Lost and found........

I got lost today.

I had a very early start as Bella was taking me to the bus station in Qiryat Shemona as I was heading back to Tel Aviv.  We were in plenty of time and waited a little along with lots of young people in army uniform, some with guns over their shoulders. "At least you will be safe," said Bella.

Eventually, the driver appeared and Bella made sure that he knew that I was going to Cinema City, and would he tell me when to get off.  Eti was meeting me there. Our goodbye was quick, and as I settled down, I found something on the bus must have been making my eyes water, as I had to keep dabbing them with a tissue.....

I think the bus driver forgot me, and I lost my sense of direction, I asked a couple of girls who said it was about two stops back, and the driver let me off at a bus stop. I asked for help and immediately someone stepped forward with a cell phone and made a call to Eti. He told me to stay put and she would come and get me which she did, so all ended well. I could tell from what he was saying that he was giving her directions, "smola" (left) and yemina (right) which is about the extent of my Hebrew, but when I think about it, I know a lot more words than that, so I'm almost fluent.

I was actually going to be staying with Niza who also lives in Ramat HaSharon, not far from Eti, she was unable to collect me but we were all meeting up for lunch. We went back to Eti's and it wasn't long before Niza joined us, and off we went for lunch in the town. It was Falafel today which I love and it was very tasty.

After lunch Niza and I went to her home, and she got me settled in, I was only staying for two nights. Prior to this trip we had never met, and I thought she was very brave to volunteer to take me in. Her home is beautiful and I enjoyed the modern design of it and the light. We had a lovely cup of tea and she very graciously showed me her quilting studio in the basement. Oh. My. Goodness. It is a beautiful space, high ceilings, light, airy and the most gorgeous table running down the middle of it where she works. Niza's quilts are stunning pieces and I really must ask her where she gets her inspiration, her work is really quite something and I loved seeing all she showed me.

Chaim, Niza's husband came home, and we had a lovely chat and then a quick supper as we two girls were going out tonight to a quilt exhibition in Kfar Saba.  We picked up Neri on the way, you may remember that I had met her at Eti's on my first night. She really is a lovely, lively soul and she had me laughing a lot. We found our way to Kfar Saba, and eventually found our way to the show, there were a lot of people there already, and I met up with Shoshi, Eti, Rachel and this time, Yemima. I hadn't seen her yet, and I was going to be staying with her for a couple of nights later. It was fun to move around and I really was a bit of a wanderer this week.

There were refreshments laid on, and lots of chairs laid out . We were going to see the work of Eynia Shoob, and another group who had made quilts based on Haiku verses, the author of which was also there.  

There was plenty of time to look around and I present some photos from this wonderful show.

This piece was lovely, and I loved the embroidery on it, it all seemed so random but worked so well. When I try and do embroidery on my pieces, I get stuck as to which stitch I should use, although I have a really good book showing different stitches, but it never seems to work for me.

Eynia's work is very 3 dimensional and I had a chat with her the following week, and she told me that she is influenced by the work of Linda Bar-On. I found Eynia's work absolutely incredible, I was stunned by the materials she used and the way she had manipulated it into different shapes and made it work. I was sure that if I attempted anything like these pieces, they would not be upright, but falling over at wild angles. Fabulous work and I was inspired all over again.

After a little while, we were all gathered in the main entrance and Eynia gave a short talk about the exhibition and spoke about the work behind her which was quite lovely. It was based on a children's card game I think.

She thanked several people for all their help and encouragement over the years, and presented each of them with this really lovely herbal bouquet, the fragrance was wonderful.

The author of the Haiku

This lovely lady was a singer and sang some really beautiful songs for our entertainment, her name is Sarah

The quilts based on the Haiku verses. Beautiful work. The lady in the centre is Cindy Richard and she also had a quilt in the Quilts of Israel show. When Cathy and I were in Houston the year before last, we met for the first time and I said I was planning to come to Israel. Imagine how delighted I was to see her on this evening! I had a chat with her afterwards and she was stunned, I think, to see me again.

I thought this piece was inspired, and loved it. 

The whole evening was wonderful and quite the experience. The support they give each other is really something. Eti had given a lecture on quilting the night before to approximately 100 people! I was reminded of our foray last year in showing eight quilts plus the workshop samples at a gallery in downtown London, On. and although we had advertised the event and had an opening at the gallery, only SIX people showed up for the opening. It was rather disappointing frankly and as I have mentioned before, we are all volunteers who give our time to put the festival on, where's our support?

Anyway, enough of my moaning. Niza and I were getting tired, and were now heading back home as we were going out tomorrow to celebrate a birthday!