Quilt, Read, Eat, Sleep.... What Else Is There? discussion

Hello all...
My name is Caroline. I've been on a volunteer placement with VSO in Cameroon (Central Africa) for the last 682 days - not that I'm counting!
I've spend my evenings/weekends hand quilting with extremely colorful local fabrics (called pagne) and have managed to complete 3 full quilt tops and have two more in progress. Next week I am excited to be teaching a small group how to quilt as well - mostly women living with HIV who will use quilting for peer support and possibly income generation. Working now on some samples to teach from. Yippie!
My book reading has suffered some, but that might have to do with the reduced access to books (no bookstores, no libraries - must depend on exchanges with other expats whose tastes are not always compatible to mine). Looking forward to raiding my sister's extensive library. Listening to books on tape (or ipod rather) has allowed me to both quilt and "read" - making it all time well spent.
Now have 30 more days to go before heading home to Canada... but what shall it be... read more books or make more quilts? Dilemmas, dilemmas.
I'm looking forward to meeting new people on here who share the passion (obsession?) with quilting and reading.
Cheers!

Hello and welcome Caroline. Let's see 682 days equates to almost 2 years. What an awesome commitment. What type of work will you do when you come home? Do you have a sewing machine to work on when you get home or will you continue to make your quilts by hand. I've seen some of the fabrics from Africa and they are gorgeous. Keep us all up on how your quilting classes go with the women. We are all honored to have you join our little group!

Hi Caroline. Hope you enjoy your time with us. WOW...that is quite a commitment. I bet you have been rewarded many times over. Hope you classes go smoothly and the remainder of your time there goes by quickly. Have a safe trip home.

Welcome!!

Welcome to the group, Caroline! And, thank you for your service to those who need our help. I, too, look forward to hearing more from you and the answers to Kathryn's questions. :-)

Thanks for the warm welcome! To answer Kathryn, yes it has been almost 2 years. I don't know where we'll be going to next as my husband is taking the lead on the job front which also determines the location of our next adventure. I'm an executive/life coach primarily and economic development consultant second, I can be quite mobile. At least that's my hope.
I have 3 sewing machines in storage in Canada. One's an antique treadle machine (which is what people use here regularly!), my grandmother's first electric machine from the 1940s or something and one I can actually use. But we'll be couch surfing with family and friends until we know where we move next so they will stay in storage a while longer. Lucky for me, most of my family members have machines so I can mooch off of them and complete a few of the quilts in the meantime. I have put pictures on our blog as I completed the tops:
http://beneaththemosquitonet.wordpres...
http://beneaththemosquitonet.wordpres...
http://beneaththemosquitonet.wordpres...

Now question is... which one shall get finished first... or will I be distracted by Paullina Simons' latest novel and forget all about the quilts?!?!?!
Maybe I should hold a vote!

;-)

I was going to say that I liked the Far North quilt best until I looked at the others. Now I can't decide, so I am of no help in deciding which to finish first! LOL!

I've never read anything by Paullina Simons' books, so I'm off to check at Amazon!

Then you must read "The Bronze Horseman". I brought it here with me and it's been passed around our volunteer group many times over. I even caught one of the gals playing hooky one day because she couldn't put it down!

The Far North quilt is by far the most colorful, so perhaps a good one to work on with the coming of winter. The north of Cameroon is the hottest place which sounds like a paradox, but isn't (we reached 52 Celcius once - that's 125F), it might be quite appropriate. ;-)

The Far North quilt is gorgeous but my favorite is the Mariner's Compass. Beautiful quilts.

I would just close my eyes and pick one. They're all gorgeous. Welcome to the group!

Kathryn wrote: "Hello and welcome Caroline. Let's see 682 days equates to almost 2 years. What an awesome commitment. What type of work will you do when you come home? Do you have a sewing machine to work on w..."

Ended up having only one woman and two men - and likely none of them affected/infected with HIV. I never ask. But a great experience none the less. Here's the scoop:
http://beneaththemosquitonet.wordpres...

Congratulations, Caroline, for not drop kicking any of your students to the next country! I taught high school English for 30+ years and know how frustrating it is when people don't listen. But you made the best of the situation, and it looks like they were pleased with their blocks. Good for you!

You are going to cherish those two years for the rest of your life. Getting to teach and live outside your country is an amazing way to change everything. My husband and I taught in Korea for three years. Since we were both quilters and he worked fewer hours, he was the one who really spent time quilting there. We were able to buy beautiful silk for three to four dollars a yard, so he learned to quilt with silk and made five gorgeous wall hangings. I spent too may hours there working so I never started with the silk. I too know what it's like to have limited books. I lived in Daejeon the for over two of those years and either I traded around like you or I took the train to Seoul to buy books at almost twice their price at home. I really slowed down on reading too, but I too listened to books on the iPod. I listened while I did my prep work. I love the African fabrics you used in your quilts. Just beautiful. Isn't it fun using different fabrics?

Welcome Caroline! I think you should finish the Compass Quilt. Very beautiful work you are doing, with both the quilts and the volunteering!

Caroline wrote: "Thanks for the warm welcome! To answer Kathryn, yes it has been almost 2 years. I don't know where we'll be going to next as my husband is taking the lead on the job front which also determines t..."

Thanks so much for sharing your pics. I love looking at what other quilters produce. So interesting!