Stormy Weather

I can't believe that it's over a week since I last blogged - I know that time is supposed to pass quicker as you get older(! ) but this is now getting ridiculous !! What have I been doing all this time, well to be honest I don't really know !


We've had builders in all week working on the attic conversion and this seems to have throw us totally, not that we've been doing any of the work, but the fact that there are extra people going in and out has been more disruptive than I thought it would be !

The whole house is now shrouded in a film of fine white plaster dust, it is everywhere and all we seem to achieve with our daily cleaning efforts is to re-arrange it - we certainly ain't getting rid of it !!! Bad news is that this is just phase 1 so some way to go yet. I keep telling myself that it will be worth it eventually but I have to say that I am starting to doubt that mantra!!!

Sewing has been of the very minimum as I'm afraid that the dust is going to settle on my fabrics, so the door of my workroom has been kept shut! I have managed a little hand sewing and caught up at last with my Verandah Views BoMs. At the start of the year there was a plethera of lovely stitchery blocks to be found on various blogs and, as one does, I decided I wanted to try them all!! That hasn't been possible due to various other commitments ,so I've decided just to go with Verandah Views for the moment - this doesn't mean that I'm not avidly collecting all the others mind you !!! One other I would really like to find time for is Elephantz Shabby Roses (see button is on my side bar) so maybe that will be one to start whilst I am waiting for the June blocks!!

Our weather has been just unbelievable !! Just when you think that Spring may have settled, in come weather fronts like you can't imagine - torrential rain, thunder, hail and now the last 2 days the wind is just howling around the houses and so very cold !! The garden is in pieces, the cherry tree has been stripped of just about all the setting fruit, hanging basket have been going up and down almost as fast as the exchange rate (!) and window boxes taken down and put back under cover before they topple off the sills and land on someone's head ! However - there are a few survivors in spite of all this

Peonies trying desperately to stay upright!

Boule de Neige (Snowball)

a couple of Azealea

and finally the last of the Lilly of the Valley ! At the moment the weather system doesn't look to be changing a great deal, but I live in hope !!!!

Birthday Blues - Part 1

Not quite the birthday I had planned for today - it was to have been a day at the coast, but , unfortunately, it hasn't happened!! Our weather the last week or so has been rather changeable but in the main dry, and the last couple of days have been virtually summery with temperatures in the low 20s. Today however we are back in winter with howling winds and very heavy showers, so a day on the beach didn't seem like a good idea somehow !!


All is not lost however, there's a bottle of champagne cooling for this evening and tomorrow evening we'll be having a dozen or so friends over to help me celebrate again!


No pictures of the lovely Brittany coast I'm afraid, but I can show you my birthday present !




I have been considering a back-up machine for sometime now , as when the Bernina goes in for a service etc I am lost, so I took advantage of being in the UK last month and convinced DH he should buy this for me as an early birthday present !



It is a different animal to my Bernina, but I 've had lots of fun getting to know it and it has played nicely with me (so far!) . I decided that, instead of just trying it out on 'scraps' I would make a small quilt from scratch, reasoning that this way I would probably cover all the things I'd need to know before tackling anything bigger so, remember this book ? Well this is what I made from it






A small replica of the Pembroke chintz quilt c1820 and currently in the private collection of Jen Jones. You can see the original here in the bottom right hand corner! Mine is a lot smaller at only 26 inches square, but I think it is lovely ! I also got to be very brave and tried some motif quilting for the first time !

Now all I have to do is learn to do the same thing on my bigger quilts ! The hanging sleeve wasn't stitched down when this was taken, but it is finished now!!

Just in case you are wondering about the post title, watch this space as I have certainly got a Birthday Blues Part 2 to share very soon !

Changing Seasons

It must be some 6 weeks since we last walked on the Voie Vert,certainly it was well before we left for the UK and we've been back home a month ! These weeks seem to have rushed passed us in a blur of 'catch up' from our trip and trying to get the garden in some sort of order before the summer ! Yesterday , however, we decided that a little exercise was well overdue and in spite of it being a very grey, but dry, day off we went !


On our last visit, even though the day was bright enough, everything was still looking a bit bleak and very bare !

What a difference a few weeks makes !

Mother Nature has worked her magic yet again and turned the whole world into the most beautiful shades of green everywhere you look!!

You really have to keep looking very closely though because the magic doesn't stop with the treetops!!

