a sunflower pillow

Here is my latest pillow,

perfect for a late summer day,

a sunflower with a modern twist

from my choices of fabric:

a mix of Halloween print, Liberty of London quilter print, a precious yellow 

from Ayumi of my Pink Penguin, a simple dark blue and a cool letter print.

I used SewLuxFabric pouch pattern, as I was planning on making one

but as I finished the top, I realized it was meant to be a pillow!

So I added a band on the side and top,

and quilted it simply so that the 🌻would pop.

Finally I stitched a back and stuffed it.

And it looks perfect on the chair in our bedroom,

with a little IKEA blanket (in case it ever gets cool!)

and my summer hat.

Happy sewing!

a lovely pouch with ruffle

Since it has been cold and snowy lately,

I have been interested in playing

with summery feel fabrics,

like this blue fabric from Provence,

purchased there almost 4 years ago.

I made this lovely ruffled pouch for a friend.

I added some products from L'Occitane to complement the Provence experience,

I am a big fan, so it will be a fun addition for my GF.

I followed this tutorial from Angel Melie,quite easy. The addition of the ruffle did not complicate the sewing.It just added a couple steps.

I choose another turquoise print for the lining,

a script with pink and green butterflies,

perfect for dreaming of warmer weather,

or even better travel!

Happy sewing!

Bonne Annee 2018

I would like to wish you and your family Happy New Year!
The freezing temperatures we have in the DC area are slowing me down, my sewing room is frozen, and only a blanket will do.

So I day dream of Provence, warmth and vacation! I managed to buy some IKEA frames for a few cards I brought back last year. It looks perfect with the lavender bag my mom embroidered with the beautiful lady. And it smells like summer....
Until then, keep warm!

other treasure from provence

Last time I wrote about strolling through the streets of Uzes, well it is not the only locations to find cool stuff, it is basically everywhere.
More upnorth, almost in the Cevennes (mountains), there are some very famous potteries, famous enough to have been in Versailles a few centuries ago.
It is the vase d'anduze:
picture from the website.
So I wanted to bring back a few of those,  just like the ones from Uzes.... but once again, it does not fit in a small suitcase, so my mom found me a mini one!

So cute right?!
It is from the same factory and has all the colors. And now there is some thyme growing in it, no olive tree for this little pot!

Of course there is lavender. I did not purchase any as my mom grows her own in Brittany, and it was still too early for this harvest. But you can find some in many places.
And finally there are horses! Beautiful white/beige horses, smaller than the ones we see here. They are Camargue horses. Guess who wanted to bring one home?

The little girl whose hair matches the horse's mane, of course!

No surprise here, Miss C. did not get a horse,

or did she?

in front of Alphonse Daudet's moulin.

In les Baux de Provence, she found a beautiful white stuffed horse,

and he came home with us, his name: Camargue, bien sur!

And this concludes our trip to Provence,

I hope to go again, hopefully we will not wait another 20 years!

Happy day!

two shopping bags for the Provence market

When we were getting ready for our trip, 

and before I knew I would be buying a french basket,

I decided to sew some bags to take with us,

for all of our potential shopping expeditions!

(modeled in Uzes, by our favorite fountain, in an old traditional print)

I took advantage of my large collection of Provence fabric brought back by my mom,

over many years, as seen here , it is much larger now!

This one is made from a more modern fabric with lavender and polka dot.

I followed this tutorial from Sew 4 Home, 

a pretty fast and easy pattern, it uses a fairly large piece of fabric

because of handles, but the bottom piece is cut between them,

so there is no waste.

Miss C. could not stop eating her ice cream....
It is fully line in another lavender fabric, pretty inside and out.

A few years ago, I made some grocery store bags from Provence fabric:
that was in 2011!


While we were in Provence, I went to the store where my mom bought me all these fabrics over the years, and I felt right at home at Tissus Provencaux a Aigues Mortes,  I knew almost all of them! I still manage to buy these 2 prints:

Both are fairly traditional,  the turquoise one has a traditional "mouche", but the color is unexpected. The bottom one with the flowers seems to be a reproduction of the "indiennes", fabric imported from India in the 16-19th century.
If you are interested in the traditional fabric from Provence, Souleiado is a perfect place to see and read about it, their fabric and clothes are beautiful and expensive, but their history is very interesting, you can check it out here.
Happy sewing!

strolling through Uzes, my favorite Provence village

Last time we talked about Provence, we spent time with the Romans, nothing like a good epic peplum to cool down on a hot afternoon.
But now, let's put on our sun hat on,  and go stroll down the streets of my favorite little town: Uzes.
Here are a few rules/guidelines for this adventure, but it applies to any villages/towns in the region:
1- find a place to park, most of these little places are not car friendly,
2- expect to get lost because you are looking everywhere,
3-you are going to want to live there or buy everything you see,
4-eat the local ice cream by the fountain, there is always one in each village!

case in point, at the place aux herbes in Uzes.
This little town is beautiful, with a castle,

little streets,

little shops,

and neat places to hang out.
We visited 3 or 4 times, it might seems like a lot, but on the first time, it was almost overwhelming, and as we revisited the place, I liked it more and more.
It is a touristic location but it felt like people really lived there, even on Saturday morning, the infamous market day:

le jour du marche.
It gets a little busy, and everything smells: lavender, olive,  goat cheese (a favorite), saucisson sec, herbs....
You are probably thinking, this is all well but what can you bring back from this place, besides memories and a taste for fancy ice cream?
Well, many things if a sealand container is in your future! At least that how I felt.  Alas for me, it was just a corner (or 2) of a suitcase, so I had to keep it small... So instead of purchasing the large beautiful pots d'Uzes:

pictures from the website,

I only got a small one:

which is actually perfect.

Also  I was very tempted to totally redo all the house linen

in this store : Sud Etoffe.

So many beautiful linen, bedding and curtains,

the prices are quite reasonable.

But once again, reason took over....

 just a few kitchen towels

and a small tablecloth came home with me.

It was so hard to choose!

The part where I resisted the least was the french basket,

sold everywhere (store and marche)

very typical, even if it is not made in France.

I remember having one in high school/college but without the leather handles,

this one is more pleasant to use!

And quite useful to go to the market, or to the beach...

with a fouta from Sud Etoffe and some espadrilles (from the local grocery store),

and they were made in France!

So yes I brought back some little pieces of our sunny vacations!

And a few more things...until next time.

Happy day!