Dorset Buttons and Dorset Feather Stitchery

What an awesome last day this has been! Regular readers of this blog already know how warmly I have been welcomed by so many people here. Today provided more evidence of the kindness that abides in Dorset hearts.

Through the Monday quilt group, I learned about Dorset buttons, an art that supported thousands of local people from the late 1600's onward. These buttons, handmade and intricately woven, (some on rings of bone or brass) were much sought after not only in Europe but also in New York, Boston, and Quebec. It was the invention in 1860 of Ashton's Button Machine that put an immediate end to this industry. The art of making many of the designs has been lost forever, but the Dorset Crosswheel button survives. Local needlewomen still make them in the old way and use them to decorate clothing, costumes, and other needlework projects.

My Monday quilting friends also told me about Dorset Feather Stitchery. I had shown them my "Winter Wonderland" project, an embroidery that will be sewn together with other embroidered panels to make the center of a quilt, and they suggested that I embellish the seams with Dorset Feather Stitchery. There's a book, they told me, published by the Women's Institute, that teaches how to do the stitchery and also the buttons. I've been looking for it in museums, bookstores, and libraries, but without success.

The lady who owns a card shop in the nearby village of Easton suggested I look for it in the Country Market. This event is held every Friday morning in the village and gives local people an opportunity to sell their handicrafts, baked goods, preserves, produce, etc. There would be members of the Women's Institute there, she said, and maybe one of them could help me. So I walked down to Easton this morning, not knowing that I was about to hit the jackpot!

Soon after arriving at the market, I felt a hand on my arm and heard a voice say, "Are you looking for information about Dorset buttons?" That voice belonged to Claire Youngman, who had heard from the card shop lady that I might show up on Friday. Claire had come prepared with a folder full of information and even had a small card with some of those original buttons sewn on it. They were amazing: no bigger than a shirt button but so intricately woven from fine white thread into various shapes...some conical, some domed. Showing me the rest of the information in the folder, Claire discovered that she had two copies of an instructional leaflet and insisted that I take one.

When our discussion turned to the Dorset Feather stitch, Claire called another woman over... Mimi Walker, the recognized authority on the subject in these parts. After just a few moments of talking with Mimi, she asked me if I could wait there for five minutes so she could go home and get some of her work to show me. What she brought back was a cushion she had made...richly and meticulously embroidered with a variety of stitches in a palette of tourquoise, gold, and white. It was truly a work of art. She also brought me the book put out by the Women's Institute, the one I had been looking for. She insisted that it be her gift to me, and with a beholden heart I accepted it.

Mimi told me that her chapter of the WI meets each month to practice their art and invited me to join them, which I shall. My new goal is to finish embroidering the last of my Winter Wonderland quilt panels and have them sewn together in time for our return in the fall. Then, under Mimi's supervision, I will add to it this lovely stitchery. I'll also put some Dorset buttons among the snowflakes that are already part of the design. Won't this be a perfect souvenir!

I never want to forget the kindness of these women.

Winding Down

Tomorrow night after work, Dwight and I will drive to London so we can catch our flights to America early Saturday morning. The time has gone so quickly! I've been here six weeks! Incredible! Since we will be returning at the end of September, we have had some special organizing to do. Our maps and tour books, along with some of our clothes, hiking boots and raincoats will go into a suitcase and get stashed in Dwight's office. My quilt will go into a closet at Marilyn's house for safekeeping. The rest will somehow need to fit into our luggage for the trip home.

We've also been saying our good-byes here at the hotel. People have been so kind to us and, after such a long stay, we have formed friendships with several of them. There have been a couple of envelopes slipped under my door this morning: a lovely note from Margaret giving me her mailing address, and a collection of post cards of the island to take home as souvenirs. The ladies who serve our breakfast have stopped by the table to wish us a safe journey and to say that they'll miss us. Needless to say, we'll be missing them as well.

Then there is this island. When we return, we'll be living down in Weymouth, and Portland will be that hill way in the distance. While we can, and will, come back to our favorite shops and restaurants, the everyday sights and sounds of our lives will be different. I wonder about the people who will become our neighbors. I wonder if, with the summer tourists gone, the people who work in restaurants down there will want to know who we are and what we're doing there. I wonder if the ladies at the launderette will be as friendly. I'm already feeling a little bit homesick for this place!

I think today I'll walk down to Chesil Beach once again. I want to hear the surf and the tumbling rocks...and eat an ice cream.

Quilt Festival, Birmingham, England

The Quilt Festival was great fun! There were a thousand quilts on display including a number of special collections. Lots of them were what I call "art quilts," but there were some incredible traditional ones as well. I took 146 pictures! Several ladies from the local guild were there, and I joined them for dinner both evenings. Jenny I already knew from the Monday group, but I also met Mary, Mante, Sheila, Desera (she has pink hair!) and Liz.

On the first day, my new friend Rona came up from King's Sutton to see the show with me. Rona is not a quilter but is an artist, and she added a lot to my understanding of some of those art quilts. I was delighted to have someone with me, as the quilts reflected so much creativity; I needed to talk about them!

