Imperial War Museum

On Sunday we headed to the Imperial War Museum which was very interesting. There are some amazing exhibits including a large Holocaust one which is so sad and certainly makes you think.

The part I liked best was in the Children's war section where they had a 1940's house as it would have been during the blitz. It is fascinating to imagine life in this home during these difficult times.

These dolls were amazing. They were made after the war to show what the little girl's family had looked like during the war. They are all hand made and the clothes were beautifully made.

There were some wonderful photos that had been taken of the children during the war.

Harrods and a show

Our first day in London had to include a visit to the food court of Harrods. It is so colouful and beautifully presented. Everything looked so tempting.

We bought some delicious baguettes and then sat on a damp seat as the rain had eased and ate them here in Hyde Park.

In the afternoon we managed to get some cheap tickets to Yes Prime Minister. It was really good . My eyes wanted to shut a few times in the dark as I was still a little jetlagged!

We're in London!

We flew out of Sydney on Thursday and arrived in London on Friday. Friday was a long day of flying! I did enjoy watching all the movies and the flights were really quite OK. Lots of time to stitch! We are having 3 nights in London so have just planned to see a few things this time. My priority was to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum and spend a day checking out the textiles....but, they weren't there! They have been removed and won't be seen for ages. That was disappointing. I did enjoy checking out the William Morris designs and searched out a few other bits of stitching. They did some wonderful embroidery, lace making, tapestry etc in ages past. Here are some examples.

It was hard to get the pictures as it was dark and most things were behind glass.

Look at these amazing stitches.

This is one of William Morris' designs. There were some amazing pieces that he designed and made. He created rugs, hangings, wall paper, tapestries and furnishings too.

I loved this piece of art above our heads made with "squashed" musical instruments.

This amazing coat was beautifully hand quilted.

Here is another superb piece of embroidery.

This lovely baby's dress was knitted with really fine thread which almost looked like sewing cotton.

We did manage to spend a very nice morning at the V & A even without the embroideries.

Stitching....

Just thought I had best post quickly as there was some lovely stitching to share from yesterday and today. Just before I do that I thought I should show you what I worked on at the retreat. I started Anni's table centre and here is my progress so far.

I also appliqued the lovely woven wool felt onto the pocket that will go on my bag eventually.

On Tuesday, Di and Sandra had brought their finished runners in to share. It is interesting to see how they look using different fabrics and colours. Here they are!

Just loved these little felt animals that Janet was creating. She is making them up herself and they look wonderful.

Paddy was working on this lovely block which will be part of the Quiltaid quilt that will be launched soon. Hobbysew is one of the shops that will be involved in this project this year. I stitched a block and then forgot to take a photo!

This afternoon, it was great to see the stitching that the class girls had finished. Ronnie is still working on her Christmas bag.

Karin had framed her little nativity stitchery.

Barb had finished her canvas work and had made it look so lovely using beads.

Best head off to bed as we are heading away tomorrow. I wonder where I will post from next!

Some more of the stitching retreat

We had such a lovely time at the retreat. We did do some stitching, though some stitched more than others. Sue drove me to the retreat and it was great to share the weekend with her. Here she is with her felt bag almost done! Sue brought along her 1952, I think, machine to use and it is so beautiful. I stitched the little felt applique for the pocket but didn't feel like machining so enjoyed the hand work.

Here are some of the bloggers before dinner. Me, Sandy, Kate, Sheree, Fiona and Sue. It was so special to meet up with these lovely girls.

In the evening we had show and tell. It was tricky to take photos but here am I showing my World as it should be quilt.

This was my favourite quilt. It is one of Anni's patterns (the BOM patterns are in my collection!) and it was appliqued using woven wool felt as well as fabric. It was so beautiful.

Here is Sue with her bag almost finished.

We had to have a picture with Anni.

Fiona decided to "pretend" that she had finished several of Anni's projects which was really funny. Anni wasn't too keen to give up her beautiful samples. I am so inspired to make up all the patterns and kits that I have collected after being surrounded with Anni's gorgeous samples.

Here are our tutors with Kim, from Jukejema, who organised the retreat. Thanks, girls, for a wonderful time.

Stitching at the Water's Edge Retreat

It is hard to decide which pictures to show first as there are so many from this lovely weekend away. Thanks to Kim of Jukejema Quilting Barn for organising this lovely retreat. The weather wasn't perfect but it didn't matter to us as we were stitching and enjoying meeting lovely new friends and sharing a very special time together. This is the view from the verandah at the venue.

Kim had invited 3 wonderful tutors to come to the retreat. We were so pleased to meet and spend time with Anni Downs, Janelle Wind and Natalie Ross. They had designed some great projects for us to do. Anni made these great bags using woven wool felt.

Her other projects were Christmassy! Some cones and....

a lovely stitched mat.

Natalie had designed a lovely block keeper and a chair cushion with nifty pockets on the sides for all your bits and pieces at retreat.

Janelle had designed some lovely bags in different sizes and also a delightful flower made from fabric to decorate your bag, a headband or even a journal cover.

Here are Fiona, Natalie, Janelle and Shirley.

Here they are again with Karen and me too.

Then we added Sheree and Colleen who came to the retreat all the way from New Zealand. We had a great time with these girls.

We spent a delightful couple of days laughing, chatting, stitching, eating and just enjoying every minute. I will share a few more pictures tomorrow.