I met a quiltmaker, Graciela, last weekend, and in true quilter tradition we began sharing information. I have met a few makers in parts of the country – so has she, and some of them we both have met. She confirmed my impression that there are very few of us and there is no kind of organisation, but it would be good for all of us to get together every now and then. I agree and look forward to that.

I lent her a book, she brought me information on a fabric outlet store in Buenos Aires, and a promise to take me to man who works with fish leather….. and funnily enough just yesterday another totally non-quilting friend promised to take me to a leather manufacturer friend of hers who might pass on some bits. Who knows?
I might find more of that metallicised pewter colour yet…..

But today, best of all, as promised, Graciela sent along several pieces of frog leather through her son who attends a nearby highschool. Do we talk of ‘frog hides’? anyway the one pictured is typical of them all – approx 6inches by 4 inches, and the leather is beautiful, very fine, light coloured, soft, smooth with very faint little markings on the centre/back part, and quite different from what I expected when she mentioned them on the weekend.
Somehow with frogs being watery creatures I expected something rather see-through. The flares and frilly bits where the limbs join the body are just fascinating. When I use these it will have to be something quite inspired… so for the moment I will just fondle the leather and think about how to use it effectively. In spanish the word for frog sounds a lot more elegant – rana , so this is cuero de rana, frog leather.