First Sunny Day in Paris

Traveling with Daisy you are always made aware of pigeons; they delight her constantly.

We headed out this morning and immediately ran into the flower market; it's a block away. Oh, there's a House of Orchids? I'll window shop right here, thanks.

And I like this tray of sedum too.

We headed to Saint-Chapelle, just another couple of blocks away. That's the one with all the stained glass. It's surprisingly tiny but also surprisingly full of stained glass. The sun was out, just right.

The museums and churches are so beautiful but they do become sort of endless-feeling to younger people. Pacing ourselves!

A walk over to the Louvre to visit the Tuileries; we're saving the museum for a rainy day, many of which are predicted this week.

Just about the biggest buildings we've ever seen, but not so exciting to Daisy as the clipped hedges in the gardens.

We watched the sailboats in the pond for a little while. This one was particularly charming because I believe it is actually patched up with scraps, done very tidily.

The Composer is always a fan of single perspective. This is the city for him (straight line vistas everywhere).

Home to cook dinner. It's actually my father-in-law's birthday! We went with something homey--a chicken roasted in the oven, a mixed-vegetable sauté in a skillet, all combined eventually with fresh linguine and rich stock, and served in a bowl.

And a visit to the pastry store afforded an assortment of tiny cakes and tarts to sample for dessert.

We brought aprons from home.

Cards for the others, while the Composer and I went back to Saint-Chappelle for a solo violin performance, of Bach's partitas.

And Now, from Paris

We were up all night on a plane, but not complaining, because now we are on an island in the middle of the Seine--Ile de la Cite--for the next week, being tourists in Paris.

The apartment has balconies. We're just down the block from Notre Dame.

We've joined the Composer's parents--they're here for a month!--Bella got her school assignments and is already keeping up with German vocabulary. Hope the French doesn't confuse her.

So many cathedrals within a stone's throw! The Composer and I just did a quick walk this evening in a little bit of rain. Around the block, then over the bridge to Ile Saint-Louis,

and poked our heads into Saint-Louis-en-l'Ile church, just to whet our appetites for tomorrow's sight-seeing.

And shopping . . . and eating . . . and enjoying.

Two Neutral Dresses

Alabama Studio Style six-gore dress; you've seen it in progress. Quilting the stenciled shapes is so much fun. I did this in two layers of cotton/modal blend jersey, both fairly lightweight.

The stencil is "Angie's Fall" from the Alabama Chanin website.

And here's a dress I finished last spring but never photographed. This is Vogue 8648, not one I'd recommend. Do you see how this is a fairly simple silhouette--a fitted bodice and a circle skirt? Well, the dress actually consists of FORTY-FOUR pieces, I kid you not. True, it's lined. But the bodice is pieced out of innumerable itty bits. And they are all cut on the bias. And they are all topstitched. What could go wrong?

Right?

Vintage Advice for Travellers

"Take with you, from home, all the writing and sewing materials you may require while [travelling]. . . scissors, pins, meedles, or paper; no lady should be without her own portfolio and work-box."

--Florence Hartley, The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness

Fruity Tea Loaf

Such is the power of suggestion that after I saw a picture of this "Fruity Tea Loaf" in the UK Country Living magazine, I headed straight to the kitchen to make my own--my first sortie into Baking with Metric Weights. It was much like baking in English measurements, not really the all-new experience I anticipated.

I did love this recipe though, and will share it with you with my own tweaks, but you're going to have to use a scale, because that's what I did.

Brew up 350 ml of hot tea--I used Cream Earl Grey, but you can use anything fragrant and strong.

Pour it over 225 mg small dried fruit. I used dark raisins, golden raisins, and dried cherries. You could also chop dried apricots or apples, or use dried cranberries.

Let it sit til it's cooled and much of the liquid is absorbed. Ideally several hours.

Toss together in a medium bowl 200 g dark brown sugar and 275 g self-rising flour.

In a small bowl, beat 1 egg with a fork, then stir in 50 g orange marmalade.

Add the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients to the bowl of marinating fruit, and stir all together gently (including the tea) until just combined. Pour into an 8-inch loaf pan lined with parchment paper, and bake at 350 for about an hour, until a toothpick stuck in the loaf comes out clean.

Let it cool, and store for several days like a fruitcake, rightly wrapped.

Fitzwilliam the Magnificent

I know that I am a lucky woman, that this cat came to my deck from the great unknown and decided to love me. He's so big that he can lie with his front legs in my lap Sphinx-style and lean his head up against my shoulder. He's a yard long from nose to tail's end, and he weighs seventeen lean pounds.

Today he enthroned himself upon Daisy's sheepskin, and I heard Frederick practicing all four syllables of his name.

Magnificent.

Black Walnut Log Cabin Quilt in the Shop

Black Walnut Log Cabin Quilt--so perfect for fall--is in my shop this morning!

Violet, Paisley, and Beads

All the car time this weekend was worth it-- to see Clara's face, hear her play, meet her delightful friends, and stock her fridge with treats.