An abundance of wild flowers on the banks, under trees and clinging to the rocky outcrops
turned our whole walk into a springtime wonderland! Even the river Yvel was no longer a raging torrent after the winter storms, but back to its normal sleepy self but getting more difficult to see through all the new growth!

Birdsong followed us all through our walk, the cheeky chirping of the chaffinch mixing with the crystal clear notes of the blackbird and to finish it off, we heard our first cuckoo !!

...and just to proove that it wasn't all in our imaginations, when we got home I even managed a (very poor!) snap of one of our first swallows! So not a lot of sunshine, but lots of brightness after all!!

Don't you just love the Spring !!!!!

April Finishes

Two finishes for April, a day late I know , but our weather has been so horrible all week - wet & cold with a couple of thunderstorms thrown in for good measure - that photos have been impossible!Today the sun is back, could this be a good sign for May , I certainly hope so as these grey days do absolutely nothing for my general health & temper :-)


Some dry weather would be very welcome for this coming week, as we have the builders in on Monday to start the attic conversion (one step nearer to a new workroom !)- and as it's my birthday at the end of next week too, it would be great to have at least one sunny day to make a well overdue visit to the coast!!


Finish No 1 is my first attempt at a Quilt As You Go stringy started from scratch in April - not sure if I am sold on this method but it was certainly a good way to use up a lot of those 'what was I thinking about' fabrics ! Bright and cheerful though, and I am sure it will be put to good use out in the garden on those chilly summer evenings !

Finish No 2 is a Quiltville pattern from my UFO list, although somewhat smaller than Bonnie's coming out at approx 4ft 6ins x 5ft 6ins. This is about as big as I can manange to quilt at the moment, but I live in hope that one day.............!!

The border fabric colours haven't come out very well, which is a shame as it does have a very pretty floral pattern on it

This quilt is destined to be very well travelled as it has been promised to our DS & DIL to join their new 'baby' - a recently (lovingly!) restored VW camper van !

The picture was taken outside the 'old' part of our house which as you can see has local stone for the lower walls and and cob on the top, and look at our lovely rounded doorway! The window just above the camper roof is where my new work room will be in the old 'grenier' or attic - I can't wait for it all to happen!!!!

Just to finish, have you seen the lovely BoM that Jenny is giving away? Well, if you haven't then hurry along and have a look it is a stunner in my book !

Pick of the Bunch

I haven't had any luck trying to edit the photos from the Nantes quilt show, the poor quality of the lighting together with the small exhibiting areas made it almost impossible to get any decent shots. So - to make the best of a bad job (!) these are a few that I thought might interest !


Not only were the majority of quilts being displayed in the basement, but they were also set out in small 'rooms', which made it very difficult to get many full shots, as you can see from this!



and this !

Two lovely quilts in very artistic settings, but a photographer's nightmare- just like the lighting on this one !

So what should have been an opportunity to show you some beautiful quilts ( and they were really beautiful!) turned into a disaster!

There was a small section of antique quilts which was quite charming and I have to shown you this even though the photo is very bad !

Not applique, but broderie perse, made in England in 1874 ! About the same time as a second English quilt which I just couldn't get a full shot of, but had to show you the medallion centre





Those hexagons are 3/4 inch at the widest point - amazing! Which brings me to another marvel of minute piecing - 1/4 inch finished 'logs' in this cabin !






There were many, many more lovely quilts and it is such a shame I can't show them to you!


One of the highlights of the day was meeting Kaffe Fassett - what a lovely man, as so interesting to chat to!





You know, we must have spent almost half an hour talking to him and in all that time he kept knitting away and didn't drop a single stitch!!



Finally, I still haven't got around to taking a photo of my booty, but I'm expecting a parcel from Fabric Shack any day now, so I thought to do it all at the same time! Just to give you an idea , this will probably be my next project - nothing complicated, but it was very effective!

Showtime!

Yesterday was a very long, very enjoyable day and well worth the long drive to Nantes and back and I am sure you won't be surprised to hear that yet again I spent too much money !!


The hall was packed to overflowing by the time Stephanie (no blog) and I arrived even though we were only 15 minutes after opening time, which just shows how starved we are for such events in this part of France !


The exhibition covered all forms of 'thread' craft as well as patchwork & quilting, but I think it is fair to say that there were a lot more P&Q vendors than any others! It was such a treat to see so many fabrics all in one place but not so good to see the prices ! Fat quarters were ranging from 4.50 to 10.00 euros and yardage from 15.00 to 22.00 euros with some fabric panels priced at 45.00 euros. Just for comparison today's exchange rate 1 euro = $0.75, so it doesn't take much to understand why I buy the bulk of my fabrics from the US !


