Holiday purchases

I We're back safe and sound from our wonderful holiday in Australia, and while I didn't manage to do very much sewing while we were away, I certainly made sure I bought some fabric souvenirs back with me!  I am doing a class in May which requires a fabric with a large design on it, so particularly looked out for that. 

I thought this filled the bill perfectly.  I need a solid to go with it, and will probably go for the cobalt blue or the turquoise.  And of course, I couldn't just bring the fabric I needed, but also bought some which I wanted! 

I wanted fabric which is difficult to get here, and have seen the (gorgeous) fabrics other people have brought, with kangaroos, koalas, ferns and exotic flowers etc on them, and seen how they struggled to use them, so thought I'd try a different direction.  I'm hoping these fabrics can be used in one project, but will also mix into my stash fairly well. I wanted Aboriginal designs as they are so iconic. 

This one is called 'Young Women's Business'.  The Aboriginies separate gender roles into men's and women's business, with each having equal weight.  The circles represent a place of significance, a meeting place, water source, food sorce etc, and the 'C' shapes are the mark a cross legged woman will make on the ground.  The larger C shapes with lines next to them are the women with their digging sticks having a meeting, and the other smaller Cs are the young women having a smaller meeting.  The lines represent journeys or routes.  I suppose the whole design has been stylised, but I like to think it's a message about the importance of a balanced society and their individual roles.  Wonder when I'll dare to cut it up!