Elizabeth and Queen Liz

By the time you read this, if I have scheduled this post correctly, I will be in London. With my friend Liz, my book crossing friend. We are on  "jolly girls' jaunt" on the trail of the Tudors, looking for Elizabeth with Liz.

We both love the Tudors, it is an intergenerational thing. My daughter was obsessed by the Tudors, specifically Henry viii when she was about 10 years old. She has tended to grown out of this phase, but my friend Liz and I, well it has stuck. My friend Anne loves the Tudors too. I will be reporting to her when we get home, to be honest, the Regency period is probably more her thing.

We arrived in London on Monday and are here for a few days. Most people go to central London for the shops, or the sights. Not us. We are heading to Hampton Court in Richmond on the search for Henry viii. If we don't at least see the ghost of Catherine Parr in the long corridor, I will be having strong words with the English tourist board.

This was the ideal time for me to do some secret sewing with my Elizabeth 1 fabric from Tula Pink. I had won this is a giveaway a few years ago, along with some Prince Charming fabric. I decided to make two pouches and two purses.

 I only had one fat quarter of Elizabeth, so the pouch for me was eked out with some vibrant orange. I could have had the whole pouch in Queen Liz but she would have been off centre. Since when did such things bother me? It seems they do more than I thought.
I lined the pouch for Liz with a Tula bright pink.

 

Liz's purse, we have to have a Tudor purse, is lined with the same pink and has a bright blue zip. Unfortunately that was the last small zip in my stash. I had bought several, they sell them in a cheapy shop in town. When I come home I will make another purse for myself.

I filled the pouches with life's essentials, a bar of chocolate and a lip balm. There is a book to go inside too, but it doesn't fit! Mine may just have a circular needle and a ball of wool, apparently you can take needles on the planes again.

Our other day we are hoping to spend in Kew Gardens. I have been to Kew Gardens several times but always seem to arrive late afternoon. One visit, my friend Maureen and I almost got locked in. The man at the gate wasn't very pleased. I think his chips were getting cold, or his beer getting warm or something. In fairness, we shouldn't have kept him waiting, we walked too far away from the gates in the time we had. This time I am hoping we have all day there. The coffee shop and the gift shop were very good, never mind the grounds, the glasshouses and the Chinese Pagoda.

We may also do some of this whilst we are away.

or this:

 or this:

 or even this:

Helen x