Eight little jersey dresses.

Every year, I spend nearly three months in Barbados. That’s one quarter of a year! Everything I wear while here comes out of one suitcase. A suitcase that has to weigh under 50 lbs. This year was a complete success. I am down to the last four days and I am still happy with what i brought.

The key to my success is these eight little jersey dresses. As you can see, they are all different prints and colours. All but one are made by a young lady here on the island. I have collected them over the last few years, and add one each year. They are perfect to pack because they weigh next to nothing, roll into a tiny ball without ever wrinkling and have multiple uses while I am here.

I can dress them up with a bit of jewellery and flats for a dinner out. I can throw them over a bathing suit for the perfect cover up. I can even sleep in them - they are amazingly light and cool as a nightie.

When I wash them, they are completely dry in under half an hour, thanks to the Barbados breezes and sunshine. Because they are jersey, they don’t stretch or fade or go out of shape. They are perfect.

I guess they are my Barbados “capsule wardrobe”, which seems to be the “thing” over the past few years. I can totally understand why people opt for a uniform approach to dressing.  It’s incredibly easy to get dressed - no time lost in big decisions. And I love that they NEVER get boring.

These eight little jersey dresses will continue to work hard when I go back home this weekend. They have inspired a rug that will be perfect for my upcoming class “One Motif, Many Ways”. I can do many different styles on the various dresses. One lends itself perfectly for some quillies among the loops. Another will be a great demo for combining applique and quilting. A third is calling for a proddy treatment.

Stay tuned to watch my progress. I will try to post a bit more often when I get back home.

Yikes, it's March!!!

And I have already wiled away nearly 7 weeks in Barbados. (Actually had to check on "wiled vs whiled") The days seem long, but the weeks fly past.

We had our daughter, son-in-law and two "grands" here for a couple of weeks, which was pretty amazing. The four year old turns out to be a natural snorkeler and spent so much time under water, we thought he might grow scales and fins. Life returned to the slower rhythm after they left. Days filled with beach walks, swims in the sea, good books, good friends, potluck dinners and visits to our favourite restaurants. 

In the past week, I have heard from two of my Newfoundland rug camp students and they have given me permission to share their mats that were done in the Photo to Mat class there.

Here is Rhoda's piece, which she calls "Aground on Shallow Bay".  She said it was one of the photos that she took that feels very much a part of Newfoundland, and I think she captured the photo extremely well. The simple border and whipping make it look like it is framed. 

Within days of receiving the above mat, I got this one from Barbara - her grand dog Nixon, in his beautiful festive green velvet bow tie. She turned it into a pillow for Nixon's parents, who obviously are in LOVE with this very personal gift. 

It has been a cooler stay this year, with enough rain for me to do a bit of knitting and a couple of afternoons hooking. It has actually been the rainiest January and February anyone can remember, which is strange since it is supposed to be the start of the dry season. But as we Canadians keep saying "At least it isn't snow."

And speaking of hooking in Barbados, I finished a little piece that I brought with me - also adapted from a photograph. A friend who we sail with here shared a photo of himself and his grand daughter spending an afternoon on a beach on the east coast. I loved the photo and used all the teaching tools in my Photo to Mat class to create this little 6" x 8" piece to give to him. He is a "salty dog of a captain" with a soft spot for his grand daughter and many dogs here in Barbados. I think he will be touched - though he might wonder why the heck I did it!!

It was a great exercise to tackle so much subject matter in one piece. The two people, the dogs, the sky, hills, water and beach. I great lesson to share when teaching this class going forward.

So still another four weeks to go. They will waft by before we know it and we will be back home, counting down to next year.  Perhaps I will hook a few more Barbados photos before my return next year.