Just home from a fantastic three weeks in the US with 17 enthusiastic quilting ladies and 5 men!  I did wonder how the guys felt about this trip but they enjoyed it just as much, if not more, than we did - cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge, Segwaying through Washington and mingling in the midst of tens of thousands of bikies in Galveston!!!!

Highlights - everything!! Including our visit to the wonderful American Quilt Study Centre in Lincoln, Nebraska then on to Washington DC with trips to colonial Williamsburg, Virginia; Lancaster and Amish country, Pennsylvania; the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) Museum for a special behind the scenes viewing with the curator and conservationist, of some fabulous early quilts from late 18th to late 19th century.

Two of us took a day trip to visit Joel Salatin’s famous Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia (for the growing number of advocates for local, small open door policy farmer based, non-industrialised, non-chemicalised, non-irradiated, non-antibioticised, non-politicised, food production!!). Read Joel’s latest book “Folks, This Ain’t Normal” - it is an amazing revelation and will make you think about where your food comes from next time you shop…..

Next stop - Boston and then on to Burlington, Vermont; spent happy hours at the Shelburne Museum; on to Keepsake Quilting at Center Harbour, New Hampshire - lots of shopping and arranging for parcels to be sent home! We stayed at wonderful Mill Falls Inn with the rushing water from the old mill racing under the building - it is quite a spectacle!  We loved the quaint shops and antique shops there - Ruth even found a little Singer sewing machine which made it’s way into her case. It snowed that night and adventurous Vicki made ’snow angels’ in the fresh fallen snow but we had to be quick to catch it on video!! Some of the girls watched the gently falling snow through their bedroom windows as they drifted off to sleep….

Next we head to Lowell where the textile industry developed in America’s early history. We toured the Mill Girls Boarding Houses and a working weaving factory where the noise must have been unbelievable!  Working fourteen hour days and six and a half days a week in those days - it is unimaginable today!! The overnight snow had caused major loss of power to the New England states and unfortunately our visit to the New England Quilt Museum was not possible as they were without power.

Returning to Boston for a few days to wander this interesting city and then on to Houston for the International Quilt Festival.  It was indeed huge! It did take several days to see all the exhibits and stands. My favourites were the antique quilt dealers!!  It was heaven sifting through their gorgeous old quilt treasures, old blocks and old fabrics. I still regret not buying an amazing and very unusual applique quilt… it was in a very poor state and would need major restoration and this was the major  stumbling block leading to my decision not to take it - but the applique was so unusual. Having returned home, perhaps it is a good thing that I could not remember which dealer had it - otherwise I would be tempted to make contact and re-negotiate!

Thanks heaps to Annette and Ian for organising such a great trip. And our group of 22 was enormous fun - everyone got on so well and we all laughed - and shopped happily. The US Postal Service did a roaring trade as we trekked back and forth with our parcels to post! Heaps of fun opening them when we arrived home too.

Just finished ‘Merevale’ last night!  It is such a great feeling putting the final stitches into a piece started eons ago, isn’t it!

I am rather happy with it and although it did have another name during construction, I have decided to re-name this quilt ‘Merevale’ after a little town in which my ancestors lived in the UK - so it holds some significance for me, especially as we have recently toured and visited that area.

The act of giving is far from lost amongst the quilters of the world! 99% of quilters are the most generous of beings on this earth. It is so heart warming to hear of the unceasing efforts of countless individuals and groups which give to an endless number of recipients whose circumstances have been flipped upside down in an instant..

I received an email out of the blue, a few days ago from Lee. She explained that she was looking for a new project to start last year, and invited her mother-in-law to browse through some magazines for ideas so that Lee could make ‘a cover for her dining room table’ in her new retirement village apartment.

Lee must have a vast collection of magazines as the quilt chosen was Magic Flying Carpet (which I made way back in 1995 and shown in earlier posts on this site). It was featured in a magazine in 1996 when it was exhibited in Birmingham as part of The Quilters Guild of Great Britain and Makower Fabrics International Quilt Competition to design and make an original work using the late 1700’s ‘Fife Quilt’ reproduction fabrics from Makower Fabrics.

Of course, these fabrics were released in 1994-5 and would be almost impossible to find now. This quilt is probably the most cherished in my collection, and I have always been reluctant to publish the pattern for it. However, I was surprised that Lee and her mother-in-law loved my quilt enough to want their own version of it.

“What have I let myself in for!” Lee states in her email. But obviously she set about working out the design, finding fabrics which honoured the original quilt - and stitching it all to completion……. I am sure, with very fond thoughts of love and giving.

