The quilt top has been complete for 2 years. it was close to queen size. When we moved here, I decided I wanted it to be our king bed quilt so I added about 10" more borders (2 borders added) which made it cover the mattress/box springs edges that show here.
However, I've been using it just alone, not completed with batting and backing as a quilt should be.
I have 4 friends coming Wednesday to help me layer it, pin it and get all the wrinkles out so that I can at last quilt it. The quilt is 101" x 101" before quilting and binding so it will finish out as a "BIG BOY" size in my book.
Cuenca continues to delight me. We have had a number of social activities. Last week a lovely couple took us out for lunch at a great place for a gluten free person, El Maize. It was one of the best meals I've had in Ecuador, certainly the best lunch! Every item on the plate was delicious. and there was no wheat flour in anything I had. Healthy for me and a great relief to be able to order and eat without worry.
I also visited Fiere Libre, a huge indigenous market, for the first time. I bought a couple of plants. A gorgeous 3 toned bougainvillea which I put outside on the "sorta patio" I look at it with the other bright colored plants when I am sewing. Against the clay color of the brick, the plants look gorgeous.
And I got a lovely small fan palm that is supposed to be a house plant and not get over 3 - 4 feet tall.
We were treated to a dessert/ tea/coffee at Bill and Dean's. She made a flourless chocolate torte which was rich and delicious. No gluten there!
I made a big dinner Friday night for our friends who are Cuencanos. We had 8 aadults at the table and 3 ninos at a little breakfast bar. I made India spiced chicken with rice and all the other things. We finished with a limon' cake that was gluten free, my last mix from the United State. It was pretty tastey. . The conversation was all in Espanol with either one of the two lovely young women(below) translating when I would get stuck understanding or expressing myself. It is pretty tiring to me trying to follow a conversation but I am getting more all the time ...and thank goodness for context! This family is are so lovely that the conversation is secondary.
Bernardita turned 31. I made this wall hanging for the serious owl lover.
At one point, Bernardita was translating for me and then turned to tell her mother who only speaks Espanol what we were discussing. She got mixed up and said a couple of English words instead of Espanol. That started a series of giggles, laughter to the point of tears that was wonderful to be part of.
Rebeca(in photo standing on the left below) translated to me that in Espanol when people laugh really hard, they get tears. We all looked at each other and burst out laughing because of course that is universal, at least between South America and North America. It was a great evening and a very successful dinner. I feel so grateful to know this extended family who include us as if we are one of their own.
This is the group of women who will assemble the quilt in a couple of days. I'll do the quilting myself on the machine. This "quilt party" will be the first for the Ecuadorian women who don't really sew and had never seen quilting in progress until they met me. Very cool! Cheverey!! They are great sports to help out in the layering process which will be on the hardwood floor and be hard on knees.
Cannot find a picture of the quilt backing fabric - next time. It is a luscious paisley flannel - should be very cozy when the batting is added.
I had some great skype time with my kids and grandkids recently. My youngest grandson, Blake, said "I love you gramma" for the first time. it was such a delight...but I got off the phone and cried really hard because I was not there to hug him in person. Blake clearly still knows who I am and enjoys the skype calls.
We have tenative news on our progress to getting residency finalized with a cedula in hand someday. The attorneys who are a husband and wife couple, Grace and Nelson, notified us it was time to give them our passports to be sent to Quito for the inspection process that is required. So we did and now we are living in a foreign country with the 90 day extension to our visa about to expire and we have no passports in our possession. A little frightening if you think much about it but we decided not to.
We are told that in about 2 weeks, we should have our passports back and be able to fly to Quito later in November to meet the attorney's rep and spend one day getting the cedula all finalized. Then we will be legal residents of Ecuador. As a pensioner, Len will be eligible for 50% back on airfare that originates in Cuenca, a 50% discount on the already cheap bus fare, and a decrease on utilities, which are amazingly low.
Ironically, our attorneys are to be on vacation for the next few weeks so we will be going to Quito after they return from vacation and get the next steps in order. I must be making some progress on being "Cuenca like" because I felt it was not worth getting upset about. So we continue to get settled but feel joy each day to be here. There is also pain each day that we cannot be with loved ones as well.
back to sewing that pesky quilt backing. Have a terrific week!
I might be a tad prejudiced but I think these are the 5 las chica más guapa en Cuenca.
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