On the second day, I found Liz Dieppe. I had written earlier about Liz, having met her via E-mail last fall while we were both doing an Internet search on a French quilting technique called Boutis Provencale. Liz was there helping her friend Sandie Lush, a quilt designer and one of the show's teachers. Sandie was among the hundreds of vendors at the show and had a booth where she did demonstrations and sold her patterns. While Liz took a break from the booth, we had tea and then looked at quilts for a while. She's a fun gal and seems to like the same kind of quilts that I do. (I think she's better at it than I am, so I look forward to getting back together with her once we return in the fall.)

Most of the vendors were selling fabrics and accessories that are available in the U.S. at half the local prices, so I looked more than bought. I did find one line of fabrics made in England that included some lovely William Morris prints, so I treated myself to a few fat quarters. I also bought a kit to make an appliqued wreath of roses, designed by an English woman. She had beautiful work displayed in her booth...lovely and graceful designs that I would call Victorian.

How lucky for me that our stay in England coincided with this show! I'm glad I found out about it in time; it would have been such a shame to miss it.

My New Favorite Thing

Back on July 23, I wrote about a delightful French tea room, Time for Tea. Since that first visit, I have returned several times to try other desserts from their sideboard of afternoon treats. Today's was the best by far, Tarte Tatin. Ruth and John Kaye introduced us years ago to this ultimate French dessert and even gave me a very special pan for making it at home. Although mine is pretty amazing, this one is absolutely perfect! The apples were baked to the exact point of doneness, the caramelized sugar was the richest golden brown with just a hint of crunch around the edges, and the pastry underneath was tender as a mother's love. That scoop of Dorset's finest real ice cream on top added the crown jewel. Dwight and I have started talking about which of the places we've tried in these first few weeks will become part of our routine once we return next month and settle into our townhouse. Time for Tea always gets my vote; there has got to be more Tarte Tatin in my future!

Portland Harbor and the 2012 Summer Olympics

While the rest of the world is focused on Beijing, folks around here are gearing up for 2012, when the sailing and related events of the Summer Olympic Games will take place in our very own Portland Harbor, pictured here. Take a moment to watch the video and you will see why it was chosen...yes, we've got wind!

L&O's Bistro

We've been having dinner in restaurants every night for over a month now, and I have to admit that we are not tired of it! There are certain ones that have become part of our budding routine. I have written already about The Blue Fish Cafe and its Moules and Frites night. I also want to remember L&O's Bistro.

Like most of our favorite spots, this one was a Peter and Marilyn recommendation. It is located in an inconspicuous part of a residential neighborhood in Weston, here on the Isle of Portland. The "L" is Lynn and the "O" is Ozzie; he's the chef, and she oversees the dining room. There is so much to like about them and their restaurant! First of all, almost everything on the menu is locally produced. They even tell you the name of the boat that catches their fish, and Ozzie himself grows many of their vegetables. From our very first visit, they've remembered that I like beets and find a way to include some in every meal. We have never ordered anything that wasn't both delicious and beautifully presented.

But most of all, we like them! Lynn is unvariably upbeat and cheerful. Ozzie always comes out of the kitchen to greet us, and in a weak moment he even recommended a few of the restaurants where he and Lynn go on their night off. (We've since gone to all of them, all winners!)

We're a long way from home and have been gone for over a month already. We miss home, of course, but these experiences and new friendships are what make such a long absence doable.

Blackberries

[Once again, our Internet connection at the hotel has been unavailable for a few days, which explains the long silence.]

It is impossible to state...or to overstate...the number of blackberry bushes on this island. Except for its three small villages, the upper part of Portland is open countryside, and nearly all of it is covered in brambles. They line every road, climb every stone wall, and fill nearly every field.

When we arrived four weeks ago, the petals were just starting to drop from the blossom end to reveal the tiny berries forming below. As weeks have passed, we've watched the tiny fruits grow larger, and now their color is starting to turn from green to pink. A few, the ones growing on warm stone walls especially, have even started to turn black. We've picked a few of these, and they are deliciously sweet and good.

We leave for home on August 23 and expect to return to England by September 20. My dread fear is that blackberry season will come and go during our absence. What a cruel twist of fate that would be! I've already bonded with the image of me standing in one spot and filling a whole bucket full of these fat and juicy beauties. I know how good they're going to taste on our cereal in the morning and on our ice cream at night. I've saved room for them in a freezer that's not even ours yet! You can bet that our first walk once we've returned will be a blackberry check. Like sailors returning from the sea, we'll be hoping that our loved ones have waited for us.

Twisted Thread

Just now spotted an envelope that had been slipped under our door: my entrance tickets to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England next week! Before leaving the US, I had been in touch with Bernina's UK representative, and she mentioned the show. A bit of online sleuthing led to the organizers' website (http://www.twistedthread.com/), where I happily discovered that the show is taking place while we're here. Over a thousand quilts will be on display plus vendors, classes, demos, and did I mention vendors?! That very day I made a hotel reservation and have been looking forward to it ever since. Got my train tickets last week (with my Senior Rail Card discount) and am ready to go!

