poems and Pictures: a Collection of Songs, Carols, and Descriptive Poems, relating to the Festival of Christmas
Date Image Published: 1864
from www.ReusableArt.com

Tuesday 21 December 2010

21st December 2010 - An Auspicious Day

This image was taken from the BBC website and you can also see a video sequence of the lunar eclipse on that site.
Here in Lincolnshire it was too cloudy to see anything :( 
It seems to be a very auspicious day today with the Lunar Eclipse this morning occuring on the day of the Winter Solstice and tonight is a Full Moon.  Tomorrow the days will start getting longer, can Spring be on the way?
We are still very cold, no more snow here for a few days but the landscape is frosted like a massive Christmas cake and yesterday the "high" here was minus 6C, at night it went down a lot further.  DH husband said we'd burned the whole day's logs before breakfast!  Fortunately though we are able to get out and around, unlike some parts of the country where the airports are closed and all trains cancelled.  Britain has the reputation of grinding to a halt when three snowflakes fall so it's sort of comforting to learn that there are similar problems with the extreme weather across many European countries too.
I hope you are keeping warm where you are, unless you're one of my "downunder" followers then I hope you are keeping cool!

Monday 20 December 2010

Minus Something Degrees and Goodies from South Dakota

We've had a deep frost and freezing fog that has lasted all day today but it had it's attractions.  I got in from a little expedition to the shops (should I buy some food in case we can't get to my family for Christmas?) and a large parcel from South Dakota was waiting.  Now I know I should have waited until Christmas Day but I'm very impatient when it comes to things like this.  It was from my Secret Santa in Global Piecers and full of yummy stuff including a wonderful Moda Bake Shop collection.  Thanks Joan.
Time to curl up by the fire and finish sewing the binding on my daughter's quilt.  Then I'll be able to share it with you.  I ache all over today after hauling it around my machine yesterday, I really must be very good next year and then maybe Father Christmas will bring me a longarm quilter!  I wish!

Deep and Crisp and Even

Last night we went to the Carol Service in our village church and after mince pies and mulled wine came out to gently falling snow.  Still such a magical feeling even though the snow is rather more common this year than usual.  A very hard frost and freezing fog has persisted all day today and now it's dark.  Time to sit by the fire and sew a binding on a quilt.

Saturday 18 December 2010

Friday Night Sew-In: Saturday Morning Report, December 2

I pieced the backing for Sara's quilt during the second December FNSI last night but couldn't face the layering and tacking so I made a few more kanzashi and then called it a night and attacked the block of Whittaker's Peanut chocolate that lovely Michelle sent me all the way from New Zealand! 
Today I've cleared the decks, the wadding is relaxing all ready to go and I'm about to tackle my least favourite job in making a quilt. 
I'm just going to put off that moment for a little longer by sharing this photo with you - my daughter and my younger grandson, Sam, (also known as His Imperial Samness) stirring the Christmas cake mixture, I hope their wishes come true.
Okay, can't put it off any longer - what's your least favourite part of quiltmaking?

Thursday 16 December 2010

Buttons and Bonnets

Snowing again today and we're looking after older grandson, Wills, as his school is closed - no heating!  Still he made a good model for my finished Roses from the Heart bonnets which will be heading off on their journey to Tasmania as soon as I get to the post office.

It was rather strange to stitch one with my own name.

My beloved hanged my button wreath this morning and was rather impressed with it, thanks Catherine :)
If the snow is returning to where you are please keep warm and safe.

Oooh, Muji Online, thanks Susan

Susan posted about her shopping trip to Birmingham and innocently included a link to Muji
That's me done for after Christmas, I've resisted the very strong urge to put an order in today!  I adore that shop and didn't think about looking online for them, but just savoured any (rare) opportunities I had to visit a branch.  Lovely things, Japanese utility and design, I love the "in a bag" range, including London in a bag and Japanese garden in a bag, yummy jasmine tea, stationery supplies to delight any addict, take a look, you'll enjoy it.

