The DMC Crazy Quilt Commission: Part 2

The images have been chosen, printed onto fabric, and appliqued to the background with nice frames around each one.
It was hard to choose, but each photo represents the most meaningful memories of our trip to France...

Here is the overall view so far:

The photo in the center is of the giant metal sign at the top of the DMC factory in Mulhouse.

I needed to add some detail to the horse, as it was too dark to show up.  I used a white pen that I bought at Sennelier,  the oldest pigment shop in Paris, and where all the Impressionists bought their colors!

Such history here.  It was like an artistic pilgrimage to enter these doors.
The pen makes me think of going there....which is why I am using it in this project, of course!

The photo at the top of the quilt, of Notre Dame at night, was taken by Jerry Everard, Sharon Boggon's partner.  They were in Paris the same time we were, and one of my delights was getting to see them there.
Their blog, Tones and Tints, has fabulous photos and posts about their travels.

Many thanks to Jerry for permission to use his photo!

There is a closer view of it, along with the photo of our two wonderful hosts at the DMC factory in Mulhouse, Jean-Luc Barbier and Michel Biechlin.
The trims around the three center images were purchased in Montmartre.

Amazingly, I didn't buy any fabric in France, but I bought a LOT of trim, so naturally I had to use some in my commission.  (Note that pile on the counter!)

Mary and I were so entranced by the Luxembourg Gardens....there were so many lovely flower borders, blooming so beautifully even in late September.  A close up that Mary took represents how much we loved all the flowers in France.

I used many different DMC threads to embellish the printed photograph.  This trim is vintage, found in an old box buried by mounds of other trims in the store pictured above.

Next I will be adding captions to the pictures, and then....bien sur.....some twining flowers to make another frame "layer" if you will, connecting all the images.....saving the most fun for last!

The DMC Crazy Quilt Commission--Part 1

DMC has commissioned me to make a small crazy quilt commemorating the trip to France that I won in their recent Stitching Memory contest.  It is to be about my memories and impressions from the trip...and
what a pleasure this project is already!

When I was in Houston I found some perfect reproduction French border fabric at Lancaster Traditional Fabric's booth.  (If you love unusual repro fabrics check out their site.  Their booth was awesome.)

I laid out the border fabric to gauge the size the center would be.  There is the famous DMC horse, (the picture taken at the factory in Mulhouse, France) which will be printed on fabric and put in the place of honor in the center.

Next I created the background piecing for that center space.

The blues say "France" to me, and will contrast nicely with the border.
Once they were pinned, I sewed them all down.

It was such a pleasure to use a variety of DMC's threads to lay down my seam treatments.

It's been too long since I did work like this!!!!

So now the background is finished and I am ready to add the next layer.

It is going to look very different!

A project from my first book, the "Sister's Scrapbook Page", will give you an indication of where this is headed....

My sister is going to be in this one, too!

More soon.....

Paris Food

The French eat better than we do.
There is just no two ways about it.  We had some wonderful meals, saw some exquisite shops, and each of us, Mary and I, also had some truly memorable experiences...come along and bring your appetite!

Our first stop after checking into our hotel was Angelina's, a tea shop where Coco Chanel and Audrey Hepburn used to go on the Rue de Rivoli across from the Louvre.

The African hot chocolate was truly to die for.

Mary is here having her first crepe.  The Nutella ones were good, but here she was really hungry and ordered one with egg and cheese.  Just scrumptious, and cheap too.

 For our first restaurant experience, this little place looked so quintessentially French!  In we went...but alas...

Mary ordered brains by mistake.  Before we left on our trip, it was the one thing she had said she would not eat in France.

I thought it was hysterical, as only an older sister can.  But my turn was next.

Chartier was highly recommended as a landmark restaurant, not fancy, but venerably serving the working classes with great food for over 100 years.

You had to walk through a little courtyard to find it.  We were so excited!

The waiters scrawl the orders on the paper table cloth..

Our starters were fine, hard boiled eggs with rich homemade mayonnaise, leeks en vinaigrette, and pate.

The grilled anduille sausage, not pictured because it looked SO GROSS, was next to the fries here.  Three bites was all I could manage.  Mary got even with me for laughing at her!

We saw this shop window on our walk home from Chartier, and wished we had eaten here.

The food at the humble sidewalk brasseries was much better.  Salad du Nord and Crock au Madame, yum yum, yum!

We loved going into the little shops, just to see how they have their food arranged so beautifully. (But then, everything is beautiful in Paris.) Fruit on one side, vegetables on the other.

This was a greek "deli".  Everything looked so good, but we were just window shopping.

This little table of pasta was in the Italian deli next door to the Greek one.

The French onion soup was truly the best we ever tasted, the real deal.

Our favorite meals were picnics.  Here is a typical boulangerie where we bought bread and pain au chocolat.

The peaches straight off the shelves were juicy and perfumed...real fruit, not bred for shipping with no flavor like ours.  ;-(  The cheese was brie and glorious.

 The evening picnics on the Seine are our favorite memory....

 For our last picnic we found this extraordinary cheese shop in St. Germain des Pres.

I was not supposed to take pictures in there, but I did anyways.  We found the most incredible Camembert  that just defies description.  We got drunk on it.

And where else to go for a late night desert than a chocolate shop?

We walked so many miles every day that we didn't gain any weight....and agreed that the cheese was our favorite food...I need to go back and do some serious study of the pastry!

In my next post I'll write about trim shopping in Montmartre....
Adieu!