I’ve composed this blog a few times… and lost it both times…. I guess it says something about being a little tired.I had no access to the internet over the past few days so the blog had a rest…. I had a rest and the computer had a rest.However, filming increased and we got some wonderful footage of Winchester Cathedral and then a "Traveling Quilter" piece about Romsey. The name Romsey is believed to have originated from the term Rūm’s Eg, meaning "Rūm’s area surrounded by marsh". Rūm is probably an abbreviated form of a personal name, like Rūmwald (glorious leader). History aside, it’s a wonderful town. The river test flows through the center and we were lucky enough to see quite a number of trout. The water is crystal clear and flows very swiftly…. some of the houses have thatched rooves and almost all of them have wonderful gardens…However, Jamie filmed friend Gay and I walking the town. We visited the quilt shop and interviewed Dianne the girl looking after the shop for the …

Bosham’s history is long, some well documented and other steeped in myths and legends. Around 1000AD the Danes invaded Bosham and the story goes that they made off with the church bell only to lose it in what is now called the ‘bell hole’. Locals say you can hear the bell ringing on stormy nights! Bosham is reputed to be the site of King Canute’s attempt to stop the tide. Some historians believe that Canute’s young daughter was drowned in the millstream and is buried in Bosham Church. Bosham next appears on the Bayeaux Tapestry. As King Harold’s home village, it was from here that he sailed to Normandy in 1064. Bosham Church is depicted on the Tapestry along with the history of the Battle of Hastings. However, the church is thought to pre-date Harold by about 300 years making it one of the oldest in England. The reason that we were there to film is that Earl Harold, accompanied by some of his friends  embarked on a journey to France. They set off in …

The Battle Of Hastings by Marriott Edgar 1880-1951, written in 1933 I’ll tell of the Battle of Hastings, As happened in days long gone by,When Duke William became King of England, And ‘Arold got shot in the eye. It were this way – one day in October The Duke, who were always a toffHaving no battles on at the moment, Had given his lads a day off. They’d all taken boats to go fishing, When some chap in t’ Conqueror’s earSaid ‘Let’s go and put breeze up the Saxons;’ Said Bill – ‘By gum, that’s an idea.’ Then turning around to his soldiers, He lifted his big Norman voice,Shouting – ‘Hands up who’s coming to England.’ That was swank ‘cos they hadn’t no choice. They started away about tea-time – The sea was so calm and so still,And at quarter to ten the next morning They arrived at a place called Bexhill. King ‘Arold came up as they landed – His face full of venom and ‘ate – He said ‘lf you’ve come for Regatta …

Making a quilt is not just putting pieces of fabric together. To me quilts have a soul. They are the foundation of our ideas and emotions that we work through to create a piece of art. And before you say "my quilts are not art"!!!! I personally consider anything made by hand is an art piece….Working on this project has been a unique experience. The research that I’ve done over the past two years was a little disjointed for a while. There are so many facets to the project and I need to work on most of them, not necessarily in order but as the need arose. I’ve worked on illustrations, both fine line and pattern, I’ve spent hours of pouring over books and wading through the internet to help me understand the Bayeux Tapestry. Goodness knows if I will ever really understand it fully. I’m rather a klutz if I just read things…the facts seem to blend into one. I need to DO them and they are then imprinted in my mind. Notes from …

Sun, stones and no sand in the toes….

I woke early and opened the curtains. The sky was clear and it promised to be a beautiful day. I took off for a walk down the promenade..the ipod my trusted companion. We always need a latte to start the day so I figure an hours walk cancels out the latte… Battle was our destination today… it’s a 100 acre property of rolling fields, meandering trails and the ruins of Battle Abbey. Battle Abbey, actually named St. Martin’s Abbey, is a partially ruined abbey complex in the small town of Battle in East Sussex, England.In 1070 the Pope ordered the Normans to do penance for killing so many people during their conquest of England. So William the Conqueror vowed to build an abbey where the Battle of Hastings had taken place, with the high altar of its church on the very spot where King Harold fell in that battle on Saturday, 14 October 1066. He did start building it and named it Battle Abbey, though he died before it was completed. Its church was finished …

10.00 pm and we’ve been through the days shoot and I think it looks super…. Jamie is a perfectionist and I’m learning a lot…. We did an interview with a local historian and jamie shot beautiful vision. I guess I’m a little overawed with it all, this is a huge project but I’m more than excited. Yesterday was a day of contrasts…. first it took ages to get our car because my GPS isn’t working in Britain so we had to wait and pay extra for a car with GPS.XXXXXXXX but that’s the breaks. We drove for several hours. had shepherds pie in a local pub and then arrived at Hastings at about 3.00 in the afternoon. I had booked and paid for the hotel for 3 nights. When we arrived at the hotel, the owner said.."Oh no you canceled" I was little confused…. I KNOW I didn’t cancel the booking. So we went and parked the car and I checked the computer…. No, the booking was correct. So back to the hotel and the …