Meeting Quilters and 'Roo on the Barbie

Saturday was full of delightful activities. I am grateful to Di, who drove me around Sydney to get to the monthly meeting of the Sydney Southern Cross Quilters, or "Squilters" as they call themselves.

The group meets at this restaurant in Waitara, a northern suburb of Sydney.

On the left is the beautiful Di. We first met through the Quilting Down Under (QDU) chat group, and became acquainted during several face-to-face calls via Skype. Now we're meeting regularly at her church, St. Mark's, where she is one of two Stitchin' Mission coordinators.

What a fast and dear friend she has become!

Then, I had the happy opportunity to also meet a mutual friend, Loz, on the right. It's somewhat of a story, but Loz is the friend of one of my Iowa friends, Deb. Note the photo Loz and I are holding between us - that's Deb and Loz. Yes, it's a small world all right! This Squilters group meets to do hand work such as English paper piecing, hand-piecing, and stitchery. Here is Loz with an English paper-pieced quilt she made. Lovely!This is a hand-pieced Periwinkle Star quilt made by Heather. (Click the photo to enlarge it.) I wish I'd taken a picture of sweet Heather who was full of helpful quilting tips and suggestions that she shared with me.

Erica was hand-piecing this one.

Christine was stitching this pin cushion.

What a group! Amongst all the mandatory visiting and project-sharing, and lunch, there was barely time to do any stitching! During show and tell, we saw this lovely, seven-foot long, machine appliqued table runner,

this whole-cloth machine-quilted wall hanging,and this pretty Disappearing Nine Patch, among many others. After such a lovely day, it was difficult to say good-bye to new friends. This parking lot sign warned me, but no worries about me being quiet!
Saturday evening we went to friends for dinner. Remember I mentioned that I wouldn't likely ever try kangaroo? Well, our dinner host had something else in mind.

Yes, that's kangaroo, skewered, marinated, and ready for the barbie.

Hot off the grill......and onto my plate, and into my tummy.

I can't believe I ate the whole skewerfull, but I did! 'Roo has a pleasant flavor, and is a little chewier than other meats. Because kangaroo has little to no fat, I learned that the trick to proper grilling is to not overcook it which would make it tough. I can't say I'll ever intentionally eat kangaroo again, but I'm glad to have had the chance to try it. A unique experience.

As our host pointed out, what other country in the world eats its national emblem?!