I am delighted and honoured to have been touched by this story and I really want to thank Lee for allowing me to reflect on the art of giving and sharing…. and may we all participate and experience this more often!! I wish Lee continued happy stitching, and her mother-in-law lasting enjoyment of this lovely gift which now graces the end of the bed as “it was deemed too good for the table”..

Home again after a fabulous, fabulous holiday!!

The first two unbelievable weeks were gobsmackingly gorgeous - mostly in Norway but commencing in Copenhagen (where we waved to Princess Mary), and finishing with two days in beautiful Stockholm, Sweden (have you seen the incredible 17th century royal warship - Vasa there?). Breathtaking scenery in Norway with fascinating ‘hairy houses’, delicious seafood lunches in Bergen at the fish markets, the famous Flam railway, wolves, snow, endless fjords, majestic mountains, lakes, huge cascading waterfalls, a-m-a-z-i-n-g hair pin bends…… and the incredible Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo, we loved Norway!!! It is now since our return that I read with absolute disbelief of this week’s tragedy there, as this is the most beautiful country and the people there were so welcoming, gentle and thoroughly courteous.  Our hearts reach out to the families who have lost loved ones.

From Stockholm, we flew to Madrid and after taking a day trip to Toledo, we toured northwards in a clockwise direction to Burgos,Santander, Bilboa, San Sebastian, Pamploma, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Valencia, Granada, Costa del Sol, Seville, Cordoba and back to Madrid - all over two fascinating weeks. We also ferried over to Tangier in Morocco and a visited the British enclave of Gibraltar!  Highlights include the magnificent Alhambra Palace in Granada where every square inch was covered in amazing pattern. Pictures in my books at home do not do justice to the scale and extent of pattern in this palace and the gardens!!  The other highlight was the Gaudi designed Guell Park in Barcelona which was like tripping through a fairy tale - quirky, captivating and full of inspiring colour and ideas!

Next - our flight from Madrid to Heathrow in London where we spent 2  1/2 hours in a queue waiting for passport clearance!!!!  It was a tiresome experience I can tell you!! Of course our check in luggage had revolved around the carousel so many times during our ‘confinement’ that they were giddy - and eventually taken off presumably by staff and dumped unceremoniously with several others, in a heap on the floor!!!! So much for the constant announcements to never leave bags unattended!!!  We usually ‘go with the flow’ but this was quite staggering!

Having left this experience behind us, we hired a car and set off on a week’s journey around England and Wales visiting little towns where our forebears came from - hence the photo above.  It was really wonderful to roam around places on our list and chat to the locals.

NEXT ……  a visit to the American Museum in Britain at Claverton Manor, Bath - established to promote good relations between the two countries. We both enjoyed the three floors of exhibits but of course the highlight was the QUILTS! This is quite simply a must see for any of you planning a visit to the UK.

Our final three weeks took us on a tour of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland - heaps of fun and all fabulous.  I even ’sniffed’ out a lovely patchwork shop in Chester by the name of Liberty Bell (they have a website). It is in the delightful Rows in this quaint little town. The yummy fruity and spicy aromas wafting out came from those heavenly drawer sachets available. I just had to have some for my case - and a couple of fat quarters too - of course!!

My stitching during the eight weeks…….?  I managed to hand sew well over one hundred and thirty little one inch four-patch squares. The plan requires over 600!!!! I will see what happens…..

Gorgeous photo from Launceston Gardens Conservatory during our visit a few weeks ago……

So now I am heading off again……  this time to Scandinavia, Spain and UK and I am itching to be on my way!

Please continue to enjoy the photos and news. However, you will notice that I have ‘closed’ the shopping cart selection in the Bon Bon Shop until my return and it will re-open in mid July. The crew here are not familiar with procedures, and I am sure that you won’t want to be caught up in any ordering and delivery issues - and  I really don’t want to spend my time away worrying about it!  I thank you for your understanding!!

Our Farm  in the City held last month was a great day with 25 quilters enjoying the fun and festivitites. Jan gave us a fantastic presentation once again - exploring our theme for the day, Princess Feather/Prince’s Plume. It was as always, inspiring and fascinating! We explored some traditional and interesting designs from my drawing board and lots of patterns were taken home so …..it is exciting to contemplate what may result from the needles and threads of these industrious and creative ladies when they come along in August. No pressure of course!

Shoes were off at the door and the Sock Challenge paraded by…..  here are Rose’s cute little numbers - definitely monkey business going on here!

We are looking forward to another fabulous day this weekend when Jan and I present some history lessons, workshop stations, patterns to share and the eagerly awaited socialising and feasting on treats….. not to mention viewing some gorgeous antique  - and new quilts.

Our theme is Princess Feather/Prince’s Plume and as you can see - I have been busy with pencil and paper sketching and doodling some designs for the day.

Keep watching this space and we will have more to show when I add the next post….