Wednesday 15 December 2010

Swaps and Surprises

I enjoyed my craft group's Christmas meeting today although we were low on numbers due to illness and probably the persisting icy roads.  Those of us who made it enjoyed very little stitching, lots of lovely chatting and some very yummy things to eat.  I'd been idle and bought a tin of Italian biscuits from John Lewis (but they were delicious and now I have a pretty festive tin for putting things in) but have to congratulate Anne who made the most wonderful meringues, sandwiched together with fresh cream.  Crisp on the outside, soft and sticky on the inside and no calories in them at all. In the little time we did spend with needles in our hands instead of sweet, sticky things I worked on bonnets.
I haven't made many new Christmas decorations this year although there are lots of lovely ideas on the blogs I follow.  I've added to last year's, which you can see at Christmas decoration tutorial , with the festive fabric postcards I've been receiving from BQLPC members.  The theme is "A Touch of Bling" and all these glittering, sparkling cards are making a wonderful display over the fireplace.
Today I was tempted by Catherine's button wreath and so I thought I'd make one, it's working out well and when I've added the bows I'm going to hang above the mirror in the sitting room.  Thanks Catherine.
I've been enjoying receiving fabric postcards, Christmas swap blocks and some wonderful goody bags from quilting friends, what wonderful gifts from people with the same affliction addiction obsession as me, thank you, you lovely people.  In parcels I send I also like to include something I've made.  Last year my friends received a fabric Christmas decoration, this year I've been creating kanzashi.  These are folded fabric flowers and are a delight to make - although mine are a little uneven - still, practice will make perfect.
It's Friday Night Sew In part 2 this week and I'm planning to be quilting.  I keep putting off starting on quilting my daughter's quilt and really must do it.  I'm telling you so that you can nag me!  It's not too late to join in on Friday, sign up by clicking in the logo on the right, you'll be very welcome.

Monday 13 December 2010

Saturday 11 December 2010

Giveaway Winner and FNSI Saturday Report

We have two Friday Night Sew Ins this month, the first was last night and the second is next Friday, you can sign up here.
I only stitched until 9 p.m. last night - Strictly Come Dancing semi final, poor Matt, the judges were beyond unkind - and worked on bonnets for the Roses from the Heart project.  The one photographed (made by machine) is already on its way to Christina in Tasmania and last night I decided to hand sew the next two.  I feel more in touch with the convict girls doing that.  Christina has allocated me girls with my own surname, I haven't found out if any are actually rellies but I'm still working on my family history so you never know what will turn up.
I have little information about Ann Elizabeth Harwood.  She was transported to Van Dieman's Land for life, sailing from London on 22 May 1820 on the Morley and arriving in VDL on 29 August 1820.  She was given a Conditional Pardon on 21 November 1836.
I started a bonnet for Elizabeth Harwood last night.  Elizabeth was transported for 7 years for Larceny. She was convicted of stealing £17 from a man. She was a widow with children and left London on the ship, New Grove, on 25 November 1834, arriving in VDL on 27 March 1835.  In a surgeon's report Elizabeth is assessed as:  Good - thought at time to be of unsound mind.  She received a Certificate of Freedom in 1842.
I am also making a bonnet for Esther Harwood (aka Howard).  She left from Portsmouth on the Lady Penrhyn on 13 May 1787 after her trial in London on 20th (probably) August 1787 and arrived in VDL after a voyage of 252 days with 100 other females on 22 January 1788.
I have heard recently from Christina Henri that she has received 20 000 bonnets, leaving only 5 566 to be made for there to be one for every convict girl.  It's not too late to be involved with this great project so please take a look at Christina's website and blog and at my previous posts here, here and here.

Okay, here's what you want to know...

...but first, I want to thank you all again for taking part in my 200th post giveaway and for being followers of this blog.  Welcome to my new followers too.  I have enjoyed reading all your comments, not just for this giveaway but also over the last 200 posts.  It's always a joy when I find that someone has read what I've shared and then taken the time to comment on it, THANK  YOU
I would have loved you all to win but I am particularly delighted to announce that the winner is one of my very early followers, somebody who helped me with my blog when I was getting started and somebody who I met this year and found to be as delightful in real life as in blogland. The winner is


Well done my friend, please let me have your address in wonderful New Zealand and I'll have the goody bag on it's way to you.
Now onwards to the next 200 posts and thank you again, you are all wonderful.  Have a great weekend.

