Saturday Excursions

Can you see the Eiffel Tower? It was Saturday morning...time to hit the market by our apartment.

Yesterday was the first time I had seen this fellow at the market...he is sharpening knives and scissors by pedaling his sanding belt. It's a little hard to tell but he is sitting inside the cart pedaling away.

Tonights's dinner...fresh cheese and basil ravioli. 

Strawberries from Spain and the sweetest cherry tomatoes I have ever eaten...from France.

I have discovered my favorite dessert...Café Gourmand. Many restaurants offer their own version. An espresso served with several mini versions of their desserts. This is one of my favorite. I started eating the Creme Brûlée before I thought to take a photo. The chocolate cake has a soft, fudge center. Two bites of fresh pineapple. This is from La Terrasse...a favorite eating spot for us...and I always get dessert when we go there.

Almost a Finish

I have gotten as far as I can with this quilt top until I return to Alaska..."Irish Mist."

I have the border fabric but I neglected to bring more than eight straight pins and a measuring tape in inches...so I think to do the borders correctly I should just wait. I'm looking forward to doing some intricate machine quilting in the large areas of background fabric. I really enjoyed this pattern...the directions were excellent. The finished size is supposed to be 68x80 inches. It's a quilt that looks like it took a whole lot more effort to make than it really did! 

Here'a a shot of the back cover...sorry it's not the best picture...but you get a look at the other projects included in this book.

I am excited to start the second kit I bought at the Houston Quilt Show....also a star pattern...a Lone Star. This one will be a little more difficult! Woodland Star by Plum Tree Quilts.

 The fabrics in this kit are so awesome...my favorite combination...blue and brown batiks. Here's the border fabric...I think I should buy a bolt of this fabric...I love it!

What I'm Reading

I'm listening to my fist audible book while I sew...it is a good thing! It is very expensive to buy audible books but I had a free purchase to try it out on Amazon so I wanted to get my money's worth. I picked a book with 60 hours of reading...

Victor Hugo's, "Les Misérables."

Rather appropriate reading while living in Paris! I'm only a third of the way through the story.  Can't wait to see the movie...it finally got to Paris a couple of weeks ago. Many American movies are shown with their original voice...or VO as they would list the movie here.

I can't imagine reading this book...there is a good reason why the title is, "The Miserable."

I've learned a bit about French history through this story. The significance of Napoleon and his battle at Waterloo was discussed in great detail. There is also a lot of detail about areas of Paris that are very much a part of my world today.

Design Floor Monday

I got a little sewing done this weekend.  I'm working on a kit I bought at the Houston Quilt Show. It is a pattern from the book, "Six Halves Make a Whole Lot More." This quilt is called Irish Mist. Here's where I am at...

Ooops...good thing I haven't sewn the two sides on yet because the corner pieces are going the wrong way...bonding time with my seam ripper will be next.

The corners of this quilt are supposed to be randomly placed, 2 1/2" squares. I'm not very good with random. So I tried out three different options. 

#1

#2

#3

I am going with #2.

If you haven't guessed...the premise of the book is quilt patterns mostly using a 1/2 yard of six fabrics. There are six other projects in the book, four quilts and patterns for pillows and placemats.

What a Week

My husband and I marvel at how quickly each day seems to pass. We are enjoying this experience so much! I can't believe how much I learn every day!!!!!

This week we spent Monday through Thursday in French immersion classes for seven hours each day. 

We take the metro(subway) to our teacher's apartment on the outskirts of Paris in Clichy. The metro is very crowded to this location during our commuting hours, 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. One morning we had an especially tight fit to make it onto the train...I remember the doors brushing the backside of my body as I pushed forward into the mass of people already on the train. I made it! Smashed into strangers.

We are quite fortunate to live in the heart of Paris and rarely have to experience tight fits on the trains for most of our regular travels around the city. I feel like we have had a greater taste of what most Parisians experience in their daily lives...more typical "big city life." Some parts are not so fun. 

