London

A few years ago we found a lovely needlwork shop very near Kensington Palace. I don't remember the name, unfortunately. It was in a smallish shopping area between the main street and the palace. The shopping area itself was in a ring around a small brick or stone courtyard. Very nice! I imagine that the personnel at the palace could direct you. (And Kensington Palace and Kensington Gardens are well-worth seeing!)

Sorry Pat. I would help if I could, but I really don't know London at all. . In message , " snipped-for-privacy@aol.com" writes

I like Covent Garden a lot.. the market there is great ..

This link will give you an idea about Covent Garden.. without the sounds and smells though .. for that you really have to be there and if you are lucky the sun will even shine and make your day complete.. i love it!

Els.

Try the Asian shops around Brick Lane (well, don't bother if you're posting from India, but they'll have stuff you won't see anywhere else outside the subcontinent).

You might try Brixton for African fabrics but I haven't been there for many years, not sure what it's like now.

We're just back from Istanbul which completely knocks the socks off London for anything sewing-related. Like, whole streets devoted to nothing but shops selling beads in bulk.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ============== Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760 for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

Beads! Beads! Did someone mention beads. We wanted to go to Istanbul when we went to Bulgaria but at the time of year there were no trips going from the hotel.

Perhaps it was as well because DH would never have been able to get me away from the beads. Not to think of paying for excess luggage on the way home. LOL Just finished another beaded bottle but not taken any pictures yet Shirley

In message , Jack Campin - bogus address writes

All I know is that my friend Hanne (of RCTQ) lives in London and she considers a shop in Newport News, Virginia as her LQS! She is visiting in the area and just yesterday we had fun at the LQS, then had lunch. That's when she made the comment that Nancy's is her LQS! When I travel far, either here or abroad, I tend to want to visit the major museums, cathedrals, and so on. Time and money is limited so I go to those once in a life time places. Grins, PAT in Virginia

Yes, I agree - London does not 'do' quilts or embroidery, and fabric here is exactly the same as the US but twice the price. Quilt shops - if you can find them - tend to be in small towns away from London, where the rents are lower.

I would get a good guide book and do the recognised sights, and perhaps include a museum like the Victoria and Albert. It would be a shame to miss the once in a lifetime places because you were looking for quilt shops like the US ones.

A trip on a river boat would be fun, or a ride on the London Eye (giant wheel) but you have to book in advance for the Eye I think.

The Covent Garden suggestion is an interesting one too - I've never been though.

Sally at the Seaside ~~~~~~~~~~ (uk)

Pat > All I know is that my friend Hanne (of RCTQ) lives in London and she

Well, since Pat in VA spilled the beans on me, I had better chime in :-)

I live in London, and would say that for regular quilting store, it is not worth the effort for someone normally in the US to seek them out. However, there are lots of Indian fabric stores (as someone else said) and if you don't mind expensive prices too much, I would suggest going by the the fabric/embroidery/etc part of Liberty (on Regent Street, not far from Hamley's - major toy store). Liberty does have a large selection of knitting and embroidery stuff, including most of Kaffe Fassett/Rowan lines. Don't so much think of it at quilting fabric store, but if you like embroidery, you might at least like to browse there. John Lewis (department store) on Oxford Street has a good selection of furnishing/curtain fabrics, and also (for here) decent knitting etc supplies (not much quilting stuff though!).

I also would recommend the Victoria and Albert, they usually have something on textiles on, but it could be 60'ies fashion :-)

For old world stuff, see the Tower of London and also the British Museum (lots of stuff "brought home" from all over the world). In the last few years, several of the big museums (natural history, science etc) have become free, so that's a plus.

If you have time (and haven't travelled lots in Italy already!), you might consider a day trip to Bath (can be done by train, don't need to plan ahead and book with a coach company). They have (I believe) the best preserved roman baths outside of Italy. Something to see, im my opinion.

Hanne (normally > All I know is that my friend Hanne (of RCTQ) lives in London and she

I went on the "Eye" last January and did not have to book. We bought a ticket inside the building nearby, walked up a ramp had a bag and body search before we were allowed on. There was another couple in the car with us. Shirley

In message , Sally Swindells writes