escape to the country...

...and back with lots of good memories. There's nothing quite like spending time in the garden, is there?

I managed to bring back many bags full of fruit, but nothing beats picking and eating them straight from the tree :)

The sweetest tomatoes - I made a massive batch of my stuffed tomatoes and froze them for those cold autumn nights which, no doubt, are just around the corner.

Sadly it was a bit too early to bring any pears back

I love those fields of cosmos. they spring up everywhere in the French countryside these days, and make any road trip feel like you're driving through a dream

I love my new camera! I was so pleased to get this elusive bee!

It has been a very relaxing holiday, as you can see, and it's backwards that I'll be getting back to work tomorrow morning. I guess it has to happen at some point, right? Well, let's not think too much about it for now...there's still plenty of things to smile about:

* seeing colleagues again after weeks off - and gossiping!

* autumn is just around the corner, and there's nothing like the crispness of those mornings

* One day has come out at the movies

A mon seul desir

On a recent visit to Paris I went to see this marvel for the very first time. I had read about it a little when I was studying English / the Middle Age a lifetime while ago, and more recently when I read the fabulous novel by Tracy Chevalier. Nothing could have prepared me for the visual feast that was seeing The lady and the Unicorn for real, though. The details of the millefleurs (the woven background of flowers and trees) was even more intricate than I thought, and altogether it was one of the highlights of my summer. The rest of the museum is really worth the visit too!

Hotel de Cluny, where the tapestry lives nowadays

Taste

Sight

Millefleur detail

The room wher the six tapestries are exposed is, understandably, lit to the minimum in order to preserve the colours best, so I was pleased to be able to get those nice pictures without any flash. Especially this one...

A mon seul désir

My First Quilt

May I (proudly) present...

Ummmm....fluffy!

• All material for this quilt / bed cover is from Ines Patchwork, based in Paris (métro St Ambroise).
• The wadding is a very fluffy one, measuring up to 6cm.
• Finished product is around 130x130 cm.

I know this is quite a simple project, especially when comparing to some of the top seamstresses out there - check out Summerfete or Henhouse in my links) but I love my little quilt! The fabrics are a little bland maybe, but I just fell in love with them. My next one will no doubt be a more colourful affair, and I plan to make full use of my Material Obsession book. I like the pattern for "Candyshop", but would like to make something bigger, and properly quilted of course!
 In the meatime, due to lack of summer sun, I can thoroughly enjoy my lovely fluffy little quilt.

A simple lunch and another trip to Paris

Today's simple lunch, aka "how to use up all the leftovers salad". Actually quite tasty! And it was enough to give me the energy to get on with a bit more sewing. I am already thinking of Christmas projects. I know, it's crazy; I blame it on the weather. That's what rain, clouds and automnal temperatures lead a woman to do!

I am super glad that I have finished my first quilt / bedtop. But I will have to wait for a ray of sunshine to take proper pictures of it. Fingers crossed, eh? I did take a few pictures in the final stages of assembling, and here is an idea of how fluffy the thing is looking. I am using wadding from this shop in Paris, it's sooo thick, I thought I would never manage to piece it all together!

I had a brilliant time in Paris last week. I took my first ever sewing lessons at the same shop I got the wadding from. The ladies were very nice, and taught me a few new tricks, especially about using biais. We made lots of log cabin blocks using a Marti Mitchell ruler - so much easier than the way I did it a few months back!
Paris was beautiful, as ever, and I really enjoyed walking around Ile de la Cité. I think it's a real quiet and nice place, especially once you have veered off the beaten path.

marché aux fleurs

Notre-Dame, from the Pont de l'Archeveché

Pont de l'Archeveché

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Spanish market

I go crazy when I visit market places, even more when I'm in France or Spain. A few months ago I visited the lush region of Cantabria and took those pictures in the main covered market in Santander. Isn't everything just simply appetising?