Design inspiration overload!

Once again I have let you down and two days have passed without a post……my excuse? Being very tired as we didn't get back to the hotel until 10pm last night (and a dead camera battery!) … so now it is catch up time. Today was workshop day so photos of that later. But yesterday was for me one of life's treasured memories. Of course Kelmscott Manor is always a treat starting with a cuppa and shortbread………(and the ploughman's lunch!)

 Helen finding time to do what Helen does……..more organising…...

I decided to wander down to the river where Morris loved to fish……..

and there I found another fisherman relaxing on his own in this peaceful part of the world………….

And walking back a view of Kelmscott once again…..a place that Morris said was "heaven on earth"…..and indeed it is…..

As I waited for the others I spied a thrush…..I wondered if it was a long descendent of the ones who stole the strawberries in Morris's garden all those years ago………..

Following lunch we visited the churchyard and Morris's grave and who should pop up……Maureen and Roger again! Maureen is my stalker from the UK and this time she brought her quilt top inspired by Morris and some of my own designs and everyone was thrilled to see it all……….thanks again for coming so far to visit you two intrepid travellers and your quilt is gorgeous Maureen xx

 After that excitement it was back on the bus where we were greeted with a Pimm's which Kathy and Brian were lapping up………...

Our next stop was the Ashmolean Museum where we thought we were going to view some May Morris drawings. Well did we see some May Morris drawings…….I took over 120 photos of them and shock of shocks…we got to handle them all (very carefully!!)……what an incredible treat. Often I felt like I was looking at my own drawings and soon I realised a lot of them are in fact embroidery designs in our very own Art Gallery of South Australia collection. I cannot being to describe this wonderful opportunity and to see May's own handwriting and sketches was truly incredible. We know that May was head of the embroidery dept of Morris and Co. when she was only 23 and that she also supervised the kits that you could purchase, but seeing the original designs 100 years later…….well I think you can understand my elation!!

 and they were often just sketches on the back of an envelope………..

We even saw the design of the memorial cottages designed by Philip Webb and that May had built in memory of her father…... 

 Here you can see the words "stone panel for carving" on the wall and we had just seen that carving only a few hours earlier on that very wall…….

 We saw many of the flower designs for the bed covering on William's bed at Kelmscott…….way too many to put on the blog but maybe they might turn up in quilts one day??!! 

A truly memorable day and so many designs to inspire so many more quilts!