A London Trip

Rod and I set off from Devon bright and early Wednesday morning in a Transit Van loaded with "stuff" that Dot and Maarten, and Robbie and Nisha wanted from home for their respective new flats.  And we have had such a fun time.
For a start in Dot's flat I had forgotten about two quilts which I made for her quite a few years ago:

and in Robbie's flat is was also lovely to see the quilt I had made for Nisha some years back too:

We hadn't seen Robbie and Nisha since they became engaged and it was lovely to see them in their flat looking so happy:

As Thursday morning was bright and sunny Dot suggested we walked to Greenwich which took only about 10 minutes from Dot and Maarten's new home. We passed a statue of Peter the Great:

and then on to the Cutty Sark:

We had such an interesting time and learned so much:  the restoration after the fire back in 2007 is quite amazing.

We then went to National Maritime Museum for the Turner Paintings Exhibition:  he painted so many masterpieces, and it was truly wonderful to see all these works of art.

Dot and Maarten have worked so hard getting their new home looking good, and on Thursday evening we met Maarten's parents and had a really fun evening:

We left London just before 8 am this morning and arrived back home in Devon at 1pm, so a really good easy drive.  Returned the Van, picked up Ben from the kennels, lit the fire - home sweet home.  It has been such an interesting trip and so good to catch up with them all.  Sadly we didn't get to see Fran - but we will be up in London again before too long and will ensure a get together with her and Angelo next time.

Next weekend I will be on a quilting retreat in Eastbourne, and then into London again on the 11th to meet up with Nicola (Scarlet Letter Years) and some other fellow SL stitchers in order to visit the V&A and view the antique samplers they have hidden away. So another Blog soon ....!
Have a great weekend everyone and thank you visiting My Quilting Life!

February Update

With the dreadful weather we have been experiencing in  the UK I have not spent much time in my Studio - instead I have sat by the fire cross-stitching, especially whilst the Winter Olympic Games have been on TV. I have loved watching the skill and bravery of these sports - what a marvellous 2 weeks.  I feel quite lost this morning now that they are over.  I have also made 94 jars of Marmalade so the larder shelves are looking good!
And during this time I have sewn this gorgeous Afghan Blanket:

and this is Extra Special as it is for my first Grandchild!  My youngest daughter Dot and her partner Maarten are expecting a baby in August.

I am so very excited - after the very stressful past 3 years which we have had it is wonderful to have something so positive to look forward to.. They have just moved into their new flat this past week and luckily it has 2 bedrooms!
And to add to this news, my son Robbie and lovely girlfriend Nisha got engaged last weekend:

I am so happy for them:  and they too have moved in together this past week.  So I feel that we have started 2014 on a very positive note.

I am going up to London this week and taking various bits of furniture etc. that Dot wants for her flat, and other bits like pictures for Robbie and Nisha too.  So it will be fun to see them and their new homes. Hopefully I will be able to catch up with Fran too - she is in Milan for Fashion Week at the moment, but home for a couple of days before going to Paris for their Fashion Week. Hopefully we can get together, and I really want to meet her gorgeous cat MiuMiu!

I have also sewn the bindings on these two quilts which I finished towards the end of last year, but have only just had them long-arm quilted:  I am thrilled with them both, lovely backings too.

My list of quilts to make this year has already grown:  I now have 5 x baby quilts, 4 x toddler/under 10 years old quilts, 2 x 60th birthday quilts and 2 quilts for other young friends on my list:  and we are only 2 months into the year. All good.  Busy busy.

I have just come back from spending some time with my dear Mother, she was 94 last week and is really quite remarkable.

It was nice to be able to cook her some good wholesome food and be there as company for her, and to make her a cup of tea every time she woke up from a snooze - there were lots of cups of tea bless her, but at 94 who is counting!

I am off on a Quilting Retreat with my friends Lise and Lyn on the 7th/8th/9th March - this is down in Eastbourne so should be fun and will get me back into my patchwork.  And then I am in London on the 11th March with Nicola (some of you will know her through her wonderful Blog Scarlet Letter Years) as we are viewing antique samplers at the V&A.  All very exciting.  There should be much to tell you in my next Blog.

And I can now get more done on my Noah's Ark sampler.  And as the weather improves I shall be back in my Studio cutting up fabric and then can make a start on my "Quilts to make" list. No peace for the wicked!
I hope everyone has managed to survive this difficult winter without too many problems - dreadful floods in the UK and huge amounts of snow in the USA   -  it is an ongoing challenge for so many.  The snowdrops are out here at home and some daffodils so let us hope spring is on the way.

Thank you for popping by and catching up on "My Quilting Life".