Quilted piano covers

Quilting is a big thing in America: there are tons of women who pride themselves on carrying on the colonial tradition, with books documenting favoured patterns and stiches over time. The Shakers had a famous quilting tradition, in line with their use of natural materials and hand-worked items. My mother had a friend who collected swatches of cloth and embroidered signatures from all her adulthood friends and sewed them into a scrapbook quilt. But I wasn't prepared to encounter two quilted piano covers in quite different settings in England. I had never seen anything like them.

Upright piano quilt in Gainford Village Hall, County Durham

The first was a cover for an upright piano, standing in the Gainford village hall west of Darlington. It was an imaginative use of panels to replicate the music scores usually found standing on the piano as well as the keys. What fun!

The second was a cover for a baby grand piano in The Maltings, in Farnham, Surrey. This one had its origins embroidered onto the side, and music was represented in some of the patches.

Baby grand piano quilt in The Maltings, Farnham, Surrey

Fitflops – shoes Vivienne Westwood would like

Vivienne Westwood said recently (not to me personally, of course, but as reported in the newspaper) that Brits dress too dully. Vivienne would say that, wouldn't she, given her outrageous outfits. But I agree: not enough colour, not enough fun. Like when grey was the new black, and then black was the new black. It's getting better these days, though, as attested when the Marni brand at H&M sold out on March 8th. That night, the Evening Standard's Fashion Editor Karen Dacre wrote that Marni is distinguished by its "conceptualised prints, kooky colour palette, and unconventional approach to silhouette...bold prints, geometric patterns and textured fabrics".

Fitflop trainers in leopard print

Bold. I was emboldened myself by Vivienne's opinion so much that I bought a pair of Bronze Leopard Print trainers (called 'supersneakers') on sale, of course, at a 60% discount – not at H&M but online at Fitflop's website. Not that I was enamoured by the print (they are far enough away from the eyes as to be inconspicious enough), but Fitflops are indeed a dream fit. I first ran into Fitflops in a Stateside shoe store where one pair of tall boots was on display. I liked their looks immediately and tried them on. In seven seconds I had made my decision to buy, helped by the fact that they were also on sale – at a 75% discount!


The tags that came with the boots describe the Fitflop fit: they have special soles that correct posture and exercise the leg at the same time. The selling point for me was that these soles are extra thick and squishy, which means a comfortable cushion to walk on. These were engineered by a team of academics, Dr. David Cook and Darren James, at the Centre for Human Performance, London South Bank University. Their new Microwobbleboard^TM technology increases "the time your muscles are engaged every single time you take a step." They claim that "Fitflop footwear wearers have reported relief from plantar fascitis, heel pain, chronic back pain, sciatica, osteoarthritis...restless leg syndrome, scoliosis, degenerative disc disease and lower leg swelling, as well as improved posture, increased energy, firmness and muscle tone." Whether they'll work for you – well, you'll just have to try them and see. I love mine!

Autumn Colours

Cottonwood in full colour

In my “Northumbrian Voices” blog, I mentioned daydreaming under a cottonwood tree in my youth. Cottonwoods are glorious in the autumn, turning bright gold against the azure sky. These are the colors (colours) I grew up with.

When talking to an English friend recently how wonderful the fall colors are in the States, I couldn't believe it when he said “They're too bright; they hurt my eyes”!! Indeed, I once had a roll of film in my camera (those were the days), half of which I'd taken in Cambridge and half on an excursion to the Shetland Islands. Everyone talks about how the colours are brighter in the Shetlands, but I was amazed when I developed the film to find the first half in muted grey-greens and blue-grays and the second half in bright blues and clear yellows (it was autumn then, too). The gold colours of cottonwoods and aspens are as unlike the tarnished brassy colours of the horse chestnut as you can get. I used to deplore autumn in Cambridge when the leaves just turned brown and fell off the trees.

Rather than hurting my eyes, the golden colours of autumn trees inflitrate my body to the core, pull it apart and scatter it among the leaves. I am there among the twinkling aspen, and the cottonwoods fill my horizon. And the sweet small of wet fallen leaves is wonderful. The same experience can be had among the cherry trees of Japan, when one is enveloped by a cloud of pink. The best place is along Philosopher's Way (Tetsugaku-no-michi) in Kyoto, where cherries line a canal. Walking the canal path at the height of the season, one can only see pink. I suppose my friend would say it would be like being enveloped in candy floss (cotton candy) and equally undesireable. Maybe this is why everyone in London wears black and neutrals ("grey is the new black") -- no colour, no sense of colour, no sense of the fantastic energizing quality of colour. I love colour, I live colour and pity those without colour in their lives.

Note the tire swing in the cottonwood: great place to play!