Quilters!

There's no doubt about it, we quilters have a knack of finding each other, wherever in the world we might be.

I hadn't been at CARACAL more than half an hour on my first day before Trish called in to have her dog vaccinated. She had heard on the very efficient grapevine that I was a quilter, and asked me to her Friday morning quilting group.

What joy!

So I've spent the last two Friday mornings stitching, chatting, and swapping tips with Trish, her daughter Bronwen, and another friend Rentia on a cool tiled deck overlooking Trish's beautiful tropical garden.

Rentia started on this cushion cover, made from furnishing off cuts. It's going to look perfect on her couch.

Bronwen finished hand quilting and slip stitching the joining strips on this quilt-as-you-go baby quilt that she and Trish have been making together.

Trish patiently drew up a full size pattern for a block from a historical quilt she saw in a quilting magazine.

Then there was the "show and tell", including Bronwen's first quilt. 

An intricate puzzle quilt by Trish.

This purple beauty, also by Trish. Can you imagine piecing all those flowers?

And a warm, African toned Wedding Quilt Trish made for Bronwen, where every block has a special significance in their lives.

Just look at the rich colours in this colour wash quilt Trish is currently working on, made from thousands of batik scraps (some as small as an inch!) given to her by her friend Jenny from Kalahari Quilts. Trish prefers the quilt-as-you-go method for making her quilts and I'd love to see this one finished and bound.

I've already planned a visit to Kalahari Quilts when I'm in Gaborone next weekend. So what a bonus it was to find a shop selling traditional African Shweshwe cottons here in Kasane. Look at those colours!

And in case you're wondering, I've finally managed to complete a whole flower for Princess Plenty while I'm here!

Taking lessons

I have to admit I've surprised myself with the way some of my wildlife photos have turned out on this holiday. I haven't had my Nikon D5200 for long and it's still firmly on Auto, but the radiance of the African sunlight and the beauty of the animals and bird life combine to produce so many winning shots.

Then there are the rubbish shots like this one. I've managed to capture in fine detail the grasses in the middle distance, while making nothing but a fuzz ball out of the bird, my actual subject.

Clearly in need of a little extra tuition I took up the opportunity of joining another couple on a morning Photographic Tour on the Chobe River with Pangolin Photographic Safaris and threw myself on the mercy of our guide, Sue, who soon had me taking half decent photos like this one of an African Jacana lightly stepping through the lily pads.

Our specially designed boat was equipped with eight swivel seats in a single row down the middle, allowing each photographer a clear view out of both sides of the boat. 

I could have used my own camera if it had possessed a bracket for mounting it onto one of the camera fittings designed by Pangolin's head photo guide Gerhard ('Guts') Swanepoel along the lines of the machine gun mountings used by the South African army.

I doubt, though, if I could have captured such a clear close-up of this malachite kingfisher mother feeding her baby as I did using one of the Nikon D7000 cameras supplied free for us to use.

The early morning light was just amazing.

I'm still haven't found how to take multiple shots in quick succession on my D5200, so I was very excited when Sue showed me how to use this function on the D7000. Finally I could get a semi-respectable photo of birds in flight.

When I say the water was glassy I'm not exaggerating. This composition of elephant and water is one of my favourites.

This water monitor, or legovan, was sunning himself on a log when I intruded on his personal space.

I had to laugh at this huge hippo draped in grasses. He looks as if he's trying to do the impossible and disguise his portly body.

Don't be fooled by that grin. The only way to approach a huge croc like this is with a very long lens! Fortunately he was on the shore and I was in a boat. We looked into each other's eyes and it was loathing at first sight.

Another favourite shot.

These shots of a hippo running into the water, which I've made into a collage here, were only possible with the multiple shot function. This is only a very small selection of the action shots I took of his surprisingly nimble charge.

More elephants, having their morning bath.

This fellow was following his mates into the bush after giving us a spectacular display of rolling in the sand when he stopped momentarily, turned back, raised his trunk to me and trumpeted loudly as if to wave goodbye. Another 'pinch me' moment.

My morning on the Pangolin boat was incredible. Let's see how well I can put Sue's tips into practice.

Bungee jumping at Victoria Falls

That got your attention, didn't it 😄.

Tempe has a friend who owns the bungee jumping business at Victoria Falls. So after checking out of the hotel we made a plan to meet them for lunch at the cafe on the other side of the Victoria Falls Bridge, near his headquarters.

On the way we visited the markets, but we were sweet-talked and hassled so much we left empty-handed, with only our photos.

The craft shops of Africa Mall were such a contrast, and the cool courtyard was an inviting place to enjoy a Coke before setting out on the long walk down to the bridge.

