William Morris tour day five (or is it six?!)

I think it is day six but it has really been 5 days of sight seeing....at least now I have the timezone correct on blogger! It was still on time at home so seemed like we were always a day ahead! Anyway a day full of all things Morris greeted us once again. We traveled to London, Hammersmith with first stop at the home of Emery Walker. You will find a load of information by clicking the link....many places do not allow photos so take a look. We then walked down a little further to Kelmscott House for another private tour (certainly the best way to be informed by experts). It was lovely to see Helen the curator once again and they are always so generous in allowing us to take photos. (I might leave some photos for the next tour). Just a little snippet for now........

 The Strawberry Thief  fabric above is original - so nice to be so close!

 And below is a gift from Larry to me. The society were given some second hand books to sell and this is three books of a four set volume of letters from Morris...and only 10 pounds each...an absolute bargain! We think it will probably cost more to post home.....fingers crossed they arrive please!

Lunch was at the Red Lion which I have read Morris frequented when he lived here. Fun to see it is managed by a New Zealander and staffed by Australians!

This afternoon we spent time at the Victoria and Albert Museum and we had the most wonderful guide for almost 2 hours. You definitely need a whole week to see everything......here is a just a little...

 An embroidered wall-hanging from 1710 and you can see the size of it by Larry who was transfixed!

 I always have to visit this gown...it is a favourite of mine and from 1740

 Below is a quilted bed cover from about 1725-50.....

 And the Palampores from India are so inspiring as they also were for Morris. Maybe I will have to talk to Jason about reproducing some of these! They are dated 1730-50.

This textile is thought to be Indian and is dated 15th century...it was found in Cairo.....

Our team intently listening......

For all you quilters this was a treat. They have dated this whole-cloth quilt 1360 - 1400 and from Florence, Italy...it was incredible.........

And then it was the Morris collection........

And finally dinner in the Morris room.

Tomorrow is a quiet day stitching in the hotel so I might have a night off from blogging...sorry Jude!! Thanks everyone for visiting and sharing in our journey. Hugs for now X