This time I remembered the camera, but unfortunately the quilt exhibition was in the basement of the building, with very poor lighting (mainly spot lights - don't know if this did the quilts a great deal of good!) so the photos are very poor! I will try and edit a couple of them ready for the next post, together with my new fabrics, which are all gaily fluttering away in the garden after being washed !!



As there have been too many posts without any pictures lately,a peep at the first apple blossoms appearing on our cider apple trees

and our cherry tree , as always, awash with the most delicate of flowers which are drifting down like snowflakes on the gentle breeze !

Stop Press!

After having such a great time looking at all the wonderful quilts being shown by so many talented quilterson the Bloggers First Annual Quilt Festival, on Friday I am going to my first real live show in France !

Pour l'Amour du Fil is a new venture for Quiltmania magazine and their first show is taking place just 2 hours away in Nantes - now how could I not go !!

I am sure that the quilts will be no better than those I've seen at the Bloggers Festival - have you had a look yet, if not you're missing a big treat - but I am looking forward to all those lovely goodies that (hopefully!) will be on sale!

Animal Antics !

I know! I know!! No postings for weeks and now two in a day, but I just couldn't resist this!



Where else would a cat spend a wet Sunday afternoon but on top of the cupboard with the quilts and the doll!!!

Ah Well!! Guess it's time I got up to eat !!

This little lady and her Mum appeared at the bottom of our neighbour's garden this morning ! Apparently she arrived 3 days ago and has been brought into the village so's to keep an eye on her for a few days and also to keep her under cover away from the wet, cold evenings that we are having! She is as black as a black sheep can possibly be and so cute - I even got to cuddle her earlier !! Mum is a minature breed so you can imagine how small the lamb is! Sorry the photo is a bit blurred, but she was a mite shy !

Spring Swap

It's almost a week now since I received my Spring Swap parcel from my partner and what a great parcel it was too! I'm afraid I am late with this post as I 've been waiting for some decent weather before taking the photos, but as the rain is being very persistent and time is passing rather quickly, thought I should get on with it !!


So - my big fat squiggy from Norway.......

...full of lots of intriguing parcels!

Which were hiding not only this lovely table runner ...

...but many other goodies....

.

...including a Tilda stitchery, a rooster ornament and two pieces of repro fabric and.......

.......chocolate, tissues, some serviettes and a note pad!!!! Didn't I do well ??

In case you are wondering, I did mention that I have a bit of a thing about roosters/chickens and my favourite colours are blues and creams, and I think you'll agree that my partner managed both very well!!

Thank you so very much May Kristin for all these wonderful gifts, you have been more than generous and I am delighted with every one of them !!!

Time also for a 'Thank You' to Linda for organising the swap, it's been a pleasure taking part !

Bloggers Quilt Festival

I still haven't posted about the trip to the UK , but just don't seem to have the time to get organised with photos etc at the moment! My tummy bug (now gone thankfully!!) has set me so far back with the day to day tasks of washing, ironing, cooking, rounding up dust bunnies(!) etc etc!! All totally boring but even I can't ignore them any longer :-)



One thing I have managed to do, and that is to catch up with most of my Blog reading and discover all about the Blogger's Quilt Festival , brain child of Amy at Park City Girl, so thought I would join in! If you'd like to know more, go along and visit Amy straight away!

This is the quilt I'd like to show

which I wrote about on this post, so please follow the link to find out the story behind it ! Out of all the quilts I have made to date, this is still my favourite!

The sun has decided to come out after several days of torrential rain, so maybe I'll get lucky and manage a few of those photos this afternoon !!

Another Short Post!

Almost a week since I posted and ,very briefly, this is really to say that I haven't droppped off the edge of the world, just been having rather a rough time with a bad bout of food poisoning - no details, suffice to say that I managed to loose half a stone in 3 days !!

I do feel a lot better today thankfully, but I am very behind in dealing with emails etc. I am doing my best to catch up, but if you are expecting something from me I am sure you'll understand!

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter Weekend and that the weather was kind to you !!

Blogging Again!

Well, here I am, home safe , sound and very (happily) tired !

The goods news is that everyone in the UK is well, and though I always feel sad leaving our family behind, I have to admit I'm glad to be sleeping in my own bed after 2 weeks!

The bad news is that I am now a lot poorer than when I left France (!) and the really bad news is that I forgot to take the camera !!

