London Through the Eyes of An 11 Year Old--post 4

Arrival at restaurant 

J's Auntie, N, made lunch reservations at Héléne Darroze at the Connaught. It is a three star Michelin restaurant. J was extra excited about the opportunity to eat a fancy lunch. J is open to trying new foods; but, she has an intolerance to dairy which the staff accommodated.

Special purse for a special lunch

To ensure that J had great accessories, N lent J a special bag for the lunch. N made the reservation in J's name so J would have the opportunity to interact more with the staff. We shared the occasion was for her birthday and that J is an aspiring cook, she would like to see the kitchen if that could be possible.

Special appetizers

N supports women owned businesses and women in the workplace. She has experienced more than her share of male dominance in the workplace. She positions herself to encourage women to excel in their areas of expertise and to keep reaching for their goals. She shares this passion with her nieces too!

J's Wagyu beef

When we arrived, J walked up to the reservation desk and let them know that she and her party were here for lunch! 

Dessert

She enjoyed the lunch. She did get a special birthday dessert in addition to the lunch dessert. I didn't snap a photo of it though!

Chocolate thank you bites 

We all received a round of chocolate at the end of the meal. We also received a small sesame like cookie.

Us at the end of lunch

Our waiter took a photo of us at the table.

J with her mounted photo

Then, J was given the photo mounted on card stock and in an envelope. It was a perfect memento.

J with her chef hat in the chef's kitchen

She also was treated to a trip to the kitchen. We were allowed a few minutes to watch the staff prepare the dishes as well as watch how the chef interacted with everyone while ensuring each dish left the kitchen perfectly. Our guide took a photo of us. The hostess gifted J with her own chef's hat.

The last bite of lunch

As we were leaving, we were gifted with a sweet "bite" to enjoy at home. It was a great way to spend the afternoon,

Aqua--Rainbow Scrap Challenge Blocks 2025

 

Starting the process

Whew! I BARELY completed goal number two on my August list which was to make the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks for the month. This month, we worked with Aqua. We have two more months to make blocks. Because we are nearing the end of the year, I cut the remaining background pieces so piecing the next blocks will go a bit quicker. 

Finished blocks

Then I stitched the blocks. Finished is great! Linking with Finished or Not Friday, Patchwork and Quilts, Scrap Happy, Oh Scrap and Show and Tell.

London Through the Eyes of an 11 Year Old--post 3

 

Our tour guide

On J's list of must see was touring the Tower of London. We started with a tour from a Beefeater. These men and woman share interesting stories about the buildings and people who lived and died there. Our guide had served 26 years in the Navy and was the number 420th Beefeater. There isn't a lot of turnover in that position!

J listening to the guide

The tale the tour guide wove kept J's attention. We walked to various spots on the grounds to listen to the guide. It was 45 minutes well spent and included in the ticket price.

Reading about the White Tower

She saw the White Tower. She was impressed with the armaments for people and for the horses. 

J in front of the Bell Tower

I took a photo of her in front of the Bell Tower. 

Taking photos

She took photos of places that interested her. Often, she scouted way ahead of me!

In the queue for the Crown Jewels

She most wanted to see the Crown Jewels so of course we checked those out. She was surprised that there were so many crowns.

J with Amanda Clark

As we walked the grounds, we happened to see a woman Beefeater. There have been three in the history. This is Amanda J Clark. When I asked if I could snap a photo of her with J, she said yes!

Quilt of Valor Presentation #2

Dick's grandsons, son-in-law and friend enjoying the treats

Last Saturday, I was honored to award my friend, Dick with his Quilt of Valor. At 90, Dick will tell you that his short term memory is suspect. His long term memory is great. When I talked about his service, he started telling us about his family and their service tours. 

The jest of the conversation was that every one of his family members were flown somewhere; but, not him and he was in the Air Force! He said when he received his orders to go to Japan, he thought it would be via plane. Nope! He was transported by sea in a ship! He chuckled! We laughed!

The youngest grandson finishing the "wrap"

A friend from his previous neighborhood, his daughter, son-in-law, two grandsons, a couple from the complex where he now lives with his wife were physically present. His daughter who lives in Virginia along with his granddaughter were present via FaceTime. His wife, Gail, had put together a spread of pastries, fruit with coffee and tea.

Dick, me and Gail sharing a moment

His grandsons showed the quilt back as I talked and at the appropriate time, they shared the front. Then they wrapped their granddad in it. Lots of photos and videos were taken. He stayed wrapped up in his quilt for about half an hour. When we asked him if he was getting too warm, he said he was just right!

