Hiding in a German Yarn Shop

When we were in Augsburg Germany we found this Yarn Shop outside the museum.  Of course I barged in and started asking a ton of questions.  The owner was pleasant and spoke fluent English so we talked for about half an hour before I realized everyone was looking for me!

I found out that she dyes the grey and brown yarns for Yves St Laurent and Gucci.

Nature quilts and Portraits that look like photos

Sorry about the little break  I took, I am taking three classes though OLLI - and have been very busy!

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Louisiana State University (OLLI at LSU) is one of a network of 120 university-affiliated lifelong learning programs supported by The Bernard Osher Foundation. We offer non-credit educational programs specifically developed for adults ages 50 and older; university connection and university support; robust volunteer leadership and sound organizational structure; and a diverse repertoire of intellectually stimulating courses and opportunities.

As a vibrant, member-advised community of lifelong learners, our mission is to foster lifelong learning and individual growth for learners ages 50 and over by creating intellectually stimulating learning opportunities that enrich lives

Frank and I are taking Russia - Tsar Nicholas to Putin which includes the ruse of Communism 

AND we both are taking Mexican Art painting- which is the Atami or Bark Cloth paintings that are indigenous to Central America.  The instructor is from Columbia and came from a village very near where the main center for the old painters is located.  

I am taking Marchita's course on Modern Art - which documents how the Modern Art evolved from the great impressionist painters on down to today.

So interesting!

Back to the quilts from the trip!

Here is Elizabeth Elliot's graphic black and white quilts.

 They kind of looked like explosions!

And Dorte Jensen was incredible!  The quilts were anywhere from 2 feet to

6 feet in height/width and looked like photographs.

Meanwhile, remember we are walking through the villages from building to building through the streets looking at these wonderful old sites and places where people live and work.   

Here is Denise Labadie's incredible stone quilts.  They all look like you could just step into them and walk up the stairs.  

This was another exhibit that was all about nature.  

And this is the entry from Noriko Endo

 This scene with the child looking up into the woods won first place

This was a landscape of the ocean with that face superimposed over it.  In person it looked more like a landscape than a face, but I notice here it looks more like a face.  

And I will end this post with the most familiar thing there for me...…...the Handiquilter booth!  LOL.  

They were happy to have someone who spoke "their" language come by!  

Strasbourg, France (or is is Germany?)

Please click on the photos to make them larger.  They are definitely worth seeing!  Come back again and I will have some photos of the Quilts we saw the first day in Sainte Marie Aux Mines.

The first day we flew into the Frankfort Germany Airport.  The flight was 9 hours and some minutes and we flew at 36000 feet up, which is a mind boggling number of feet.  The screen told me it was like negative 75 degrees so I was not inclined to step outside.  I so tired of sitting and flying by the time we arrived.

Once we collected all 15 of the Baton Rouge people together plus Don who met us in Houston and two quilters from Atlanta GA we found Jurgan, our bus driver.  He has been driving for Marchita for so many years and destinations throughout Europe.  

As we flew into the airport we were able to see wind turbines and nuclear energy sources.

Welcome to the Frankfort Airport!

Once on the bus we headed to Strasbourg France to a Cathedral then our very interesting hotel on the Square.  We had about a 30 minute bus ride to the villages that held the European Patchwork Festival.  

  

The fields of asparagus were everywhere.  We also saw lots of cornfields and some leafy potato fields.  

 

The bridges were lovely, I love to photograph bridges too!  Wait till you see some of the bridges in the cities.  This one was before we reached Strasbourg France. 

 


 Ohhh!  The signs say we are heading to Paris!  What?  Not on this trip, you say?

More bridges.









Ah, more bridges throughout the city.  Strasbourg has almost as many canals as Venice Italy!  And the flowers were so beautiful everywhere.  Color dominated the streets and windows everywhere, pink geraniums, yellow coreopsis, bright red salvia.


Strasbourg is an old city.  In 1988, Strasbourg celebrated 2000 years as a city.  That boggles my mind! 

It is the capital of the Alsace region in France and the formal seat of the European Parliament.  Its unique culture and relationship to the border between France and Germany blends the two countries.  The city grew from the Roman encampment of Argenroratum first recorded in 12 BC.

It became French, then German, then French, then German...…then French again after WWII in 1944.


  It is where my German 

Grandmother Irma Pottharst came from.  My family were dressmakers, which now makes perfect sense since this area was the premier fabric, textile and lace making area since the 1200s.

The Strasbourg Cathedral is one of the best known examples of Gothic Cathedrals.  It contains the famous Astronomical Clock that dates from 1681.

The first clock had been built in the 14th century but it stopped working and had to be rebuilt.  The clock displays the positions of the sun, moon, solar and lunar eclipses.  It is remarkable because of the many dials - the clock, the astrolabe, the planets and eclipses.  It also has painted panels depicting the creation, resurrection, the last judgment and virtue and vice.  It has moving statues and musical entertainment with the six distinct tunes.



This is the famous Rose Window.  It is huge and beautiful.  There was an umbrella for sale that had the window printed on it, I should have bought it!






These are the foolish virgins and the wise virgins.  They tell the story of how being virtuous will get you a good husband and being foolish will get you sent to the devil.
 




There are Flying Horses all over the city in the squares.  This one has two stories!





The Rhine River flows through Strasbourg as it lies on the edge of the Black Forest.  Many of the buildings are from the middle ages.  in 1605 the worlds first newspaper was printed here.  There is a statue in one of the squares commemorating this fact.  This is a statue of Gutenberg who invented the printing press and printed his famous bible.  Before that, all books were handwritten.

The buildings are most beautiful if you are looking for architectural wonder.  Having Carrie has made me more aware of how they are build and what they are made from.  









All you have to do is walk through the city and you will find amazing sights.








This is the Medieval Bridge called Ponts Couverts built during the 17th century.  At one time it was the gates to the city.  most of the covered bridges are no longer covered however, this is a covered bridge on one side There are 4 of those towers still standing.

 During WWII the Nazis occupied the area and the American and British bombings destroyed a lot of the city and old buildings.  The buildings built after that period are a mix of 5 centuries of history.

There you see Frank and Oscar walking about in the square.



This is the Protestant Church, John Calvin walked these streets too.  It was an important center in the Protestant Reformation.  Today it does not have a religion attached to it, as they believe that anyone is welcome to worship there.

In medical discoveries, in 1889 it was discovered by Minkowski that the pancreas is involved in diabetes.  Amazing.

Please enjoy some other beautiful photos from Strasbourg, France.