Last Friday I travelled to the Bath Literature Festival with an old friend from my university days. She works for the Arts Council and was therefore there in an official capacity, and I was going to support one of our authors and to discuss a future book with her. It has been ages since I last visited the heart of Jane Austen country, and I had forgotten how lovely it is. Here’s Bath Abbey for example.


mycraftivity.com/quilting

Humbling to consider the extraordinary craftsmanship that produced the gothic stonework. I wonder if anyone has been inspired to recreate the shapes of the window tracery in other crafts? Perhaps someone from Bath knows of a local designer or group that has done this? I’d love to know.

I had been really looking forward to visiting the American Museum, which (as many of you will know) has a textile exhibition featuring an incredible collection of historical American quilts. But horror! I found out that the museum is closed for winter until March 15th. Curses! Those of you Americans who have been skittering to work on a sheet of ice or digging your car out of a snow drift for the past three weeks, will be puzzled by such a lengthy winter closure in balmy Bath (where the daffodils were blooming and the sun actually came out for a bit). Must be renovation, quilt dusting, and curator hibernation, I suppose.

It turned out that Kate (from the Arts Council) was hosting a gathering of crafty friends that evening. So when we got back I just had to join them and Pickles the Wonder Dog to see what they were up to. Kate is stitching a Mother’s Day card, Anna is knitting the cutest baby hat in the world ever (it’s official), and Susie is making an appliqué advent calendar that is definitely for this Christmas and not an unfinished project from last year (honestly).

Here they are, crafting like crazy. Kate would probably like me to point out that the slightly chaotic backdrop is the result of her fireplace being demolished. Calm and order will be restored as soon as the plasterer shows up to finish the job. Should be about the same time that the American Museum in Bath reopens then…


mycraftivity.com/quilting