Poppies and Drain Covers

Today I have been stitching and I also received a wonderful item of post - my poppy from the Tower of London installation, 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red'.  I got goosebumps as I opened up the package and read the companying booklet.  While the poppy itself has been cleaned after its time in the moat, the stem and fitting have a poignant coating of rust from their time outside.  I was sorry not to have seen the actual installation, especially near Remembrance weekend when almost everybody I know was posting pictures of their visit to the Tower of London on Facebook and I was in New Zealand, the poppy is my "piece of history".

My stitching today has been a reminder of my time in New Zealand.  I have six small pieces planned reflecting different places I visited.  Three are hand stitched and ready to layer up and quilt, this is the fourth, in planning:

and stitched ready for quilting. 

Al declared this, "That's very precise.....that's really precise for you".  I think I'll take that as it was intended, not as a backhanded compliment, just recognition of a different style!  

The piece represents the capital city of NZ, Wellington, and the wonderful time we had there.  It is based on a drain cover.  Now, I first noticed interesting drain covers when I was in Japan, where each village or town area has their own design.  Then I saw the lovely covers in Wellington which I interpret to represent city, sea, mountains and bush.  A quick google proved that I am not alone, there are some very serious drain spotters (ouch, sorry) out there.

Have a great weekend.