V&A and Penshurst Place

One of my favorite things to do in London is visit the V&A. I have been many times, and never get tired of it. Unfortunately, I was not able to visit for the quilt exhibition, but I did buy the book from Amazon and have enjoyed looking through it.

This time, I took my daughter, who was patient enough to help me look through the textile samples. I was specifically looking for anything that looked like boutis, or could be related to boutis - and I was not disappointed ! Initially searching through the whitework samples, I didn't find anything, but once I moved to quilting I saw a sample piece that I thought was exactly right and the right time period. It was a pillow cover described as "Cotton quilted with linen, backstitch. English first half of 18th century". It had the typical flowers and vines, plus an unusual star motif. I was thrilled, how did that stitcher find the pattern, know about the cording, and so on ? Please contact me if you can shed some light on this type of stitching in England.

Being English, and loving gardens, I can usually find time to visit a country house with a nice garden, and this visit was no exception. We visited Penshurst Place in Kent, a lovely old home with a beautiful garden. I have been before a number of years ago, but still enjoyed the beautiful house with its antiques and comfortable sense of history

I have almost finished my large boutis piece, more on that at the beginning of next week .....

English Gardens

Last week I had the pleasure to spend a few days in London with my family. Contrary to popular belief LOL England is not always rainy, and we had a dry and sunny week. I love English gardens, and it is always a great pleasure to me to see hanging baskets, mixed borders, window boxes etc. as well as the baskets hanging from lampposts in just about every village, as well as London suburbs.
We also spent a day in Deal, a small seaside town about an hour's drive from my parents' house, and I couldn't resist photographing the wonderful baskets hanging outside a pub and guesthouse. We even walked (well, staggered) on the pebbly beach, and put a toe in the water - not warm enough for us spoiled Floridians ! Mum likes whelks, so we took some home for her, and I felt that I had spent a summer day back in my childhood - windy, pebbly beaches, ice cream and a walk on the pier.

Gift from Angelika

Angelika knows that I love old needlework tools, and has sent me this wonderful marking wheel she found recently for my birthday. She is a person who makes beautiful pouches and cases for things, and so the wheel came with its own beautiful case. Thank you so much, it is a great birthday gift which I really appreciate. Visit Angelika at http://www.onlyangelika.blogspot.com/ especially if you like knitting, Angelika knits beautifully. As a matter of fact, I think she is good at everything she does :-)

Magnificent Mary

I have spent just over a week in London, starting on my birthday. So I did not see the magnificent gift Lou made for me until this morning - I got back last night and was too tired to open mail - even the "interesting" looking stuff !

I did know that this was in progress, as Lou had asked me to choose the color. I have not seen a Mary "live" and so was not prepared for the beauty of the piece. Although I have been following Needleprint's blog, and have seen many photos, it must be said that the "real thing" is many times more beautiful. Lou has added her own personal touches, my initials and those of my family, and has made it a treasure which I will always cherish. Thank you from the bottom of my heart :-)