More Pin Wheel Stitching, and Memories

We woke up to cold temperatures this morning, rain and strong winds.  Our Spring here is often temperamental with rather changeable weather.  It was a good morning to have a nice warming breakfast today, a nice bowl of porridge!

With the stitch in the ditch completed around the pin wheel blocks, I then decided to do some serpentine stitching along the diagonal lines.  Although there is no batting involved, I felt it was easier to use the walking foot, particularly as I had to stitch over areas where all the seams came together.

Serpentine stitching

It’s been such fun re-reading all the messages on this quilt.  I remember taking my bag of blocks and pen everywhere we went and asking people to sign them.  While in England we travelled far and wide, visiting castles was certainly on the agenda.  I have signed blocks from Dover Castle, Bodium Castle, Hampton Court Palace, and the amazing Buckingham Palace!  Although the Queen was not there to greet us, we were certainly impressed with the beautiful state rooms, all done out in crimson, white and gold – such a sight to see.

Then there was the visit to Tintern Abbey. We arrived to hear the sound of singing coming from the ruins.   A church service was taking place, and when the ushers found out we were visiting from New Zealand they invited us to sit down inside the ruined abbey with the other guests.   At the end of the service several  white doves were released and they fluttered up to roost in the rafters, it was a very spiritual morning indeed.  Although the abbey’s walls are still standing, the roof  was destroyed from the time of Henry VIII.

Another notable church visit was to Canterbury Cathedral where I wanted to see the memorial to Thomas Becket, slain after King Henry II said “who will rid me of this troublesome priest?”  You can probably tell that I love English history!  My block here was signed by Rev Jacky who wrote “May God bless this precious work with his love”, making it so special.

We caught up with my quilty penfriends as well, Margaret from Birmingham, Rose from Southampton, Glennis from Chipping Norton, and Janet from Cromer.  I had stitched a quilt top for each of them using New Zealand prints of our flowers and fauna.  Another notable visit was to spend a week on the narrowboat belonging to our friends Dot and Derek, who took us along the Llangollen Canal – what fun that was!  I had stitched Dot a couple of place mats for the narrow boat, using NZ fabrics.

And I must mention viewing one of the Changi Quilts (from the fall of Singapore) held at the British Red Cross building in London.  I had read that this treasure was available to view, if an appointment was made.  Four quilts were made by ex-pat women detained by the Japanese, using whatever scraps they could lay their hands on. 

Then when we were at Reading, we went to see the English version of the Bayeux Tapestry, so amazing. This faithful replica is 70 metres long. It was made by 35 skilled Victorian women embroiderers in 1885 and depicts the events leading up and includes to the Battle of Hastings in 1066.  Reading’s copy was the idea of Elizabeth Wardle, an accomplished embroideress and wife of Staffordshire silk-dyer Thomas Wardle. In 1885 they organised the members of the Leek Embroidery Society to create the full sized and accurate replica so that ‘England should have a copy of its own’. It took them a year and it was then exhibited across Britain.

That’s enough reminiscing and history lessons  for today.  Better get on with finishing up that quilting, I think.