How about these cute patchwork elephant cushions?

I could hardly bear to look down at the mighty Zambezi from the great height of the Victoria Falls Bridge, but I'll go to any lengths to please you, dear reader, so I took this picture. I hope you appreciate how hard it is to hold a camera with sweaty palms and knocking knees.

Garth showed us the stepping off point for the Slide, a sort of flying fox ride across the canyon.

And we saw the harnesses for the Bungee, all checked and sorted according to the weights of the jumpers.

We were just settling down to our hamburgers, resigned to the sad fact that we wouldn't see a jump that day since Garth had no bookings, when in walked a Finnish couple and, cool as cucumbers, signed up for the Slide (he and she), and the Swing and the Bungee Jump (he). 

We ordered another round of beers and enjoyed the show. First the Slide, across those raging rapids I showed you from the bridge.

Then the Swing, where you swing back and forth through the arch of the bridge like a human pendulum.

Finally the Bungee where, with a joyful whoop, our Finnish friend launched himself off the platform head first, arms spread like a bird, for the 110 meter drop.

The journey across to Sarah's home on Kasane was ... Interesting.

Our taxi driver, Talent, took us as far as Kazungula, the border post between Zimbabwe and Botswana. Talent was appropriately named, managing to shoe-horn six passengers, and their luggage, (plus himself) into a small 6 seater hatchback. A Botswanan couple was crammed into the back peering out from under their bags, and their little boy stared wide-eyed at the two of us, the only white passengers.

As a concession to us, Talent even stopped twice to show us the elephants and giraffes along the way. Very nice indeed! 

Once across the border, we walked through no man's land, then caught another taxi, and finally reached Sarah's little house in the grounds of Kubu Lodge in Kasane. You might be surprised to know that even this night owl was asleep by 9pm after such a huge day. 💤💤

Princess Plenty - Marking the borders

Do you suffer from quilting withdrawal when you travel? I get a little twitchy if I don't pop some handwork in my bag, just in case I have some time to fill on a plane, in an airport, or in the evenings.

This time Princess Plenty was to have been my traveling project. Ha! Fat chance!

So far this trip I've slept on the flights, walked around in the airports to prevent DVT, and collapsed in a weary heap most evenings.

But at least I'm prepared.

This is the stage I'm up to with the central medallion of Princess Plenty, my Lynne Alchin-designed quilt. It's been relatively simple going so far, and I'm loving those princess feathers in Lecien Flower Sugar and a couple of other similar florals.

The deep outside borders step things up a notch, a deliciously elaborate confection of appliqué fruit, birds, flowers and vines, with cornucopias in every corner. I was so keen to make a start that, after hand piecing only two of my narrow sawtooth borders onto the centre, I skipped ahead, figuring that this wide appliqué border would make the perfect traveling project, if I could just prepare the pieces beforehand.

I traced all four borders from the pattern sheet using a light box and a black Frixion pen. A glass-topped table with a lamp placed on the floor underneath is another simple way to trace the design.

The light shows up the pattern easily and the Frixion pen makes a nice clear line that won't rub off with repeated handling, but disappears with heat when you want it to, just by ironing.

Sometimes this isn't a good thing. Imagine you've just finished appliquéeing a flower, you sit back and admire your handiwork, and without a second thought you reach for the iron to complete your work of art by pressing it. Eeeek! You've just wiped out all the design around it!

Don't worry, if you want it it'll come back if you just pop your work in the deep freeze. Unless you live in an igloo at the North Pole this disappearing/appearing trick shouldn't be a problem, though I do think its advisable to launder your work when it's done, just to be sure you've seen the last of those lines.

I'm primarily using fabrics from my obscenely large scrap stash for the appliqué, so a reasonable way to make sure I have enough of each fabric would be to work on all four borders simultaneously. 

However I want to be sure all my shades and fabrics play well together before committing them, so I'm going to complete the appliqué on one border (making sure I only choose fabrics with sufficient to cover the lot) and once I'm happy with the finished product I'll go on to appliqué the other three borders simultaneously.

Besides, I'm easily bored if I have to work too long repeating the same fabrics or shapes. ✂️

Sunset on the Zambezi

One of the best times of the day to see wildlife, I'm learning, is as the sun's going down, and one of the best places is around water. So I took Sarah and her friend Tempe (granddaughter of my lovely Sydney friend Sheila) on a sunset cruise along the Zambezi River

Mix yourself an ice-cold gin and tonic, sit back and enjoy the ride.

Hippos

Impala

Elephant

Open-mouthed crocodile

Various birds with names I forget 😔 (the white one's an egret)