No, it's not a hotpad.

It's finally finished! A miracle in our lifetime. See what not having internet or television forces you to do? Next thing you know I'll be reading or something.

Roughly 7x9 inches. For the record this was done without pattern after I saw one on Sally Collin's website and said the infamous, "Gee that doesn't look too hard."

Many lessons learned. I'm using Sally's pattern for the next one. Shhhh. Don't tell Theresa I'm planning one for her as a wedding present. ; )

Return of the FAO

Yoda: Adventure. Heh! Excitement. Heh! A Jedi craves not these things...

Lance and Kristin: Good thing we aren't Jedi.

Update from the News Cafe

Hi Everyone,

Quick update. We aren't dead, Botswana is still beautiful and we have the coolest friends on the planet. There was a surprise birthday party for me on Monday with homemade cake and ice cream (2 flavors!) and even presents. I was honestly clueless until the singing started, then I just blushed like crazy. Words fail me. I was so touched. Still am.

So other things going on: Lance's computer crashed (yikes!) but he is working with a tech guy online to recover data and fix it. We have a bit of FAO money to spend on furniture so have hit a few stores and made a wish list. The stained mattresses are sooooooo out of here. Happy dance time. A few slipcovers and office chairs and all will be well. I finally finished the miniature double wedding ring quilt... two shades of purple on cream... 10" x 7". Pic the next time we are at a wifi location. We expect internet sometime late September along with our household goods and consumables. Apparently everything was shipped by row boat, possibly with a one armed man at the oars. It will be here eventually but at this point I don't even miss anything. We've been living w/o it all for six months so no big deal anymore. Still, it will be nice to have.

Love to everyone back in the states. If you're living with one of our pets please give them a little nudge if they look too comfortable. I wouldn't want them getting spoiled. : ) Hugs. K.

FAO furniture is muy feo.

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for not writing in a while. Honestly, I've not been in the mood as we've been moving into our new quarters and saying "Hello" and hopefully "Goodbye!" to some of the FAO furniture. A few days have given me a lot of perspective and I am happy to say most of the furniture is just fine. Some is even quite nice. Lance has a good desk to work at and the living room will be great for comfortable entertaining. Everything else is fixable or forgoable. I will say though, we are currently sleeping on two twin beds pushed together (different heights of course) because the queen sized mattress was beyond gross. Seriously now. Yuck.

The house is also growing on me. What once felt dark with strange "design elements" is quickly becoming cozy and eclectic. Does your house have Danish light fixtures? No? Mine does. : ) It also has the greatest pool/patio I have ever seen in my entire life! Pool party at Lance and Kristin's!

So all is well in Gaborone.

German Prints

This weekend Kim took me to a local fabric shop. It definitely had a clothing slant with poly blends and dress fabrics. A nice selection of linen which I may take advantage of. But what I was really there for was the wall o' German Prints.

(Lance just asked me to say how wonderful he is - we are eating lunch at a local cafe. It's Mefliam Monday so we needed something substantial in our stomachs.)

So German Prints!

The brand is called Three Cats and I found this write up on a South African Quilt Guild website:

"An Indigo dyed cotton fabric was brought to South Africa by German settler women in the mid-19th century and traders began importing this fabric from Europe. Xhosa women gradually also started using this fabric for clothing.

A German factory developed a cheaper synthetic indigo dye in the 1890s and the fabric was manufactured in Czechoslovakia and Hungary. When this manufacturer emigrated to England in the 1930's the fabric was then made in England under the 'Three Cats' trade name.

In 1982 Da Gama Textiles first started production of German Print in SA, in the Eastern Cape, under the 'Three Leopards' logo, which is the African version of the 'Three Cats.' The recipe for the dye is a closely guarded secret and it is a synthetic, unlike the original indigo dyes. There are many different designs printed on these fabrics, which are usually blue but may also be printed in maroon and brown. The Xhosa ladies still wear these dresses."

And Botswana women do as well. These ladies were nice enough to let me take their photo in a local grocery store. The woman in blue said she doesn't smile for photos which is too bad because she has a beautiful smile. The dresses make liberal use of satin stitch with white thread to create designs. Not a lot of women wear them but they are always a joy to see.

So here is what I bought.

Most of them were very small prints with the exception of the ones with the HUGE (10 inches easy) smiling picture of Nelsen Mandela. I am not making this up. Pic to follow. They worked out to be a little under $6 per meter. Not cheep but not much is here in Gabs. It smelled soooooo strongly of wax which I initially misattributed to it just being new fabric but under closer examination I believe it is made by batik process. ("DUH" all those in the know say but I was pretty surprised.) I'm so accustomed to thinking of batik as primarily the swirly tie-dye looking stuff in the states but I forget its a process more than an effect. I really need to do some research on how fabric is printed in general. All things are possible once we get steady internet access.

So I washed the fabrics, they shrunk by about 10% and got to work. As we will be spending a ton of time on the road, I'm going to use them for a Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern I can do in the car. I packed a batik jelly roll (the tie-dye kind) and have some yellow and orange that will be perfect for the centers. Pics to follow. : )

Thinkingcap time...

OK, I need some help from my fellow quitters and all the other smart people who are reading this blog.

As all of you know, I’m going to travel with Lance while he explores Africa over the next year and my intention is to learn about, be inspired by and support African women in the fabric industry. But I only have a year. And I won’t be in one place for very long. And unfortunately, I can’t ship things out in bigger than fat quarter size.

I'm a little stumped.

So I’m calling on all my quilting peeps and business minded individuals. Anyone have any suggestions? Feel free to use the comments section of this entry or email me at sellskristin@yahoo.com if you prefer. Thanks for anything and everything!

A little something for the QUILTERS!

Oh my gosh Kristin, you’ve been in Botswana for a month now. Where the heck is the quilting stuff??? Well, I’m so glad you asked. Sorry it has taken me so long. My sewing machine is still en route so I’ve been reluctant to really start exploring lest I just cry for the lack of a machine. But my new and soon to be good quilting friend, Laurie, loaned me her Bernina! I feel like Sweeney Todd, “My arm is now complete!” That is without the murders or the musical numbers. Okay, I might actually break into song if a block turns out particularly good.

So here are some “quilty” photos I’ve taken so far. First from the flight from the east coast proving inspiration is everywhere in quilting.

Next these are some huge panels hung in the Mondior Hotel in Gabs. They are made of a burlap material and was part of the whole “Africa Chic” thing they had going at the hotel.

What I thought was so interesting is they are hung seam side out! I double checked the placement of the sleeve and they were hung correctly. . It really worked well with the rougher texture of the burlap.

Here is a close up of the stitching – anyone know what stitch this is?

Lastly for now, a shot of the floor mosaic at the local convention center. See, quit potential all over the place.

More to follow after I go to a local fabric store tomorrow. I've seen hints of a wonderful cornflower blue and cherry red print called "German Fabric" We shall see and you know I'll take pictures. BFN. : )