Dick decided he wanted to look at his 
quilt on the wall for awhile

This is a Stars Like Spaghetti pattern that Alycia at Quilty Girl offered in a sew along. The link to the post about its finish is here. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning! 

Quilt of Valor label

Special thanks goes to Lori Coffin, Vancouver area contact and Cindy Hoover, Washington State Coordinator who helped me receive the quilt label to attach to his quilt. Documenting this presentation was goal number 10 on my August list.

Surprise bouquet

Monday afternoon, my husband answered the door to a delivery person with a bouquet of flowers for me! Gail had sent the flowers to thank me for the presentation. Honestly, I had received a notification for the flower delivery and because I hadn't ordered any, I thought it was a spam text! What a surprise! I let Gail know that her gesture was appreciated; but totally unnecessary!

Linking to Finished or Not Friday and Patchwork and Quilts and Oh Scrap and Sew & Tell!

London through the eyes of an 11 year old--post 2

J requested a boat tour on the Thames. She reasoned that listening to stories would be more entertaining that racing down the river in speed boat or taking a dignified city cruise or riding in the water public transport. She was right!

J in front of the fountain near our pick up point

J enjoyed the Terrible Thames boat tour. Over the years that I've visited, I've heard the music on this tour as the boat travels within site of my daughter's flat. We didn't have far to go to arrive at the meeting point. We only had to walk across Tower bridge and then down to the dock.

J enjoying the tour

The tour was 45 minutes and perfect for kids/families. J enjoyed learning a little about the history of some of the bridges and buildings along the route. 

Quilting Grow/Another Broken Foot--post 4

Late last Wednesday, I returned from a two week visit to my daughter who lives in London, England. My 11 year old granddaughter, J, was my travel partner. It was fun to see London and Paris through an 11 year old's eyes! Yes, we squeezed in a few days in Paris. We HAD to go someplace her sister hadn't been yet! My plan is to post about the trip on Sundays. You can read the first post here.

Circle motif for the sashing

Broken foot

I've missed reading a number of blog posts. If I read posts, I likely wasn't able to comment. I haven't linked up in some time. While I'll be linking less since my trip had nothing to do with quilting, I am getting back into the "swing of things! I did photograph some tile that would be a great quilt pattern.

At any rate, the jet lag, while it could have been worse, has tinkered some with my head. Besides wanting to sleep when I should be awake, I'm not feeling creative. Rather than work on projects that require thought, I chose to continue quilting "Grow" in the ditch.

Leaf quilting

I realized I hadn't added that project to my August list; but, it is on the list now! It is goal number 11 which is to make progress quilting it! After a couple of sessions, I had finished the ditch quilting. I wanted to keep the quilting simple; but, Gertie, my inner squirrel, convinced me to quilt a bunch of circles in the sashing and outer borders. 

View of the sashing and border circles

I've spent about 14 hours quilting the circles and completed the sashing. I started quilting the borders and my ruler foot broke. This is the fourth time the foot has broken. Bernina has known of this problem for years. 

Since I was quilting with a group on Zoom, I moved on to quilting the leaves because I could do that with a quarter inch foot. While I quilted, I contemplated how I was going to replace this foot.

My challenge this time is that it wasn't as simple as going to my dealer for a new one as I had done on 3/2017, 11/2017 and 5/2020 because that dealer is no longer a dealer. I e-mailed another dealer. Kudos to this dealer as I received a phone call about two hours after I had sent the e-mail.

Overall view

The jest of the conversation was that there was one ruler foot left in stock and it would be set aside for me at a reduced cost of $68. I said a foot ought to last and this was the fourth time it had broken. I didn't have sales receipts because the dealer just exchanged it. I said Bernina knows it is a design flaw and I shouldn't have to pay anything and neither should you as the dealer!

When I went in to the store to pick up the foot, I left the dates that I had replaced the foot. She was surprised that I had the replacement dates. I had blogged about the foot so the documentation was in post form! She gave me a greater discount. I paid $36 for the replacement. I'm glad it wasn't the full price of $77! 

I do appreciate the service the dealer provided. She said she had contacted the company and maybe I'll get my $36 returned to me. The good news is that while the foot looks the same to me, the design has changed so perhaps it will not break. I'm saving the receipt though in case it does break!

