A Fortnight in Photographs

We had a few days away in Norfolk.  

Grandad and Sam enjoyed the sunshine.

Sam tried out my crutch.

We went on a boat trip on the Broads.

And didn't let Sam escape overboard.

We had fish and chips for lunch.

And fed the ducks.

We went to the Apple Store in Norwich.

And enjoyed the playground in Gold Park.

We had yummy ice cream.

And tried out the exercise machines in the village.

A sea fret came in and blocked out the sun on the coast.

We went to the lighthouse at Happisburgh.

The countryside is green and alive.

Nature is claiming back this building.

Maybe a quilt design?

I'm still resting my foot, it is in its plaster cast and my appointment to see the surgeon has been put back until 17th June - my foot is getting very itchy!

This weekend I am planning to go to the quilt show at Springfields in Spalding, it's a new show in the Grosvenor calendar.  A dear friend has agreed to both drive me to Spalding and push me around in a wheelchair - I think I will owe her lunch at least.  Watch out for another photo-heavy post about the show.

Mr and Mrs Paul, my DS and DDiL, are coming for lunch on Sunday, it'll be the first time I've seen them since their wedding so I'm pretty excited!

Summer seems to have arrived in England, hooray, hooray.  I shall take my laptop out into the garden tomorrow and catch up on emails and blogs (no broadband at our bach in Norfolk), apologies if you have felt ignored while I've been away.

I have been doing some stitching, especially on my Fuji-san piece, I'll share soon.

Cherry Blossom and Maple Leaves

The Oriental Fabrics Competition at Chilford was for a quilt of minimum 24" square and maximum 84" square and include at least 60% Oriental fabrics.  Such a wide brief led to a variety of quilts but I was surprised with how few there were on display.  Here they are:

Secret Rendezvous 

by Elisabeth Green of Worcestershire. 

I took a couple of close up pictures to show the detail of all the applique blossoms and leaves and those wonderful koi.

Kimono

by Christine Davey of Norfolk

This quilt included both hand and machine quilting and I liked the fabrics Christine chose to use.

Madam Butterfly

by Megan Bradfield of Carmarthenshire

This lovely quilt was an "idea" for eighteen months so none of us need to give up on those projects on our to do list.  Megan combined hand applique and quilting in her design which was inspired by books by Suzanne Marshall and Kumiko Sudo.

The Last Samurai

by Susan Briscoe of North Wales

A strong combination of Oriental prints with a Japanese craft panel depicting Samurai armour and quotations from 'The Art of War'.  The design was inspired by narrow Boys' Day banners and the blossoms and leaves contrast with the armour to show the fragility of the warrior's life.  You can read more about the making of this quilt on Susan's blog (at the end of the post).

Geisha Dreams

by Margaret Brett, Kent

This calming quilt is the result of many hours of fussy cutting,  hand applique and hand quilting to create a fantasy maple tree bearing cherry blossom.  Again I took a close up to show the detail.

Of course I had to have a little retail therapy after admiring all the quilts and being inspired.
Euro Japan Links just happened to have a stand at the exhibition and this is what tempted me:

This gorgeous length of fabric.  I bought 2m and am planning ...

A couple of half metre pieces of Japanese cotton fabric that I haven't got in my stash.  Those are hares on the indigo piece.

These folded flowers are going to be appearing everywhere when I get the hang of them.  I bought two as I was thinking "Secret Santa", I wonder who would appreciate them the most?
That wasn't too extravagant was it?  I feel one has to make the most of these opportunities (and there were one or two other purchases on the day which I have put on Online Quilting.)