Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts

Saturday, July 25, 2020

Friday Food 07-24-20

This looks appetizing to me because I love sauteed mushrooms.  TJoe's had boxes of nice mushrooms all the same size (except one - how did that get in there).  So, I minced up some garlic and a piece of shallot, stirred them around in some olive oil and butter until they looked good and dumped in the mushrooms.  A dollop of dry sherry and a soupcon of water and stir, stir, stir.  
Delicious. 




I only had two pieces of wheat bread, no sourdough (how did I forget that?), which I lightly buttered and laid top side down on the mushrooms to warm a bit.   And that was dinner.  A basically two item meal.  I seem to be eating more of those lately. 

One reason I enjoy this so much is that it brings back lovely memories of a meal in Bath, England, some years ago when I was traveling with a dear friend.  We took the train from London and somehow arrived late in the day.  We wandered around sightseeing a bit and decided we needed to eat before it got too late.  But it was already too late and most restaurants were closed.  Near the cathedral there were a few people at outside tables and we went in and found that they were just closing the kitchen.  We plead hunger and weariness (my friend was so good at that) and the chef said he could prepare some mushrooms and bread.  At the time it seemed like the best meal we had ever eaten.  And I remember it with everlasting fondness.  

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Sunday, April 26, 2020

Thomas Contemprary Quilt Collection 04-26-20

For quite a few years I posted quilts from TCQC on Sundays and I am going to go back to that.  Here is a piece from England that was added in June 2014.

There is a lovely shop in England that specializes in African fabrics, beads, baskets, jewelry, and a lot more.  The owners travel in Africa every year and buy from the native artists and markets.  Musa, one of their artists, dyes fabric in his village and also works to provide medical care to the people there.  One year the English quilters made this huge quilt to hang in the booth of the African Quilt Shop at a large quilt show.  But after the show was over, what to do with such a huge quilt, there was no space to hang it in the shop.  So, they cut it up into "planks" and sold those to interested quilters.  The result was a number of very nice pieces that they put up for auction online with the money going to Musa's clinic in Africa.  I happened to run across the auction and needed to add "One Plank Makes Many Huts" to TCQC.  



This is the original very large quilt that was eventually cut up into "planks".



"One Plank Makes Many Huts" 

 Alison Livesley - England  2014   47"W X 47"L

Many of the fabrics are African, but there is a little bit of everything including Liberty prints, hand-dyes, batiks, etc..

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As always I am having problems with my photo files, so these are all the pictures I can post tonight.  

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Sunday, December 15, 2019

New quilts in TCQC 12-15-19

I am a fan of the African Fabric Shop in Holmfirth, England, although I haven't actually purchased much, I just like to admire their supply of fabrics, beads, and baskets from Africa.  One of their suppliers is a man named Musa who is an expert dyer.  He started a medical clinic in his village and the Fabric Shop has supported that by doing some fund raising.  A couple years ago I purchased a great quilt from their online auction and now they are having another auction.  So, I bought three little quilts, all using the great African fabrics carried in the shop, but made by English quilt makers.  

"Take me Back" Magie Relph - England  2019  11"W x 20"L
Cotton African prints and hand dyes, cotton and metallic threads, cotton batting, machine pieced and quilted. 


On the back another wonderful African print. 

"African Improv II"  Kate Dowty - England 2019
  15.5"W x 15"L  Cotton African prints, Chenille yarn, cotton thread and batting.  Machine pieced and quilted.  Hand appliqued.  

A striped  double batik on the back.

"African Improv I"  Kate Dowty - England  2019 
 23.5"W X 18.5"L  Cotton African prints, Chenille yarn, beads, cotton thread and batting.  Machine pieced and quilted.  Hand embroidered.  
On the right side about 1/3 in there are three strands of chenille yarn with beads at the ends.  These hang free from the top of the quilt. 

The rings are dyed into the fabric and Kate has hand stitched over them.

More African prints on the back. 

Nice label, but no contact!  How do I send her a Thank You?

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