I have e-mails to read and answer,post & squiggies to acknowledge and blogs to catch up with (not to mention the mountain of washing & ironing !!!!) but once this is done I'll tell you about our trip :-)

A Bientot!

Well, things are starting to get rather manic around the place now that departure day is only one sleep away! Suitcases are being dusted off (isn't it funny what you find inside them from the last trip !!) clothing is being stacked in piles on the spare bed with the usual cries of 'I've got nothing to wear!!' William is hiding under the bed as he knows something not very nice may be happening to him soon , like being bundled into his travelling case and delivered to the cattery -which he hates, and I hate leaving him there so DH gets 'volunteered' for the job ! Trip to the PO to arrange for our post to be held until our return done! Grass cutting and strimming all completed so that we can come back to a reasonably tidy garden - Phew!!!!

Sometimes you have to wonder if all the preparation for this kind of trip is worth it - not a holiday as such, but usually a very tiring experience as we always end up trying to do too much!!Family and friends take up most of our time, but then there is the shopping (!) which is always a treat. We have some lovely shops here in larger cities like Rennes, but nothing really compares to the 'British' shops that we are used to for items not available in France!

Much as we enjoy our life in Brittany and hard as the preparations, disruptions and journey can be sometimes, I feel very glad that we are near enough to our children and grandchildren to make these frequent visits (and for them to visit us) . After all, what compares to a bear hug from a grown up son or daughter, or to a pair of chubby arms wrapped around your neck and a little voice whispering in your ear 'I love you Nannie!' ! This is really why we 'go home' and why it's not hard at all in the end !

I don't expect to post whilst I'm away, so 'au revoir' and take care until the next time!

Quilting Quandary Resolved!

Back in May last year, I wrote about a new project on this post. This is definitely the biggest headache I have every given myself when it comes to being over confident with my 'I can do that' attitude and it is fair to say that working on it has been a total love/hate affair!


I have absolutely hated every singly thing that went wrong, and there have been a few believe me! I hate myself for all the tantrums when things did go wrong! I hate all the times I've taken the project box down off the shelf, given it one look then put it back again for several more weeks, because it was the easiest thing to do! I hate the nagging thought at the back of my mind all these months that it would never be finished!


I love the way that each border eventually (!) added changed the look of the quilt. I love all the colours that blended together without having to give any really thought to their placement. I love the feeling each time I manage to get something right ! Most of all I really love the fact that I've made it to the finishing line !!!!!







Two photos, one inside, one out, neither of them do the colours justice, but our sunny weather has deserted us today and this is the best I can do!


The sailing date for our trip to the UK is very close now, William goes off to the cattery early Wednesday morning, then its into the motor and drive up to the Caen /Ouistreham ferry port on the Normandy coast. Caen , the burial place of William the Conqueror , is also minutes from the famous WWII Pegasus Bridge , and central to the Allied landing beaches ,War Grave Cemeteries & Memorials . An overnight crossing, into Portsmouth at 6 am (!) Thursday ready to face the second leg of our journey- the drive up to Manchester!

Beating the Credit Crunch !

I am sure we are not the only ones suffering from today's economic climate, certainly the £ against the Euro exchange rate is hammering the likes of us in Europe, and I expect the same can be said for ex-pats worldwide!


Shouldn't moan too much about it really, as we are here from choice not by force, and our relationship with the exchange rate is a bit like a marriage at times, ' for better or worse'! Not so long ago we were rubbing our hands together because we were getting a very good rate, which boosted the old pension no end, so now we just have to take the 'worse' end of the stick I guess!!


All is not doom and gloom though , there are still ways to feed my addiction to quilting without having to find yet another 50 ways to cook minced (ground) beef :-)

So if you feel the same way ,and if you haven't already done so, hurry along to Quilting on a Budget's new Blog to find lots ways to keep quilting without breaking the bank !! Some of the ideas may not be new , but here they are all in one place ! Anything that helps save money and keep me quilting has to be good in my book!!


I keep forgetting to mention that I joined in Linda's Spring Swap

Sorry Linda, but it might be just as well, as I am hopeless at keeping secrets !

This swap has been a big challenge, as my partner gave me no clues whatsoever as to her likes or dislikes! I've trawled her blog from end to end and still no help!! I just hope she likes her package (!) which is all wrapped up and ready to be posted on 25 March! This is a little earlier than the official date of 3 April, but it's the same day as we leave for the UK and as it is going international (like all my swaps - surprise!) hopefully it won't arrive too soon before the 3rd!