Port Moresby, PNG

Finally, some photos and a post from my adventure in Port Moresby. The photos are are all a bit mixed up and contained in two posts.
I had a wonderful time and met some wonderful people in my two workshops and Quilt Exhibition, Feelings of Place. It was lovely to visit my family up there; my sister, her husband , his two girls and my new niece. the weather was clear and not too hot, and the city looked fresh after the rains. The Bird of Paradise Workshop and exhibition were held at the very comfortable Ela Beach Hotel. The workshop group was a mixture of members of the Port Moresby Quilt and Craft Groups as well as people who had been sponsored by community members and leaders. You can see the group below, all holding up there works in progress. There was a mix of hand and machine workers and everyone achieved some skills and hopefully some inspiration.

The workshop I ran for a group of Village women, proved extremely popular and instead of sitting and sewing under palm trees in a village we were all accommodated in the spacious conference rooms above a restaurant , kindly donated too us for the event. All the 35 women from various villages made their way to the venue and learnt how to hand sew quilt as you go hexagons. I provided a small kit for each participant and they all sewed away, enthusiastically planning what they would take back to their villages and how they could apply their new skills to benefit themselves and their communities. It was really inspirational for me and I felt there were many more opportunities for community development in my small way. The women are holding up their work in the photo below.

Below are some of the Bird of Paradise participants with a view of the Ela Beach venue.

I had to take this shot of a pile of the quilts I SOLD at the exhibition. They're stacked on a chair awaiting collection by their new owner. I have an empty sort of feeling, now that I've sold so many of my African quilts... but it's a good feeling too!