After quilting a few leaves and once I had the new foot, I continued quilting the border. I'd appreciate any suggestions about what motif to put around the leaves. I may continue working on this project for awhile until I get over the jet lag. My issue is that about six in the evening I fade and fade fast. By seven, I can't keep my eyes open so off to bed I go. I wake up about every two to three hours thinking that I've slept the night. By three in the morning, my body is finished with trying to sleep!

Linking up with Finished or Not Friday, Patchwork Quilts and Oh Scrap!

London Through the Eyes Of An 11 Year Old--post 1

At departure from Portland, Oregon

July 23 through August 6, my 11 year old granddaughter, J, and I visited London, England where my daughter and youngest granddaughter live. The four of us also spent four days in Paris, France. This was J's first time to London and France. We took the usual photos before departing the Portland airport. It is a "thing" here, to photo one's shoes against the airport carpet before one leaves. We made sure to capture that moment!

Iconic shoe photo with the airport carpet

I'll be writing a series of posts describing the top six activities of J's trip. There is no particular order to the posts There may be several activities in a post. 

The cats at the cafe

This post will highlight having high tea at Whiskers and Cream which is a cat cafe. Admittance is by reservation only. The cats are rescues. Patrons can pet, play, photo and admire the cats during their reservation time. The cat no no rules were few. You can't feed the cats people food and you can't pick up the cats. You could order a drink, a drink and a dessert, a high tea or a meal. The time period for high tea was 90 minutes.

The cat, Jack

J LOVED watching, petting and photographing the various cats. She took more than 100 photos/videos of the cats. She snapped the majority of photos in this post.

Basil about to leap

There were cats on tables, on chairs, on scratching posts and in cat beds scattered about the cafe.

Basil in repose

The patrons were all busy with The food was definitely second fiddle to the cats as far as J was concerned! She has an intolerance to dairy. This cafe was able to make a tea that contained no dairy which was great.

Jack making himself available for seating too

We did see one cat try to join a group having a high tea. One of the employees walked over and picked him up before he could help himself to the treats!

The three tier tea tray part way through tea

Our tea consisted of sandwiches, scones and a variety of desserts.

J rated the experience a success

To get to this location, we took a bus,  two trains and walked about ten minutes. I was impressed that I was able to navigate there and even more impressed that I was able to navigate back to my daughter's house!

I'll be using my Sunday posts to document our trip. Goal number six on my August list was to begin documenting my trip. 

Rita's Rhododendron Trail Is A Top!

The skinny border sandwiched between
the top and outer border

When I wrote the last post about progress on my Grassy Creek project, I noted that I planned to detour and finish a Rhododendron Trail top that my friend, Rita, had started. It was her first Bonnie Hunter quilt. It was also a mystery quilt. 

This mystery happened during COVID and Rita didn't have enough pinks in her stash. At least one member of our Mystery Mavens group mailed Rita fabric. Stashes were shared because in person shopping wasn't a task that Rita could do.

Rita pieced away on the project. We celebrated when she announced to the group that she had the top done in the summer of 2023. . at least, that was what I thought I had heard. 

When she died a few months later, I learned that the family wasn't interested in having that project finished for them; but, they were happy to gift it to me. That happened in April 2024. I helped them distribute a lot of Rita's fabric, sewing supplies and quilting projects. I worked on my own projects as well as her temperature quilt that he family did want finished. This project languished in its project box.

The top on my bed

Last month, I pulled it out because the Gresham Senior Center is holding an auction in the fall to support quilting activities. Rita supported a number of organizations with time and quilty projects. She would approve of her project raising money to support quilt activities.

When I pulled the project from the box, Rita had the center complete and two of the skinny borders stitched to the center. The other strips were cut. I laid the quilt on a bed and using the center of the top, I measured the strips for length. Then I stitched the two remaining borders to the top. I did need to do a little easing. I did need to rip the stay stitches that were stitched beyond the seam allowances. 

I took photos of the 89 x100 inch top. 

Rita had pieced the flying geese borders. I did do a little unstitching and restitching so the borders mimicked the pattern.  I cut the binding strips and stitched them together. I took the top, the binding and the batting that was in the project box to the Senior Center at the end of June. 

The top on my living room floor

There was backing available which will look great. A volunteer will quilt it and another will add the binding. I'm glad to have my part in this project "finished!" The center is having a fundraiser in October to raise money for their quilting activities. I know that Rita would be happy to support the center in this way. I may make a bid or two on it at that fundraiser!

Goal number seven on my August list was to document getting Rita's Rhododendron Trail mystery to a top!