300 Year British Quilting Exhibit at Victoria Albert Museum

[Hannelore N.]

And don't forget to go to Harrod's. Even if you don't buy anything, the place is an experience, especially the food hall, and the centre staircase.

If you are interested in people, then the National Portrait Gallery is well worth a visit.

Have fun! I'll be in London from the 19th to the 21st.

Lorchen

[Hannelore N.]

Dear Bar7700,

I purchased a ticket for the matinee show of Macbeth at the Globe Theater on May 16th. Will you be there? If so, I will be the lady in the Upper Level waiving a set of Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks in the air before the show starts. It would be fun to meet you. Please let me know.

Thanks,

Carol

[Hannelore N.]

Dear Lorchen,

I hope to go to the National Portrait Gallery and to Harrods. Yikes. There are so many places on my list. Tommorow I hope to get the Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. And I want to get to the third floor of the V&A to see the fabrics on file. I saw a TV show where Fons and Porter (I think) were at the Smithsonian in a similarly textile preservation area and they were shown an unfinished quilt by Martha Washington.

I have brought a hand sewing project of grandmother's flower garden to keep me busy at the hotel. I find English paper piecing relaxing -- and very portable.

Carol

[Barbara C.]

Carol,

The quilt cruise itinerary is as follows.
Geiranger, Norway
Alesund,Norway
Bergen, Norway
Ivergordon, Scotland
S Queensferry, (Edinburgh)

Teachers are listed here....... http://Www.quilt cruises.com
Norwegian Fjords & Scotland cruise. I get to take a class with Elly Sienkiewicz! In 2008 I got to take a class with Alex. She is so nice!

Barbara

[Barbara C.]

Carol....... I will not be in London until June 20th! Let me know how you like the play.

Too funny you should mention Grandmother's Flower Garden. I recently became addicted to English paper piecing. I am doing 3/8 inch flowers. They are so cute! This will be a good take along project on the cruise.

Barbara

[Barbara C.]

Carol....... I will not be in London until June 20th! Let me know how you like the play.

Too funny you should mention Grandmother's Flower Garden. I recently became addicted to English paper piecing. I am doing 3/8 inch flowers. They are so cute! This will be a good take along project on the cruise.

Barbara

[Barbara C.]

Dear Pam7040,

Thanks for the tips. I will check out those quilt shops on line.

Regards,

Carol

[Barbara C.]

Hi Carol, it sounds like you're having fun and packing in a lot of things, as you've found out, there's loads to do in London! I hope you manage to visit Goose Chase Quilting, Sarah Wellfair who runs it is lovely (like all quilters )). She's also written several books which she self-publishes, they're very simple but very eye-catching designs.

Probably the closest quilt shop to Maidstone is Puddleducks in Sevenoaks, it's about 20 miles away, if you're on a coach trip you might not be able to persuade them to take a detour

I second an earlier suggestion to visit Liberty's in Regent Street, it's a most fabulous store, it's worth looking even though the prices are prohibitive, the building itself is wonderful and steeped in history.

[Mandella E.]

Both Ali and Lorchen are right, Harrods and Liberty are both wonderful places to visit; more in their own right than just department stores. Harrods has a superb food hall. It's nice on a sunny day to buy a takeaway lunch there, cross over into Hyde Park and sit on the grass to picnic.

Also, I have one more suggestion for you, time and shoeleather permitting. The Tower of London is well worth a visit, the tours with the Yeoman Warders (aka Beefeaters) are entertaining; full of history and wonderfully gory.

[Mandella E.]

Dear Friends,

Tuesday was very congested on the streets of London, especially around the Houses of Parliament and 10 Downing Street. It took over an hour for the bus to go from Bloomsbury to Big Ben. I spent the morning at Westminster Abbey and this afternoon at the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill Museum. I even squeezed an hour at Buckingham Palace walking through the Queen’s Gallery absorbing some of the sumptuous lifestyle of Victoria and Albert. As I was closing the place, I get a credit to return for free.

I do plan to go to the Tower of London as suggested by Mandella on The Quilt Show website, particularly as I just learned that it was the first castle built by William the Conqueror. Mandella, you have also convinced me not to miss Harrods and Liberty, although I will reserve the acquisition of Liberty fabric for the kindness of strangers (other than the fabric I purchased in connection with the Quilt Exhibit at the V&A.

In a previous email, I had reported on a design that I described as looking like a shield in the Quilt Exhibit at the V&A. I found the very same design carved as a repeating pattern on a stand at the door of a major meeting chamber built by Henry III in Westminster Abbey. I asked an attendant what it was. She said she thought it was feathers ---- possibly, but it certainly has been a traditional design for quite a number of years. It did look plausible that it could be feathers when carved on the wooden stand at the door of the meeting room. I can't think this was the meaning of the bed curtains at the V&A.

I can hardly keep my eyes open. The new prime minister is making his first speech on TV. Over and out for now.

Carol

[Hannelore N.]

Could it be that you were looking at 'Prince of Wales Feathers'? Here is a link so you can see what they are like:

http://www.wales-calling.com/prince.htm

Lorchen

[Hannelore N.]

Dear Lorchen,

The design you are suggesting is much more elaborate than the one I am talking about.

Carol

[Hannelore N.]

Dear Friends,

I am closing down by online blog because my experiences in London are becoming so diverse that I can’t justify using the website for non-quilting talk. I did make it back to the Victoria & Albert Museum this afternoon and I did encounter some quilts in the Nehru section, but that is really in passing when thinking of the other places I have visited in the last two days: the Tower of London, the Grace Kelly Exhibit, the Horace Walpole Exhibit, and my experiences at the National Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. So I am going private with my recollections.

Thanks for listening,

Carol

[Hannelore N.]

Well, darn! I was enjoying the trip!

[Barbara C.]

Bummer! I was enjoying the trip as well! You are a quilter and traveling with quilter's eyes. Please reconsider! People who are not interested can skip your postings.

Barbara