Monday 6 December 2010

200th Post Giveaway

Yippee, here we go, my 200th blog post!

Thank you to all the wonderful fellow bloggers I have met (some in "real life") since beginning my blog; you encourage, inspire and support me and I value your friendship.

This is the first quilt I ever made (with the exception of a planned hexagon quilt that became a cushion cover when I was about 12 years old). 
There is so much wrong with this wallhanging, called "Cornish Seas", that I'm not even going to start but it was the beginning of my passion for patchwork and quilting.  One day I will make a new, improved version of "Cornish Seas" but I'm not ashamed to have the original, made in September 2006, hanging on the wall of my bach in Norfolk.  It was inspired by the sea, of course, and also by a stained glass window in a church in Penzance, Cornwall and some glass sculptures I saw in a gallery in Mousehole, also in Cornwall. 
Since then I have designed and made quilts, followed patterns to make quilts, collected enough fabric to last me for the rest of my life and beyond, enjoyed quilt exhibitions and workshops, met some wonderful people by virtue of our mutual interest in patchwork and quilting, introduced others to our obsession, been involved in swaps and online quilting groups....so many lovely things.  So to all my partners in crime I say a massive "thank you".

This brings me to today's question, the final one for my giveaway.  Thank you very much for taking the time to post comments in answer to these questions, it's been fun for me to learn a bit about you, I hope it's been fun for you too.

Here are the rules:
  • All my lovely followers get an entry in the giveaway.
  • Everyone who answers today's question gets an entry.
  • I will ask my lovely grandson, Sam,  to pick a winner from all the entries on Friday 10th December 2010 at 3.00 p.m. GMT.
So that's a possible six entries in the giveaway.
Good luck.

Oh, nearly forgot!  Today's question:

How did you get started in patchwork and quilting?
(If you are not a quilter please tell me why not!)

And what will the lucky winner get?

I shall make up a goody bag for you and it will include the fabric postcard I promised you in September,
One of the packs of 25 pieces of recycled Liberty lawn fabric from Kim Porter at Worn and Washed Fabrics that I bought at Chilford last month,
Also from Chilford, a kanzashi kit from Euro Japan Links,
To add to your stash I'll include a "Birdie" charm pack from Me and My Sister for Moda which will just right for starting on a springtime project after Christmas,
and a FQ from The African Fabric Shop,
There will also be a few extra bits and pieces included in the goody bag, and judging on the answers to question two there had better be some chocolate too!  I hope there is something there to tempt you all, it's just a way of saying thank you.

Sunday 5 December 2010

Christmas Sewing

Now that everything is safely in the post I can share what I've been doing.  Below are my "A Touch of Bling" fabric postcards for the BQLPC Christmas swap.  As I had 18 cards to make I kept them quite simple (and made a note to self to start earlier next year, ha ha).  I loved the gold ric-rac that I found in John Lewis and hope the recipients enjoy the cards.  I am currently receiving a lovely selection of cards in return and several people have successfully machine-stitched with metallic threads, something I've always struggled with.  Helen, a member of BQL, sent me this email:

I was talking to the man from BarnYarns about this just last weekend.... here is what he said!
"Use a metallic needle OR even better a topstitch titanium coated needle. Make sure the thread is good quality - he says to unwind a length and hold the loose end in one hand and the spool in the other a foot or so apart letting the thread fall in a loop. If the thread makes a nice smooth curve it should sew great if the needle and tension are correct. If the thread twists or loops you may as well throw it away as it will cause hours of frustration and tears....." 


Thank you Helen.

This is the Christmas block I've made for Global Piecers' block swap.  You'll probably recognise the fabrics from my posts about my purchases at Festival of Quilts.  The pattern was adapted (slightly) from one on a magazine that Cara sent me, American Quilting Magazine's "Quilting for Christmas".  In the pattern by Wendy Sheppard, called "Poinsettia Fiesta", four blocks are used with sashing and a border to make a 36" square table centre cloth or a festive wallhanging.
My next post will be my 200th!  There will be a final question to get you more entries in my giveaway and I'll show you what could be on it's way to you if you're the lucky winner.  Don't forget you can still get extra entries here, here and here.
Kristen asked where the photos on my Question Four/Inspiration post were taken, saying they are "dead on for the style of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain".  They are of the same Moorish influence.  I've added details to that post now, thank you Kristen.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

I received this poem in an email with the following explanation:
"This poem was written by a Peacekeeping soldier stationed overseas. The following is his request. Would you do me the kind favour of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to all of the service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead,  who sacrificed themselves for us.  Please, do your small part to plant this small seed."
That may be true, or it may be one of those chain mails that can be so annoying but the sentiment remains the same and so I'm sharing it with you today. 

