Inspirational Ireland

Before I get to the Irish part of our journey, I wanted to respond to a comment from June about this photo from the shop in Kirkwall, Scotland.

The thistle sprig is a symbol of Scotland. The shop had a jar of them for £3.50 (British pounds).

The sales person gifted me one with my fabric purchase and I set it on the fabric for the photo above. The name of the fabric line printed on the selvedge is “Little Johnny”. I looked it up and it was printed in the UK.

Also, this week I couldn’t resist sharing the iron designs on a church in Scotland – you’ll find that photo at the top of this post.

Our next stop was Belfast, Northern Ireland. We arrived early in the morning and headed for St. George’s Market. It was a feast for the senses.

There were vendors with everything from fish to jewelry.

One booth was named Rosemallow Flowers. This vendor made jewelry with resin from wildflowers she grows herself.

I absolutely love the pair of earrings I purchased.

After lunch at the market we decided to start our hike to the Patchwork Goose quilt shop. It was 2.7 miles away, but we were up for the walk ~ if it meant we’d find a quilt shop. Their website said they were open, but when we arrived no one was there except a disappointed Marie (and me).

The long walk back into the city wasn’t quite as much fun, but we did enjoy seeing a less tourity part of the city and then ~ downtown Belfast didn’t disappoint.

The dome in the government building was beautiful. I love the play of circles and arcs in this photo. I think I see a piece of fiber art looming.

We’d reached a point where we needed to stop for a chocolate and tea break, and we met up with Kristi doing the same thing in a pretty shop. She told us there was a fabric store just a few blocks away!!! So we headed out once again ~ and it was open!

Sadly they were having a “going out of business sale”. They still had plenty of nice things available.

The staff was wonderful – and we found some fun purchases.

The fabric I purchased in this next photo has Celtic designs ~ and the ladies threw 3 bunches of “zips” in as a bonus. I think that’s what I’ll call them from now on.

The next day we arrived in Dublin. Marie and I signed up for an all day shore excursion which included a bus tour through the city and then a drive out to a Christian settlement from the 800s. It was a beautiful day and the ruins and scenery were gorgeous (more arcs!)

As were the sheep. They dotted the landscape all along our way.

It was a lovely tour, but no fiber to be found (unless the wool on the sheep counts 😊).

The next day we spent at sea and we were entertained with a different type of art – food art! It was fun to watch these talented chefs create before our eyes.

While on the ship we often took the glass elevators. As I looked for shapes and inspiration I saw arcs not only in the building in Belfast, but in the church ruins near Dublin ~ and in the ship’s elevators.

It’s everywhere! I hope you have an inspiring week!