Friday, May 23, 2014

Quilts and Airplanes

Yes these two things are related, at least for today.  This was the day the Magpies went to see the quilt show here in Perth.  The quilt show was the “excuse” for the Magpie meet-up so at least one day had to be set aside for that.  Of course the men didn’t go that way.

The quilt show was at the Perth Convention center, a short bus ride from our hotel.

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Katie here.  The show was quite large, more quilts and vendors than I had expected.  I rook lots of pictures and bought 2 surgical seam rippers (!).  Here are some quilts that represent the colors and textures of Australia.  The center picture above was made by Sara Ann Smith, who lives in the US and was an instructor at QuiltNebraska  a few years ago, 

 

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This is part of a quilt.  The handwork was amazing.  All of the trees are hand-embroidered, with accents on the horizon, and the quilt is also hand-quilted.  It reminded me of the scenery in the Red Centre, with burned trees and red earth.

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This is a triptych with views of 3 aspects of Australia.  Beautiful, with historic stories written on the bottom third of each quilt.

 

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One last quilt from the color challenge.  These are two cormorants on a branch.  The green strips of fabric look for all the world like water beneath them.

While Katie and the Magpies were viewing and drooling over the quilts, Roy and I went to the Aviation Museum of Western Australia.  It is sponsored and maintained by the Royal Australian Air Force Association.  It has two large buildings chock full of aircraft and aircraft related and Australian Aviation History displays.  There are four main aircraft that are on display.

The first (in order of our viewing) is the PBY Catalina.  It is an amphibious aircraft used for submarine hunting, bombing and rescue during WWII.  Because of the size of the aircraft and the number of other airplanes and displays it is hard to get a picture of the entire aircraft. 

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There are a number of engines both piston and jet on display.  This is the radial piston engine used on the B-29 and other aircraft.  It essentially is two 9 piston radial engines put together to form an 18 piston radial engine.

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In the second building, the main aircraft on display is a Lancaster Bomber.  This is the main British bomber used during WWII.  It is one of the main aircraft that took the war to Germany, along with the American B17.

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To give you and idea of size, here is yours truly standing by one of the main gear wheels.

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Nose Art on the Lancaster

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Here is a view inside the Lancaster, looking toward the front.

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They also had a Dakota (US C47 or DC3).  This aircraft was the main cargo and passenger hauler for many years, pre and post WWII and of course during the war. 

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And a view inside the cargo bay

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There is so much more to see in this museum that there is no way I can include all of the pictures.  You will just have to take a trip to Perth to see for yourselves.

In the evening, we all went to dinner at a Swedish Smorgasbord restaurant.

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The food was plentiful and delicious.  This is just the bread and dessert section.

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Tune in tomorrow for our next adventure……Freemantle!

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