Fabulous Fractures

On Sunday I took a workshop with Linda Clark from Kenora called Fabulous Fractures based on the book by Brenda Esslinger.  We were also able to purchase books that were autographed by Brenda.  How cool is that!! 

There were about 12- 15 ladies in the class

Some of the fabric that was used.

This is my fabric, I bought it when I was in Paris.

Busy sewing my strips together.

All finished.

It is a little wonky in places if you look

too close, but I'm sure my next one

will be better.

Peggy

Pictures of London 2011

The Millennium Bridge

Outside Kensington Palace a few days after the

anniversary of Princess Diana's death

Part of Windsor Castle in the background and

what used to to be a moat now a beautiful

garden.

College of Christ Church

Oxford University

Harry Potter movies were filmed here

Since we took the sunset tour we were able

to walk among the stones at

Stonehenge.

Stonehenge

In front of Buckingham Palace.

All of London is under construction for the

Olympics next year.

London Bridge

Tiki Patchwork

293 Sandycombe Road, Surrey

Of Course, I bought fabric here. 

A nice fat quarter bundle of 8 and

a kit for a Union Jack cushion.

The London Eye

The Borough Market

Have you ever seen flat peaches before??

How about some Ostrich Eggs for breakfast??

Peggy

Tiki Patchworks & Covent Garden

We went to the tower of London yesterday. There is a lot of pageantry there with many people dressed on period costume. It has great deal of history attached to it because of all the people who were imprisoned there and lots that were be-headed there. It was very interesting.


Today we went to Tiki Patchworks in Surrey and purchased some fabric and a purse pattern. We didn't have to pay extra to travel out of our zone because a nice train man told us all we had to do was take a bus. Lynda and I both purchased Union Jack cushion kits. I will be the lucky person who will get to make them. We found a Poundland store and of course had to go in. I found a pair of reading glasses for 1£.


After lunch we took the Underground to Covent Garden, which isn't a garden but hundreds of shops selling everything from food to souvenirs to high end clothing. It was a great place to spend the afternoon browsing around.


We are leaving this hotel tomorrow and going to the Gatwick Hilton overnight because we fly out early Saturday morning, so we came back to the hotel early so we could get our packing started. We went back to Covent Garden to find some dinner. We ate at the Nags Head pub. We have eaten at a lot of pubs here in England. !!


Peggy

Buckingham Palace & The Tower of London

Today we had 9:30 tickets for Buckingham Palace so we were up early to stand in line. We only had to wait half an hour to get our tickets and then wait for our time to enter. Another disappointment was that there were no photos allowed in the palace. This was the most beautiful of all the palaces we have seen. It was warm and had a cozy atmosphere to it. I can see why the Queen would choose to live here. It didn't take us long to go through the palace and I was surprised by that. It is really a beautiful place and shouldn't be missed if you come to London.


I had a nice hot chocolate from the cafe when we finished our tour.


After that we walked down the Mall and to Trafalger square.
Peggy

What would London UK be without rain??

We arrived on Saturday with overcast skies. It rained on Sunday, it rained on Monday when we were on the bus, (thankfully when we were not at Stonehenge) and it poured rain all day today. I am not enjoying this rain but I am enjoying my time here.


Today we took the tube to Waterloo station and then the train to surrey to Hampton Court Palace. This is the Palace where Henry VIII lived. It is a large palace with many rooms and long dark cold hallways. We are members of the Historic Royal Palaces which gives us free admission to 5 of the palaces here in London. There is also a members room where we can sit on private to eat our lunch or have tea. The volunteer on duty couldn't get the tea machine to work so she went to the cafe and bought us tea, because she felt so bad. She reminded me of Mrs bucket of Keeping Up Appearances.


After that we walked around Piccadilly Circus and bought new London umbrellas.


Peggy

Windsor Castle, Oxford University , Stonehenge

We had no Internet for two days so I couldnt blog. Yesterday we went to St Paul's Cathedral and Kensington Palace. Today we took a bus tour which we don't usually do but we were not disappointed. We started off at Windsor Castle and toured the state apartments. No pictures were allowed which was a disappointment. The beautiful rooms are only in my memory. From there our driver took us to Christ Church at Oxford University. This is where much of Harry Potter was filmed. The university is much too large to see in one day let alone a few hours.


From here we travelled on to Stonehenge. We had a private sunset viewing right into the circle of stones. Normally you cannot get near them but we paid extra for this tour and were allowed to almost touch them. That is because touching is not allowed . We had a great driver and guide and a great day.


Peggy

Westminster Cathedral

Last night we went to Westminster Cathedral. This is not the Abbey but a catholic church here in London. We went to evening mass. It was an like a Canadian high mass, very nice celebration. Massive amount of people, probably because there are very few Catholic churches in England.


