I’ve been living an intense life filled with quilts and travels. I’ve been working on a few large quilts that are far from being finished but I already made two for The Fifteen by Fifteen challenge. This year’s challenge explores the theme of Time.
My idea for the Time series came from the book Stellar Moments of Humankind by Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. It contains twelve historical miniatures related to events that changed the world. I am not going to follow Zweig blindly: I will use two or three miniatures from the book, while choosing the other four myself. It has been almost 100 years since the book was written, and humanity has experienced many more stellar moments—some of which I was lucky enough to witness.
Time #1 tells the story of Vasco Núñez de Balboa, a notable Spanish explorer and conquistador, born in 1475 in Spain. In 1513, he crossed the Isthmus of Panama and on September 25 became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean, which he called Mar del Sur (the South Sea).
My quilt shows how I imagine that first view of the Mar del Sur, seen by Balboa after climbing a rock surrounded by harsh rainforest. I also added a small portrait of Balboa himself, even though no verified portraits of him exist.
I already made a quilt dedicated to the Time #2 but can not show it yet before it is posted on The Fifteen by Fifteen site.
I also made a quilt to enter into The Brno Patchwork Meeting classical quilt contest. I paper pieced all the New York beuaty blocks using metallic fabrics that I have been collecting for years. Just before enetring I realized that I made a mistake: the call was not for paper piecing but for English foundation piecing. So now I am stuck with this quilt:
This year I have already traveled to Morocco, the country I dreamt of visiting for a long time. Luckily I was able to see the best of Morocco, the rich history and crafts: embroidery, weaving, tanning, woodworking, metal works, ceramics, mosaics, embroidery, yarn dying etc. I spent one night on the Sahara desert and took multiple photos that will serve as inspiration for new quilts.
I also spent a lot of time planning future travels. The closest- to Uzbekistan just in 5 days from today, The Brno Patchwork meeting, family reunion in South Tirol etc.
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