"African Adventure" Kits

Here are some of my "African Adventure" kits all ready for the CreativFestival show in Toronto this week. The kits contain the pattern for 4 different wall quilts, an authentic embroidery from South Africa and all the fabric and batting needed to finish the project. E-mail me if you would like more information on these kits.

Adventure in Beading

Here is another little quilt from my "African Adventure" series. I printed a photograph on EQ Printables fabric sheets for the centre of the quilt. Then I decided to do some beading in the area around the picture. This was my first attempt at beading - I have no idea if I was doing it the "right" way or not - but I am happy with the result!

Close-up view of the beading

My "African Adventure" pattern is almost ready to be published and will be on my website soon. There are instructions for using an embroidery or photograph in the centre section and 2 different border designs.

African Adventures

Recently I have been making small wall hangings using the embroideries that I purchased from South Africa. Here are some pictures of 2 of them.

Yesterday I put this picture in the Daily Photograph section of my Blog. The picture was taken from the bus window during a recent trip to South Africa. The child was standing on the highway in the Soweto area of Johannesburg.

Now I have made a wall hanging using the same design that I used for the embroideries. This project has taken on a life of its own!

I have decided to make these designs into a new pattern that will be available soon on my website. (Suggestions for a title for this new pattern will be gratefully received!) I will be adding one more design that uses a photograph that will fit in a little pocket on the front so it can be changed whenever you wish. This will be similar to the "Pop-Out Picture Quilts" that are on my web site now. Watch for more information coming soon.

The Dancing Elephant: An African Folk Tale

I have just finished another little quilt using the African embroideries that tell the folk tales of the Venda people. This story is called "The Dancing Elephant". You can read this story here. This embroidery was done by Heleni who has 9 children. The embroideries are the main source of income for this family.

Each embroidery comes with a printed copy of the folk tale and a card telling a little bit about the embroiderer. I made a pocket on the back of the quilt to hold these items.

African Embroidery: The Rejected Wife

On January 15 and 16 I wrote about the African embroideries I had received from Ina le Roux who is working with a group of Venda women in South Africa. Ina has taught the women to embroider and now they can sell their work and have funds to support their families.

This design is called "The Rejected Wife" and was created by Sani.

I added a simple border of African-style fabrics to the embroidery to create this little wall hanging.

Each embroidery comes with the complete Venda folk tale and a picture and story of the embroiderer. I added a fabric pocket on the back to hold this information.

"The Rejected Wife" is the story of a woman who was sent away by her husband and his second wife because she had 5 sons. The husband knew the sons would marry and leave his farm and would not be of any use to him. The wife started her own farm with the help of her sons and soon had a more profitable farm than her husband. Although the husband tried to win her back again, the first wife just said "Phfutseke" , a Venda word which means "Get Lost!".