Little Pink Dress

Caribbean & Bahamas

Georgetown 8-10 March 2018

I knew from a previous visit to George Town, Bahamas (in the Exumas) of locally produced batik fabrics.  I was fortunate enough to find at Marilyn's Gift shop a gorgeous little pink cotton dress in Andros Batik and some dotty sandals to match – a nice summery gift for little Miss P.  They also stocked a nice selection of other clothes and decorator products in Bahama's batiks.  The fabric prints and colours just seemed to shout “clear blue waters and sunny skies!” 

The staff were very friendly and explained the story of Andros Batik; it may well be the only locally produced (handmade) dyed fabric range in the Bahamas.  Enjoy their story.  I, as always, am looking for fabric lengths rather than pre-made items.  Why sew a dress when you can make a quilt…right?  Just couldn’t resist a little pink dress though… 

Andros Batik: Bahama Pink Dress

George Town, Exumas, Bahamas

Warderick Wells Land & Sea Park, Exumas, Bahamas

Wax On Wax Off...

Cape Verde Islands

Mindelo 5-13 January 2018

Of course, I had dreams of finding lots of cotton wax batiks available in Mindelo but not to be.  The shop stocking those exuberant Ghanaian textiles in Mindelo (Sao Vicente) I had read about was long since gone (hopefully relocated) and the market was full of cheap polyester substitutes. 

We had a day trip planned on neighbouring Santo Antao and I had hoped to see fabrics in markets as we drove around the island.  The demand though is for ready-mades (for tourists & locals) and I may have missed noticing any cottage industry in textiles.  There appears not to be a huge demand for them either.  Driving across Santo Antao however, is a delight, with pockets of green tucked into steep sided hills, so the day was rewarding in many other ways as I have already noted in this post.  African cottons…well, I guess it’s back to the drawing board and lots more time on the computer researching.  Or perhaps even planning an African textile adventure.  Now there's a happy thought!

For now, here's a start with a few links to Wiki:  African wax prints and Kente cloth but my photos I'm afraid, are only of the wonderful Santo Antao scenery.

A small fisherman's harbour Santo Antao
 - only for very brave fisherman ; )

Santo Antao interior

Santo Antao's steep and rugged coastline.  

Included this one of Mindelo's busy waterfront with the main market square over to the right
(behind the buildings) 

Close to Home

Isn't it so true that you often overlook what you have close at hand? 

A trip to Melbourne is rarely complete unless I manage to squeeze in an hour or two at the Art Gallery on St Kilda Road (and Boat Books  for the Cap'n).  So it was, on the spur of the moment and in the spirit of adventure, we found ourselves in Sydney and on a wonderful January day, down at the Rocks.  After browsing markets and galleries galore (and a nice lunch to soften him up) I proposed a tour of the MCA near the Quay.  Himself is not known for his interest in contemporary art but agreed. I limbered up, ready for a tour at the speed of light....questions & sarcastic comments only at the end.

Yinke Shonibare MBE

(This photo is from James Cohen Gallery, New York, where you will see more.
I wasn't allowed to brandish my camera about in the MCA.)

One of the solo exhibitions was by Yinka Shonibare MBE; an amazing body of work that had taken 12 years to complete.  Sure makes my 2 or 3 years on a quilt pale into insignificance!  Aside from Shonibare's work being interesting because of his "discussion" about colonialism, modern African identity, class structure & social justice (I know this because it's in the exhibition information guide) what took ALL my attention was the wonderful Dutch wax printed cottons.  Metres of this wild fabric had gone into the making of clothing in the style true to those fabulous fashionables during the era of the French Revolution. It was like having ice-cream on your toast in the morning!  Wow...what a wake-up call.


I finally managed to track down some real Dutch cottons at VLISCO, who also offer them at reasonable lengths (6 yards) at a good price.  (Share fat quarters of them among your best quilting buddies!) And they ship home...mmmm.  Just try to avoid licking them off your screen. I found many offerings of Chinese cottons too but 10000 metre minimum purchase was just a little too much to consider, even for me. 

Follow the link above to see many, many more of these scrummy prints

Of course, it begs the question as to how such fabulous African designs managed to find their place of manufacture in Holland.  More on this later.  Meanwhile just browse those sites and enjoy!