T'was the night before Christmas,
He lived all alone
In a one-bedroom house
Made of plaster and stone.
I had come down the chimney
With presents to give,
And to see just who
In this home did live.
I looked all about,
A strange sight I did see,
No tinsel, no presents,
Not even a tree.
No stocking by mantle,
Just boots filled with sand,
On the wall hung pictures,
Of far distant lands. 
With medals and badges,
Awards of all kinds,
A sober thought,
Came through my mind.
For this house was different,
It was dark and dreary,
I found the home of a soldier,
Once I could see clearly. 
The soldier lay sleeping,
Silent, alone,
Curled up on the floor,
In this one-bedroom home.
The face was so gentle,
The room in disorder,
Not how I pictured,
A true British soldier. 
Was this the hero,
Of whom I'd just read?
Curled up on a poncho,
The floor for a bed? 
I realised the families
That I saw this night,
Owed their lives to these soldiers,
Who were willing to fight.
Soon round the world
The children would play,
And grown ups would celebrate,
A bright Christmas Day. 
They all enjoyed freedom
Each month of the year,
Because of the soldiers,
Like the one lying here. 
I couldn't help wonder
How many lay alone,
On a cold Christmas Eve
In a land far from home. 
The very thought brought
A tear to my eye,
I dropped to my knees,
And started to cry.
The soldier awakened,
And I heard a rough voice,
"Santa don't cry,
This life is my choice;
I fight for freedom,
I don't ask for more,
My life is my God,
My country, my corps." 
The soldier rolled over,
And drifted to sleep,
I couldn't control it,
I continued to weep.
I kept watch for hours,
So silent and still,
And we both shivered,
From the night's cold chill. 
I did not want to leave,
On that cold dark night,
This guardian of honour,
So willing to fight. 
Then the soldier rolled over,
With a voice soft and pure,
Whispered, "Carry on Santa,
It's Christmas Day,
All is secure." 
One look at my watch,
And I knew he was right,
"Merry Christmas my friend,
And to all a good night."

 

Saturday 4 December 2010

Ice Crystals

I haven't posted for ages.  I've been busy with Christmas stitching and then the snow came down and that stopped most activity except keeping warm!  I did get out yesterday and take some snowy photographs though.  I love this one of the ice crystals on the bare branches.  It reminds me of growing crystal gardens in science lessons when I was younger.
I'm having a giveaway on my quilting blog to celebrate 200 posts, you may like to pop over and get an entry or two.

Friday 3 December 2010

Giveaway Question Four and Lots of Photographs

Photo-heavy post today...

Minus 12C last night, not much better this morning and now we have freezing fog too, brrrr.  I nipped out and took these shots while my porridge was cooking this morning.




Lots of inspiration for a winter themed quilt or wall hanging there.
I took lots of photos in Marrakech to go in the "Inspiration" file, here are a few (plus one of Saz and Sam just because I like it).
(Thank you to Kristen for asking where the photos were taken, I've now added that information,  5th December 2010)
The first was a wall plaque in the Majorelle Garden in Marrakech.
These are details from the decoration in the garden pavilion in the Menara Gardens in Marrakech.


The following photographs were all taken in the Ben Youssef Medersa, the Islamic school attached to the Ben Youssef Mosque.







This is the stunning decoration to the front of Menara airport:
Finally, Sara's hand with henna decoration which we had done in the souq!
Which brings me to today's Giveaway Question.

Where do you find inspiration for your quilts?

Don't forget you can still get extra entries in my 200th post giveaway by answering questions two and three .  Thanks for playing along, I'm enjoying getting to know a little more about my followers, have a great weekend.