Visitor from Down Under

This past March when we were visiting Australia, at the suggestion of Boston buddy Sandy Gregg, I had the pleasure to meet Geri Barr, art quilter and teacher, from Port Melbourne . She mentioned that she would be teaching this month in the Boston area and I invited her to stop over for a couple of days on her way through.

Monday she met several of the Sisters

in Cloth and some other art quilt buddies for a Show and Tell. It was quite a morning. Very inspiring for us all.

Today was her last day and we crammed in as much as we could before meeting her train bound for Boston. She happened to mention Patrick Doughtery last night....who knew that she would know about him? More serendipity...one of his installations is in nearby Old Lyme (of Lyme disease fame...the soccer team is called the Ticks...little dry New England humor there).

After she left I was still feeling inspired....good, except the work that demanded to be finished is this baby quilt I'm making for the Guilford Art Center's annual fundraiser. I'm happy to be supporting the Center...but itching to get on to new work.

Last Postcard from Australia

Our last day in Australia was a beaut! The weather was one of those warm, dry, sunny days that make autumns in Victoria so memorable.

We started our morning saying good-bye to Geelong by having breakfast at the Sailor's Rest restaurant on the foreshore...a glorious farewell to our old home. Incidentally, we learned that the building was erected in 1913 and the electric lights atop were put up in 1926 and are now believed to be the oldest electric sign in Victoria, and, perhaps, Australia.

Next we drove to Port Melbourne to our new friend, and art quilter Geri Barr's home for a yummy lunch AND a preview of the Ozquilt Network exhibit, Australia Wide Two that will be on display at the Australasia Quilt Exhibit in Melbourne on April 14-17. Geri is the point person in Melbourne for the collection and will be responsible for hanging it. Pictured here are Geri's two contributions to the exhibit...along with the stack of others that I did not photograph, of course, but did view with great admiration. It's a wonderful collection!!

This last photo is a very generous (and greatly loved) gift from Dijanne Cevaal. After our return to Geelong she was able to meet us for dinner on Sunday AND she delighted me with a surprise package: four gorgeous pieces of fabric she had dyed along with an Artist Trading Card. Boy, life doesn't get better than this...especially for me.

We arrived home last night...the trip was very wearing but, thankfully, uneventful.

So, farewell to Victoria, Broome, Perth, Adelaide and all our friends...until next year. We have been offered two opportunities that may be hard to decline: a fortnight in a holiday house on the Mornington Peninsula and a fortnight of house-sitting (with a car) in a Melbourne suburb. Now, life REALLY doesn't get better than THAT!

Wordy Wednesday

I've always enjoyed bloggers' Wordless Wednesday posts...never been able to pull it off myself. I've got too many words I guess.

The Melbourne tram ads were very interesting. We read them all.

And then there was this wall in a pub where we stopped for lunch. Our favorite was:
Drink beer because nobody solves the problems of the world over white wine.

Lastly, the real wordy bit. Monday night we were feted to the wonderful Aussie hospitality that everyone loves to bask in. We were invited to art quilter Geri Barr's home in Port Melbourne for a family dinner. I took a snap of her garden...and puppy Abby, also a cross-breed like the two we left at home: part Golden Retriever part Poodle. A very bright, spirited and lovable puppy of just a year.

Geri is going to Massachusetts in May. I'm hoping her schedule allows her to pop down to CT for a visit with our art quilt group Sisters in Cloth. She has a talk on Contemporary Australian Art Quilts and on "managing" your art and inspirations. Either or both would be welcomed I think.