A part of our lesson each day is to go out to lunch with one of our teachers...we are supposed to try  and only speak in French...slowly...we are getting better at spending more time trying to converse in French. There are so many words that are exactly the same in French and English but our vowel pronunciations are very different. And they don't pronounce the last consonants most of the time...unless the next word starts with a vowel! So much to remember!

Some days I am amazed at how much I have learned...other days I feel so frustrated! I can't make my mouth create the sounds I hear! The "R" sound is the biggest struggle....I feel like I need to have a much more sultry or earthy quality to my nasal American timbre.

Friday and Saturday morning we met for only three hours of French. Friday afternoon we had our appointment to get the final step done for our visa to live in France. It was a typical, bureaucratic experience...hurry up and wait. But...we are officially sanctioned to live in Paris and that is a good thing. 

We thought spring was on its way but the cold and snow have returned to Paris. Darn! I am so anxious to see all of the gardens in bloom. There is not enough snow to stick but it feels so cold walking around ...even though we are Alaskans we are chilled! I think it is mainly because in Alaska we do a better job of layering up in the winter. I need my wool socks!

I got some sewing done today...a nice treat.

Of course my mind has started to think of changes to make to the pattern...but it is a kit! I think I can make one of my concepts work with the fabric I have left.  I will try and figure that out today.

Paris Needlework Expo

I ventured to a Needlework Exposition today...what a treat! When I walked in it felt just like a mini Houston Quilt Show...vendor booths!!!!

The show had a very small display of quilts and there was a smattering of quilt booths but it was more than I have seen in a while. There were a lot if embroidery and cross stitch booths....each one with it's own unique designs and lots of them. I didn't see any repeats. The same with the embroidery designs. The French definitely have their own little niche. Moda's line, French General looks like it was lifted from these booths. Most venders would not allow photos so I only took a few shots. 

There were a few booths with Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

Two tiny booths with batiks...and they weren't tempting. I came close to buying some cross stitch kits but in the end I bought nothing. It was all very expensive....and a little on the "cutesy" side...just not my  style...but I was tempted. Lots of beautiful embroidery work...I was so impressed at how many original patterns there were. Most of the quilt patterns for sale resembled Anne Sutton's look with some patchwork mixed with embroidery...and sometimes they used wool appliqué. There were lots of beautiful flosses, hand dyed silk ribbons and an incredible selection of linen and aida cloth in gorgeous colors. 

There were also lots of buttons to embellish the embroidery. Adorable fimo clay ones that resembled "Just Another Button Compay's," designs. I came very close to buying some of those but too expensive to just hide them in a drawer! Wooden buttons in lots of intricately cut designs. They reminded me of embellishments used by scrapbookers. I did see a lot of the wooden buttons repeated in different embroidery designs...strictly for use on items used as wall hangings...not washable.

It was a great little adventure today. Now I have to study my French. Next week will be another immersion week of 7 hours-a-day. 

I forgot...they had a zero-calerie cake at the show...

It's made out of felted wool.

This Week

My Valentine gave me the most beautiful flowers I have ever received...

We had a French lesson yesterday morning and we have another lesson today. Wednesday I went to the market and tried my French...apparently I had my "tense" for the verb wrong. I gave the locals a little chuckle. It certainly is a great way to learn!

I have spent time bonding with my Bernina.

This kit is sew fun!

I worked on another video yesterday...showing how to do hair on Dorothy for the "Christmas in Oz," stocking.

It is tough to "self edit!" My first go at the video is much too long.

I got a great email from a quilter in Northern France letting me know there is an exposition of fiber arts that includes contemporary quilts...and the location is pretty darn close to our apartment. I'll probably go on Sunday. Hubby has suggested a trip to IKEA on Saturday. I jumped at the suggestion. Did you know they sell fabric there? And cute little sewing machines?