Ladies Day at the V&A

One of my all time favourite museums in London is the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in South Kensington.  I was delighted when an American friend came to London and today had an opportunity to spend a day with her at the museum.

Waiiting in the manin entrance way I suddenly became aware of the fact that I was surrounded by women.  Women of a certain age and two rather distinct types - the first were rather sleek and stylish and in their 40's or 50's.  They were all queuing for tickets to the Grace Kelly style exhibition.  Not my cup of tea at all.  The second , much larger group of women were slightly older, wearing one size fits all clothing, rather a lot of ethnic jewellry and sensible shoes - they were all queuing for the exhibition of quilts. How strange to be in this magnificent entrance hall enveloped in the chatter of women, women air-kissing as they met, discussing train journeys, re-doing lipstick - I don't think I've seen so many women together in a long time. A bit surprising and overwhelming.

We decided to go to the exhibition oof quilts.  Good exhibition, interesting differences in styles, techniques, designs and colour-sense, but incredibly impressive.  Some of the quilts on display were 350+ years old and in seemingly perfect condition.  Huh?! I can't keep a blanket from one season to the next without spilling some permanently staining solution on it, how do you keep a handmade quilt for over 300 years?

Seeing these beautiful handstitched quilts made me realise how much I enjoy sitting and sewing.  It doesn't even matter much what I sew.  I love the quiet act of stitching tiny hand sewn objects and seeing the flow of the threads across a piece of cloth. I don't use a sewing machine for lots of reasons, but the main reason is that there is no quiet in using a machine.  It has no intimacy.  Sitting in an armchair and threading a sharp fine needle and watching it progreess through the fabric becomes a kind of meditation that I can get lost in.  With a sewing machine I am always nervous that the machine will run away with my sewing.

I also spent a bit of time in the Japan section of the museum and was again bowled over by the fineness and beauty of everything the Japanese do. The masks, the pottery, the netsuke and the fine carved ivory objects were so still.  The devotion in each object was so seductive. Maybe it's time to start saving my pennies to get to Japan and see for myself.

It was a delightful day.  Lunch with my friend, the rain held off until I got home and then a small rainbow appeared.  A fine London day.  I love this city.