If you remember my trip to visit Bev in King's Sutton last month, you saw the photo of the ladies who came to lunch that day. In talking with Rona (far right) I discovered that she is fascinated by the idea of quilting, so I mentioned that she might enjoy seeing the show as well. I knew I had a live one when she followed up immediately with an email; we are now set to meet at the entrance on opening day. I am so pleased to have Rona coming, as she is delightful company, and a show like this is too wonderful not to share. I just cannot imagine keeping all that excitement to myself!

There's one other person I will meet at the show. Last fall I was in touch via email with Liz Dieppe, an English lady whom I met in cyberspace while we were both tracking down information about a quilting technique called Boutis Provencale. When this trip to England came up, I got back in touch with Liz and learned that she will be helping a friend who will be one of the vendors at the show. I have their booth number and will go by to say hello while I'm there.

I'm reminded of something my mother used to say, "Keep having ideas; sooner or later you'll have a good one." I think my expression is going to be, "Keep sowing seeds; sooner or later something will come up."

Moules and Frites

Well, there's a tradition in the making! Last night was our second "Moules and Frites" night, and we decided that as long as the mussels last we'll be there, too! The Blue Fish Bistro in Chiswell introduced this Wednesday night special a while back, and it has proved to be wildly popular. A great bowl of steamed mussels arrives for each person along with a huge bowl of hot French fries to share. Included is a glass of good house wine all for ten pounds (twenty dollars) which is an excellent price for restaurants here. Two young men provide entertainment on their twelve string guitars, making a really nice evening even better! Tables book early, so we just make ours each week for the following one. I had my camera with me last night and had intended to take a picture of that gorgeous bowl of moules, but I was so excited when they finally arrived that I forgot all about the picture! I'll add it later.

Mussels are seasonal, so we asked what would take their place once the season is over. We found out that after the crush of summer tourists leave, the restaurants in the area pretty well shut down except for the weekends. Dinner on Thursday until the Sunday noon meal seems to be pretty standard. Luckily, we will be in our townhouse by then and able to eat at home once again. But I think the Blue Fish will remain a part of our week. The people are friendly, the location is cozy, and the food is delicious! And I haven't even told you yet about the summer pudding!

A Trip to Bath

The City of Bath, a World Heritage Site, is among the "must see" destinations in England. It is famous for its ancient Roman baths (1C-5C AD), its abbey, its architecture and (for its day) its innovative urban planning. We spent a beautiful sunny day there on Saturday and are happy to file the following report. Quite by accident, we found the very best parking lot for our visit...within walking distance of all the action. Our first stop was the Royal Crescent, thirty stone houses joined together in a giant arc that faces onto a great semicircular lawn with gardens beyond. Just down from that was The Circus, more stone houses but these joined in four curved sections that form a circle around a central lawn with massive trees. From there we passed by Queen Square on our way to the Roman baths. Our path took us through a busy shopping district where the streets were jammed with weekend shoppers. Bath Abbey dominates the square occupied by the baths, and its stained glass windows on such a sunny day called us inside. The thing that struck us about this church's interior was how light-filled it was. The stone itself was a creamy white, and only some of the glass was colored. The upper windows were translucent and cast much more light on the area below. From there we walked along the Avon River and across Pulteney Bridge, pictured here. Constructed in the fashion of Florence, Italy's Ponte Vecchio, the Pulteney, it was hoped, would revitalize urban shopping in its day. I don't know how it did in the late 1700's, but it sure was attracting a crowd in the early 2000's! After an afternoon stop for tea and a light meal, we made our way back to the car and home. Our neice Sara Varney has an English friend who, like her, works in the travel business. Chez had sent us, by way of Sara, a list of places to see while we're here. This trip, like the one last weekend to Portsmouth, checks off another entry from Chez's list. So far, she is batting a thousand...although a baseball reference is probably not the best given our location. At any rate, we are grateful to both Sara and Chez for helping to animate our weekends. This one was definitely a winner!

Quilt Status

My quilting friends know that I brought my basket quilt to England. This is a major project, one that has been on my list for at least a couple of years; I've lost count. The top is done and the three layers all basted together...ready for me to hand quilt. The truth is, however, that other projects have found their way to the head of the list, and the basket quilt has stood waiting. This trip provides the perfect opportunity to change all that. I don't have a sewing machine here, and the cooler weather in England makes sitting under a quilt much more pleasant than it would be in the Sunny South. So I have added an item to the left side of the blog and labeled it "Quilt Status". There, my sister quilters can keep track of my progress, and I (having to own up to whatever progress is or is not made) may find motivation to keep me stitching! To establish a baseline, none of the thirty-two basket blocks had been quilted when I arrived.

Blog Woes

Sorry for the extended silence. The hotel's WiFi has been on the fritz and only this noontime is back up and running. This was a mere inconvenience for me but a serious difficulty for Dwight. Owing to the difference in time zones, he needs to stay in contact with his East Coast colleagues well into the night, and e-mail service is essential. To make matters even worse, his Blackberry chose the same time to crump! Major crisis in the making! Blackberry is due to be back in service tomorrow; until then he is limping along on his laptop alone. I am finally able to update our blog, so here goes...