Australia

We had a whirlwind weekend. 

Friday evening my husband and I drove to O'Hare International Airport and picked up a guest visiting from Australia.  He came to the United States to attend the Drupal Conference in Chicago and would stay with us until Monday when the conference began.  Later that night, some friends stopped by for coffee and to meet our Australian friend.

Saturday morning I picked up my daughter and grandson from the train station.  My daughter is also attending the Drupal Conference and my husband and I get to keep our grandson for the week.  We all did a little shopping,  took a ride to see some POI (points of interest), and stopped for lunch.  That evening, my daughter, my sister, a friend and I rode together to attend the wedding shower for my soon-to-be-daughter-in-law and drove home in a winter storm. Sunday I made breakfast and we talked, played, visited.  I even got my daughter and our visitor to play Quiltopoly with me!!!  My son and his fiance came for dinner.  We ordered our favorite Chicago style pizza so our guest could experience the best pizza in the world.

Monday we did some fun shopping then my husband drove my daughter and our visitor to the conference site downtown.  My grandson and I built Lego structures and vehicles.

The beautiful photos you see are pictures of fabric given to me by our Australian guest.  I had asked if maybe he could bring me a piece of fabric from Australia.  He brought alot!!!  I am overjoyed with these new additions to my fabric stash.  I can't wait to find the perfect quilt projects to incorporate these pieces.

He not only brought fabric from Australia, he also brought fabric from a trip he made to Africa!  I am thrilled with each of these fabrics and grateful for his generosity.

The first two fabrics are prints of sea creatures.  The first is on a solid blue background.  The second is on a mottled green background.  Both use white, black, brown, rust and gold for the sea life and are from Australia.

The third is a brown silk fabric with a beautiful design in green and rust.  I think this will make a beautiful scarf.

The next fabric is a beautiful floral design using red, blue and gold on a black background.  The little swirls and the dots are also gold.  The contrast of these colors on black make this African fabric look rich and inviting.

The stripes in the next print are made up of rows of a dark brown with a black and light brown print, and rows of light brown with a black and dark brown print, seperated by solid red stripes.

The next fabric reminds me of late night in the woods. The background is orange with white "blobs" (they're not really dots) and rust colored horizontal lines.  The "vines" are rust colored and white with orange centers.  The "moons" (circles)  are actually made of very narrow blue and black horizontal lines.

After that is the print that looks like blocks. The dark blocks are close to Navy Blue printed with dark and medium green designs.  The other blocks are gold with white spots and contain dark blue and green designs. Last is a fabric printed entirely of a black and dark brown print on a tan background.  This wonderful fabric even has the red label on it stating that it was printed in Ghana.  I agree with our guest that the print resembles a Backgammon board!!

I am fascinated with these fabrics and can't stop looking at them!  They have found a good home and have brought me joy.  They will be used in wonderful projects..... as soon as I decide on the perfect project for each of them!!!

Happy Quilting,
Laurel