Good things come to those who wait........

One or two of you know I have been a bit anxious about an expected delivery of fabric from the US. I usually find it only takes about 5 or 6 days to get here. I have waited 2 weeks now and as I came thro the front door a little while ago I was holding my breath - and there it was on the mat - woo hoo!!

4 lovely yards of 1001 Peeps by Lizzy House. I had bought a fat 1/4 bundle a few weeks back from Sew Fresh Fabrics and had a mix of the purple and dusk colourways. Originally I saw some of it destined to appear in my hexie quilt but then I moved mentally into grandma/baby quilt mode and showed my new fabrics to the mother- to- be. I kinda knew she'd like them as purple is her fave colour and she adored Aladdin as a child.........however she thinkis it might be a bit girly. I surfed a bit more and found yardage on Hawthorne Fabrics and even better, on sale!! I scooped up the last 4 yds of this particular print. My intention is to make one or two baby quilts and Jenny can choose after baby arrives. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!! - there were TWO packages on the mat and in the other was a surprise gift from an old friend.

This is what friend Carol had written in an email - I have (also at long last) visited The Manor at Hemingford Grey (little village on the other side of St Ives (Cambs) - about 5 miles from here). This made me think of you because of Lucy Boston who is famous for having restored the Manor; for giving gramophone music recitals to the airmen at RAF Wyton during the war; for writing the Green Knowe series of children's classics (no, I'd never heard of them either); for converting the fields around the house into a stunning 4-acre garden, and for her amazing output of patchwork quilts which she continued to make until well into her 90s. This was supposed to be a visit to study the Norman architecture - the house was built in the 1130s and is reckoned to be the oldest continuously inhabited house in England - but I was 'blown away' by the quilts, particularly one made during the war which features duster and tea-towel fabric since these were apparently the only fabrics that were not rationed. Anyway, I thought of you and am sending you a little something for your history of quilting collection. I have only had a quick glance through the book, it can be savoured at a later date, but look at this close up of her Keyboard patchwork, made up of octagons and squares ( 3/4") and stitched with, I quote, 20 stitches to the inch!!

Lucy Boston started this in 1967 when she was 75, doesn't it look contemporary? If you happen to be reading this Carol, thank you again.