Beading is not the easiest choice for car stitching (give me a straight seam please!) but it's what I took. I'm working with the paisley design from Alabama Chanin, which I never seem to see anyone use, but I don't see why not--it's got some of the biggest motifs (less stencil cutting) and lots of potential for decoration.

Which brings me to the subject, yet again, of cotton jersey. Running a search on the Composer's magic phone we found a hole-in-the-wall fabric store in the city, one I'd never heard of, which had very bad (but interesting) reviews and we decided to try it. Everything was stuffed in a tiny shop with no labels and no prices; I told the proprietor I was looking for all-cotton jersey and he started pointing at rolls and offered to let me go up the ladder for more if I wanted.

Clara and I were totally not believing him on fabric content, we couldn't tell for ourselves with all the sizing on the fabric and he clearly wanted to sell us everything, but I bit in spite of my doubts because everything was just *three dollars* a yard. Somehow I felt better when he mentioned we were getting a bargain because now you have to pay around $12 for all cotton. At least he knew that!

Actually, now that I've washed all of it I'm pretty certain I scored, so no regrets! Onward with the paisley in all kinds of colors now . . . .

My Arms Around My Big Girl

Off for the weekend to put my arms around my big girl! See you on Monday!

Matty's Window Log Cabin Quilt Top

At bedtime the sky turns soft dark blue. If you look long enough you start to see tiny stars. Maybe the Milky Way. And the safe brown shadows stretch out on every side.

Oh, Functions!

Bella's working functions in Algebra II. No thanks.

I think we'll wait for the Composer to come down for lunch.

Both Boys for the Weekend

Young mothers, I'm telling you now to enjoy having all your children at home while it lasts. Mine have started to disperse and while I take great pride and satisfaction in seeing them succeed at their various endeavors, there is nothing like getting them back under my roof for a weekend.

Fried okra, homemade rolls, and singing+banjo+guitar were the order of our days.

And on the airport run I was able to pick up *two* finished quilts from my mother's house. These are delicious, especially the turquoise . . . .

Jersey at Last

I have at last spent the two gift certificates my children gave me to Alabama Chanin. Here are my yardages in Carmine, Turquoise, and Denim, waiting to be made into things that are beautiful.

What a treat!!

Frederick Ducks In

Keeping his keen eye on things.

Alabama Studio Style: Gray on Gray

I'm using the "Angie's Fall" stencil on a cotton-bamboo blend from Hancock's. The fabric paint is "Tin Foil" from the airbrush supply section at Hobby Lobby.

One of the most challenging parts of working with jersey is the tendency of the edges to roll before they are sewn together. Here I am basting the top and lining together by hand around the edges. I find that laying the pieces out on a towel allows the terrycloth to help grip the edge and hold it in place to some extent.

Then once I get the pieces sewn together the curling isn't a problem anymore.

A Dress into an Apron

I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the pristine Boden dress hanging on the thrift store rack--my size, a beautiful color, $4.00. I tried it on and discovered that while it fit, the cut was wretched--no wonder it ended up donated. I brought it home anyway. It's destination: apronhood.

Here's how to do it. First, get bold with the scissors. Cut straight up one side seam, around the sleeve, leave yourself a nice curved neck piece in back, then back down the other side. In the case of a side zipper, cut it off carefully (protect your good scissors).

Here the back top is done (I eyeballed the yoke, then checked it for symmetry afterwards). Just the skirt left to do. The dress already had waist ties--I was able to leave one of them on, but the other had to come off because of the zipper. No problem, I just trimmed it off and will reattach it in a second. If the dress didn't have ties, I'd make some out of the sleeves.

Now I've got the basic apron form ready and hanging on the dress form. See the little points above the waistband? Yes, I trimmed those off to have a nice smooth line going down the side of the apron.

Since my dress was gorgeous and Boden, it was lined with a lightweight cotton, so I set the machine stitch size to long and basted the fashion fabric and lining together all the way around, 1/4 inch from the outside edges. It's also time to baste the waist tie onto the dress, raw edges of the tie lined up with the edge of the apron, on the front side (see below).

Time to bias-bind the edge! The dress already sported a dark-blue binding at the waist, but I couldn't match that from my stash, *and* I didn't have any blue thread. So I went with a cream binding. You can use single or double-fold (double is probably easier). Stitch it to the apron, right side of bias tape to WRONG side of apron, right along the fold-line, which is 1/4 inch. Make sure your waist tie stays on the front side of the apron.

Next, press the bias binding outwards (trying not to destroy the pre-set folds in it), then turn it over the edge and pin it neatly, before you machine stitch all the way around. Look how the folded edge catches the tie end so nicely.

The waist ties look good . . .

The back looks good . . .

 

The front looks good! Now it's going across the road to Phyllis' house. She has blue eyes and will look marvelous in it.

For another dress to apron fix, check my etsy shop.

Daisy on the Couch

Daisy isn't well today and spent a lot of time on the couch with her stripey afghan

and our stripey cat.

She felt perky enough after dinner to convince me to take her to the park to ride her scooter on the smooth pavement. When she's scootering, she says, she forgets she has a cold.