Blog Award

JoWynn has granted me this award:I'm very honored by that, especially because I like what she does and the way she take life very much. She is very inspiring in many domains of life. If you don't kow her yet, please visit her blog, you won't regret it.

And now, I'll have the pleasure to pass this award. To
Annica
Arlee
Solange
Wurzel
Lisa

Go and meet those ladies and enjoy yourself!

More sewing and TIF

This is what I produced today:and it is the best I can do this month for the TIF, espcially for the colors palette.

Sewing a vest

When my daughters were small kids, I sewed a lot for them and for me. Then as teenagers, they lost interest in clothes made by Mum. And my priorities changed too. So the sewing machine was put to rest until I discovered patchwork and later on textile arts.
Last year, I purchased a new sewing machine and was more interested in its quilting capabilities than in its sewing capabilities. Reading the manual and fixing clothes for my daughters showed me it had some nice sewing features though. The temptation of sewing clothes was coming again.
The trigger was Isabelle's blog that I discovered last week. (And that fact that I've lost enough weigh to need new clothes).
Anyway, here is the result of yesterday:It is from the September Burda issue, made of boiled wool. I'm pleased with the result, especially because I was able to shorten it to fit me.
It has been a busy day, but so relaxing... And I love my sewing machine even more now.
I plan to sew a dress today...

ATC

I promised an ATC to Sonia.
This is how I made it: Tibbits of fabrics combined with the embellisher into a rusty background.
Then a recycled tyvek envelop, painted and heated to make spots of rust.
A drop of beads, and here they are.
The one for Sonia:
and two others that can be traded, if someone is interested. Just send me a mail.

GTS

Green Thumb Sunday



Join
OK, I've been a bit lazy regarding GTS lately, but I did not have much to show. August has been very hot, turning the garden into some dry land.

If you click the following two pictures, you cas see some Helianthus tuberosus L. The wind has been a bit hard on them, but I like their flowers.

Visit Lisa's blog to see beautiful ones! Mine stay under control, at least until now. It is the first time I planted them in full sun, and they liked it. When planted in shade, they remained very short and did not flower. In the sun, they are about 2 m high and brought a nice touch of green all summer long.
Their French names is Topinambour. For the older people, they bring back sour memories: during WWII, they have been a subsitute for potatoes. Many people would avoid eating them for that reason. I don't find them easily in vegetables stands. As for gardening, they belong to the old and rare category, although the new chefs are bringing them in fashion.

Below, you can see the two yuccas, that decided to flower at the same time. and for the second time this year. I love those bells.

And here we have a new lemon species, the feline one:
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

ATC received

Satturday has been a good day: plenty of post in my mail box!
Look at those ATC:
Fom Sonia: From Marie-Christine Vergon:
From Solange:
This one was wrapped in this lovely card:
Ain't my friends wonderful?

ATC

These three ATCs were made for an exchange in one of the yahoo groups I belong to. They are all traded.

Belt, another one

Even before being off-line, I wanted to make this one.
No design research for this one. I wanted rick-rack, and I wanted to embellish it with a combination of stitches found in Carol Samples's book.
The threads are silk threads, gift from my sister.
I could no resist the beads either.


I'm not sure this one will resist the wear, but that doesn't bother too much. I had fun making it.

Back!

Hi to all! Sorry I've not been there lately: the thunder hit the house of my neighbor. By luck, nobody was hurt. But this left me without Internet, computer, TV, and maybe a few other things. I had to wait until yesterday late to be online again. And the man at the computer shop could restore all my data, that is a relief. All my pictures are back, not to mention my online-magazines files and the data for my flight to Munich in December... I have now a spare external hard-drive, for back-ups.

Not being online has provided me with a lot of spare time. Used to make this bag, among other things:

This comes from "Invasion of the Plush Monsters" by Veronika Alice Gunter. I've altered the pattern a little bit, as the initial one is for kid, and this bag is for my grown-up daughter. The monster face is the flap, not the body. The body provides some inside pockets. The monster mouth is the opening to another one, with some inside pockets too. The bag is about 40 cm wide. Made of recycled fabrics, kind of polar fleece.

Belt

I needed a belt. When I want shopping with my daughter, it was on mu list. But before going to cloth shops, we went to La Droguerie. It is a chain in France, specialized in trims, buttons, wool, beads. When I entered the shop, the idea of creating my own belt hit me. So i've purchased some trim, beads and a narrow velvet ribbon, as well as a buckle.
I've started working on it yesterday morning. First with some drawings and machine embroidery stitches (JoWynn, you see what your example makes me do :-)) I've applied the velvet ribbon with a fake cross-stitch (much more fun with the machine, as it was a plain straight line). Then I've added sequins and beads. I ended with some eyelets. And here it is:

Cat's life

That's how hard life can be...

Stitch Along, button hole, some more

DSCN2368,
première mise en ligne par Vero de la Fare.

I've continued my experiments with the stitch.
Tried some grids with changing directions and couched bits of fabrics. Then tried some combinations from Treasury of Crazy Quilts Stitches by Carol Samples. I like the "country" look they have worked on linen with plain threads.

Stitch Along continued

DSCN2357,
première mise en ligne par Vero de la Fare.

I guess the hardest part was to start it... Now I seem unable to stop!
This is what I've done yesterday. I feel so well and relaxed to have spent the whole afternoon on it, just browsing embroidery books and trying some of the techniques I found. I'm sure the other ladies in the group enjoy themselves as much as I do.