Stopover in London

En route to South Africa last summer (more about that in subsequent posts) we stopped for two nights in London, using the time to acclimate to a new time zone and to wander around London, stopping as we came upon places that interested us (and weren't too crowded). 

One stop was Sir John Soane's Museum on the north side of Lincoln's Inn Fields, London's largest public square. Sir John Soane (1753-1837) was a renowned neo-classical architect and collector, amassing a trove of sculptures, paintings, architectural remnants, and more, which he artfully arranged and cleverly stored in his home, itself a collection of three residences. Today's visitors see the home largely as it looked upon Sir John's death. Just about every surface is covered, every nook and cranny stuffed with treasures. Here is just a small sample. 

Outside of the museum, we strolled through Lincoln's Inns Fields, stopped at the Seven Stars for lunch,

 

and explored the weekend-quiet streets, including Serle Street, adjacent to the Royal Courts of Justice. 

Coming out on Chancery Lane, 

we eventually made our way south to the Strand and crossed the Thames to the Southbank boardwalk. Seeing St. Paul's Cathedral (dating from the 17th century), modern financial district towers, and construction cranes in a single frame reminds me of London's long-standing vibrance and continued renewal.  

We also took in Big Ben, newly and brilliantly emerged from a renovation that kept it encased in scaffolding for five years.

The Houses of Parliament were equally brilliant.

While we walked most places, we did use the tube to get to and from Heathrow Airport, as well as around town. I love the older stations for their beautiful tile work and fun graphics.

One of our stops was the Old Brompton Road in South Kensington, home of Shaukat Fabrics, an amazing fabric store that carries an enormous selection of wools, silks and cottons, and notably, a wider collection of Liberty fabrics than Liberty of London just a few miles away. 

Their prices are quite competitive, and they ship so I picked up several yards of tana lawn, 

including one version of the Betsy print so that I could incorporate it into my Sew.be sew along Betsy nine-patch quilt. As you can see, I used other prints for some, actually most, of the blocks because I just didn't have enough different Betsy fabrics in my stash. Out of 144 blocks, I think I have four Betsy prints, so maybe I should name the finished quilt "Betsy Comes for a Visit." Anyway, I have completed all 144 blocks and assembled them into a top, so it is now in the queue to be quilted and bound. 

I have a small but precious stash of Liberty tana lawn and I credit this project with forcing me to actually cut into it. Thank you to Bec Brennan for getting me over that hurdle! I'm already planning my next quilt using Liberty fabric!

 

Wandering Around London

I found myself in London again last fall, with nothing in particular planned. Cool, clear days made it perfect for exploring so Steve and I strolled through London's always glorious parks, ventured into tiny alleyways and new neighborhoods, and stopped into galleries, shops and museums.

Here, a bench in Hyde Park beckoned us to rest for a few moments.

In St. James Park, early fall colors reflected in the pond looked like a painting.

Somewhere near our hotel we found this shady alleyway made cheerful with bright paint.

 The very elegant Royal Arcade was equally cheerful with bright paint and numerous skylights.

Late one afternoon we crossed Chelsea Bridge en route to Battersea Gardens on the south side of the Thames. I found the amount of construction astonishing, considering the uncertainty around Brexit.

We walked the length of the park, enjoying brilliant sunlit views of the opposite shore,

and crossed back on the very pretty Albert Bridge.

I wandered on my own for a couple of days while Steve was working, stopping in at the V & A to see their new photography center. Here is an 1855 image of Thailand's Thapinyu Pagoda by Linneaus Tripe that has been "digitally reimagined" by Thomas Ruff.

I also stopped in at the National Gallery and was wowed once again by George Stubb's 1762 painting of the horse Whistlejacket.

And, of course, I couldn't resist visiting Liberty of London once again. I think it is the most visually appealing store I have ever been in. It is really more like a gallery than a shop. Their carefully curated collection is always beautifully displayed. Hard to resist these Fornasetti plates!

The Regent Street store, built during the 1920s in the Tudor revival style is dramatic, yet welcoming, with central atria surrounded by smaller, more intimate rooms. I was happy to see that Victoria Findlay Wolfe's quilts were still on display.

Here is a view of one atrium bedecked with the quilts.

Unlike other department stores which have given up selling fabric, Liberty continues to sell fabric, their very own Liberty fabric, which is distinctive and lovely, though not inexpensive.

I picked up two new packs of fat quarters.

I now have a very nice collection.  The larger of these came from a previous visit to Liberty's Regent Street store and the other from Purl Soho in New York.

Now I need to screw up my courage to cut into these beauties and make something out of them!

Late Fall in London

Short days and high chances for rainy weather might suggest that late fall is a bad time of year to visit London. Because most people think that is the case, it turns out to be a great time to visit. Popular tourist destinations are relatively quiet and lines are short or nonexistent.