After mass we went to "the Albert" for fish and chips and a Brew.
Today we are going to St Paul's Cathedral and Kensington Palace and a few others.


Peggy

Good bye Paris, hello London

Good bye Paris, hello London. We left Paris this morning and took the Eurostar through the Chunnel to London, England. We had to take the tube ( subway) to our hotel and I got stuck in the doors. Got quite a whack on my left side and will probably have a nice bruise. We are staying at the Tavistock Hotel and have a nice room with a view of the street after we complained about the first room that looked out over dirty machinery. We are off to see Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.




Peggy

Ham & cheese, ham & cheese

People on Paris eat only ham and cheese. Tomorrow we leave for London and hopefully no more ham and cheese. The baguettes are really good though.


Peggy

Vimy ridge war memorial

Up early today and took the train to Arras and from there we took a taxi to Vimy Ridge the sight of the first world war monument. A large monument that sits on the ridge that the Canadians took from the Germans. We were able to walk in the tunnels 8 metres underground and in the trenches that the soldiers used almost 100 years ago. This battle distinguished the Canadians as the Canadian Army and not just a branch of the British Army. Very moving experience.


After taking the train back to Paris we walked around looking for dinner but couldn't decide so we came back to the hotel and walked down the street to the Novatel Hotel. Inside the courtyard was a market and 3 restaurants. We chose one and had more than enough. We often share lunch and we should have shared dinner also tonight. Oh well, c'est la vie.


Peggy

The quilt shop was open, The Rouvary

Quiet day today. We slept in and had fresh croissants with cheese for brunch. We then went to the left bank again and the quilt shop was open. I bought 2 fat quarters of her fabric line " romance of Paris" for 5 euros each, that is $7.50 each. I will have to be sure make something with it, maybe a cushion. When we were leaving she kept handing us rolled up pieces of fabric. Some were fat eights and others smaller, it made up for the expense of the fat quarters. The fabric was very expensive but I think worth it. Then we took a free tour of the left bank by a student from the university. A good day.


I will post pictures of all the fabric when I get home.


When we got back to the hotel we spotted a laundromat so now we have clean clothes for another week.
Tomorrow we are taking the train to Vimy Ridge the sight of the Canadian war memorial from the first world war.


Peggy

The Eiffel Tower

Home late tonight as we had 7:30 pm tickets to the Eiffel tower. We found a small restaurant near the tower and had dinner before we went up. They lit the tower at 9pm so we had to stay for that. It was awesome!!! Had a long walk to the metro station but the weather has been so nice we didn't mind. We have found a few stations with escalators & one with an elevator but they are very few and far between. My Schombergs is back. It seems I am allergic to Europe. It is worse this time, as it is right up to my knees on both legs.


Tomorrow is a free day meaning we have nothing booked so maybe we will take a free walking tour of the Latin Quarter.


Peggy

Paris, the city of stairs

Just finished visiting montparnesse tower. We took the elevator to the 56th floor and walked up 75 stairs to the 59th floor. It is Paris' top of the rock . Temp is very warm here today. We also visited a street market with vendors selling everything from clothes to food and fresh fish. Paris is the city of stairs. Every metro has millions of stairs. We have tickets to the Eiffel tower tonight at 7:30pm so we will see the city lit up.


Having a rest where we could find free wi-fi which is called wee-fee here in Paris, at a pub. So of course we had to have a petit draft.


Peggy
Still can't post pictures.

Tuesday in Paris

Had a great day today. We took the RER train to Versailles and spent most of the day just looking at the ornate furnishings. Palace overload. Lunch at McDonald 's haha. Found the quilt shop again but now she is closed till September . So went to Sacre Cour basilica.
A beautiful church high on a hill where you can see the whole city from the grounds. We found another fabric store called Marche St Pierre . They had 7 floors of fabric but only a small corner of quilting cotton. In France it is called "Patchwork". If you say quilting they don't know what you mean.


I picked up some fabric for a class I am taking in September called Fabulous Fractures. I bought a metre of large print and 2 - 1/2 meters of contrast.


I got Luci's email last night and it was perfect timing for shopping in Paris.


We haven't found an Internet cafe yet so I using my iPod and can't figure out how to upload pictures.
I will put some on when I get back home to a computer.
Peggy

Day 2 in Paris

We started out today for the louvre.
The line up was very long to get in
But we found another entrance and walked right in.
Found the Mona Lisa and took some pictures, got
turned around and walked forever to get out.
Went to Notre Dame and then the pantheon.
Saw Foucault pendulum. The Pendulum doesn't move, the earth does.  The quilt shop was closed
so will try again tomorrow.


Peggy