Two weeks from today I'll be getting on an airplane heading to London. My trip is thanks to the kindness of a friend in offering me housing while there. I plan to visit friends and see some sites. I'm going to go with friends to see the Dr. Who Experience, and I'm going with other friends to Kensington Palace for the Enchanted Palaces exhibit. Mostly I hope to just visit and chat with friends. Phone and e-mail are fine as far as they go, but it really is great to visit in person.I'm going to Ally Pally with friends for a model train show (young boys are involved). (I feel so "with it" to finally know what Ally Pally is--Alexandra Palace, a conference venue. Each year loads of embroidery bloggers get all excited about going to Ally Pally and I never could figure out why the needlework show was called Ally Pally!)
Many of the other days in my two weeks are unscheduled right now, but I have loads to do... lovely list of fabric and trim shops, loads of places I'd like to visit (I've tried three times now to get into Westminster, maybe this trip...and I think the Museum of London is a must-see).
The V&A's textile wing is closed, bummer, but I've been there. I may go look around the rest of the museum this time! (I didn't get much beyond the textile wing before.)
I always like a "trip project"--something I know I can work on while at the airport, on the plane, in quiet evenings. I often also pick up something while on vacation--that reflects the trip. For some reason, once I settle on a project, the trip will snap into focus and I'm generally a lot calmer about it--I hate to fly.
This time I decided on English Paper Piecing for a quilt-thing (don't know what yet) with hexagon pieces. I purchased papers and had a charm pack of William Morris print fabrics. It all seemed to resonate with things British.
I've been working on it a bit already, in doctors' office waiting rooms. It's pretty addictive. I plan to head to the plane with a bunch of cut pieces and a few pins, a needle and basting thread to baste my way across the ocean. My plan is to start one corner with the Morris fabrics and then get fabrics on my trip to continue...I'm not sure if I want to look for used clothing at resale shops or new fabrics at Liberty's. Probably both.Between now and the 14th, things will be a bit frantic here. I plan to keep up with work while gone but there's a lot to do now to get to the "keeping up" stage. My mind's bubbling!