This includes Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral.

After exploring the main floor  and the crypt we headed for the dome. Emerging from the dizzying spiral staircase, we were rewarded with a dazzling view of the city,

View of the Tate Modern and the Millennium Bridge from St. Paul's Cathedral dome

and a rainbow.

On another day we stopped in at the Victoria and Albert Museum, often referred to as the V & A,

to take in the exhibit "Opus Anglicanum: Masterpieces of English Medieval Embroidery." If you are in London and have an hour or so to spare, I highly recommend it. The "Opus Anglicanum" or "English Work" pieces on display date from the 12th to 15th centuries and represent largely religious scenes and symbols. Every one of them is exquisite in design and execution, displaying remarkably fine detail and extraordinary craftsmanship. I found the workmanship all the more astonishing considering the time period in which they were made. I have yet to see current work, machine or hand made, that rivals the fineness of these pieces. They are truly treasures. Unfortunately, you will have to take my word for it, since photography was not permitted in the exhibit.

Inspired by the beautiful work, I picked up a little embroidery kit at the gift shop. Like many of the pieces in the exhibit, it relies heavily on gold thread.

We also strolled through the top floor exhibit of ceramics, which was set off nicely by bright afternoon sunshine streaming in through big windows.

I found the knit pattern on this jam pot and teapot amusing.

Swedish ceramics, designed by Hertha Bengston, 1949, made by Rorstrand Earthenware

My own knitting of late has included both knit and purl stitches, as in this pair of knee-high ribbed socks I made for my husband for Christmas.

Ribbed socks, made with Cascade Heritage Sock Yarn (75% Merino superwash/25% nylon)

I worked them using the two-at-a-time toe-up method so that when I finished the last round all I had to do was bind off and work in one piece of yarn on each sock. The best feature of this method is knowing that both socks will be exactly the same size.

Wishing you all the best in 2017! And that your socks finish at the same size and survive trips through the washer in complete pairs!

Seeing Red

Earlier this month I made a trip to Paris and Marseille, with a brief stop in London on the way home. Now that I've been home for a bit and have had time to look at all my photos together I am finding some interesting themes among my collection. Red, for example.

In the UK it's hard to avoid seeing red since it is used on many public facilities, such as buses and trains,

Piccadilly Circus tube stop

post boxes, and phone booths. I didn't check to see whether these old phone booths still have working phones in them. Does anybody use still them? Maybe they are just part of the scenery now, intended as subjects for tourist photos. 

Belgravia, London

In Paris red is more often used to make a personal statement, as in these love locks on the Pont Neuf,

Love locks on Pont Neuf

and in these red laces, which I spotted near the Louvre.

At the Carrousel du Louvre

In some cases red stole the scene. Tatiana Wolska's free-form sculpture contrasted sharply with lush  gardens in the courtyard of the early seventeenth century Hotel de Bethune-Sully in Paris.

Sculptures by Tatiana Wolska

Coca-Cola's enormous sign looms over Eros at Piccadilly Circus.

Statue of Eros at Piccadilly Circus

Equally arresting was this couple just outside the Piccadilly Circus tube stop. Her red dress caught my eye, but with no time to change camera settings, I just pointed my camera and clicked. It was this blurry image or nothing, though I rather like the blurriness as it conveys a bit of the motion and chaos of Piccadilly on a Saturday night.

Piccadilly Circus at night

Less chaotic were the shiny doors welcoming us into The Grenadier, a traditional pub near Belgrave Square.

The Grenadier

The red door of the Chateau d'If, a few minutes by boat from Marseille, is not quite so welcoming, at least if you imagine yourself to be Edmond Dantes of "The Count of Monte Cristo."

At the Chateau d'If

In other cases red was more of a highlight. A red-jacketed pedestrian appeared at just the right moment to add interest and a sense of scale to this image of Green Park in London.

Green Park

A red-shirted runner completed this scene of the lattice-work exterior of the MuCEM (the Museum of European and Mediterranean Culture) in Marseille. I will have more details about this building and Marseille in a subsequent post.

Runner alongside Marseille's MuCEM

Greeting me on my return home was this piece, consisting mostly of scraps, which has come together slowly from the scraps that I sew together every time I sit down at my machine to work on a proper project. It is very much an improvisational piece and I'm not entirely sure where I am going with it, except that eventually it will be large enough for a twin size bed.

I like the sunny yellow center, but once the borders were sewn on the yellow seemed overpowering. Hence the appliqué tree, the idea for which came from a book I enjoyed as a child, "The Cookie Tree," illustrated by my uncle,  Blake Hampton.

In spite of all the yellow, the red highlights are enough to make me see this piece as predominantly red. A little red goes a long way.