Dordogne Quilter

J'ai déménagé

2007-06-26T09:24:00.001+02:00

I have moved.

My new address is

www.dordognequilter.wordpress.com

A New Me!

2007-06-20T08:12:00.003+02:00

Just so you know.

I've noticed another Clare has emerged in Blogland so I have changed my sign in name to Dordogne Clare. Same picture, different sign in name.

Whilst on the subject of blogs and blogging, I am trying my hardest to get round the rings and keeping up to date with my RSS feeds, but it is getting harder and harder and I get side tracked by a new blogger, or the connection times out, or I get sucked in to doing something else. Please don't give up on me. I am still reading, even if I don't leave a comment. There are so many fantastic quilts to look at these days.

Quilt going well, nearly there with the top and then the border to do. Got some lovely Coats & Clark Multicolour thread yesterday and am deciding whether to do fans or spirals. Which will be the quickest I wonder? This quilt has got to be ready in 2 weeks and I'm having panic attacks that it won't be. I was up at 5.30 am yesterday sewing like mad and finally had to give in at 11.00 pm last night when I started doing the nodding dog bit.

When I start designing/making a quilt, sometimes I cannot see the wood for the trees and it is not until the last few stitches are being sewn that it all comes together in my head.

Are you the same, or can you see it right from the word go?

And on that note I will bid you au revoir. Must get some chores done before settling down with the quilt.

Sorry - no photos. I've tried but a combination of connection and Blogger is making uploading impossible.

Three Girls - One Thought

2007-06-18T11:23:00.000+02:00

Jenni at Fairybread Quilts has put out a plea for Qs4L.

If you have been reading all about this little project of mine, but can't sew and want to help in some way, then this may be your chance.

So pop over to Jenni's blog and see what she is proposing.

Please Use Your Keyboard!

2007-06-18T09:58:00.001+02:00

I have been thinking about what to do with the beautiful beautiful crazy block from Hideko. It really is too beautiful to put in one of the quilts.

I thought about giving it to Sophie and Floyd as if it wasn't for Floyd I wouldn't be doing this in the first place.

But, I was thinking last night that perhaps the parents of one of the quilt recipients should have it as, after all, they are going through just as much hell as their child. The thought of watching my lovely Alex going in such pain every day! What heartache these strong strong people must be going through I cannot imagine.

So, I need your help.

Do I send this to the parents of dear David who left us last month after a long battle;

does it go to Sophie's parents who are being so so brave for their beautiful little girl;

does it go to Rachel's parents who are, hopefully, nearing the end of their daughter's long fight with this disease; or

does it go to Kezia's Mum who must feel rather lost and lonely in a country where she doesn't speak the language and her husband is thousand's of miles away.

I haven't linked to Rachel's Journal as her mother has specifically asked me not to. However, go the Qs4L blog and click on the Caring Bridge link. You may be able to find her there.

Please use your keyboard!!!!!!!

French Quilts

2007-06-15T13:57:00.000+02:00

Esteemalu over at Quilting-Mania asked me about French Quilts. No, I don't make them and, no, I haven't got any pictures on here.

But, just for you I have tracked down the web site of the Dordogne delegation of Association France Patchwork. There are some fine examples, if this is what you mean by French quilting. If you mean quilting Toile fabric then type french quilts into Google Images et voila! Look at the white one on the left of the 4th row and I love the chickens. They remind me of Joyce's chicken quilt.

Alex's Bulletin de Notes has just come through in the post. 3rd over all for the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frivoulous Friday (at last)

2007-06-15T09:58:00.000+02:00

I wish this rain would stop. It's warm but the minute we have one whole day of wall to wall sun, the thunder and lightening returns the next day for 2 or 3 days. Don't know what is up with the weather this year, but if this is supposed to be global warming where did they get the "warming" from?

Sunset at Le Brouillac last evening

The lemon tree has lost all its lemons and is all leaf because it has rained so much. They hate too much water. The cherries are rotting on the tree or are splitting, the nectarines have already rotted and I can't weed - its either too hot or raining!

Ummmmmm - c'est la vie mais bizarre! "Tant pis" as lovely Maryse would say with a French shrug.

On to more important things. I finally finished the top half of Aunt's quilt yesterday and have started on the bottom half. Pictures next WiP Wednesday. Anne will be familiar with some of the words I think, having lived in Herefordshire some years ago.

Now on to the machine quilting question I asked on Wednesday. Sue over at From the Magpie's Nest answered my question. Quilt it in the way I feel comfortable with. So it will be hand quilted.

And the words for the Wedding quilt? I'm sticking with what I suggested in the first place. I haven't got that much material to do it with so short and sweet (thanks again Anne) is the answer.

Wip Wednesday - 13-06-07 and Machine Quilting

2007-06-13T10:04:00.000+02:00

Jean and John have been quilted and I've nearly finished "Katherine" in stem stitch. Today is wet and miz again so I'm going to catch up on a few chores and then knuckle down and try to get the centre finished. Then all I've got to do is to tackle the border which is giving me nightmares.

Onto the next question. I am thinking of machine quilting Tamzin's wall hanging quilt cos then I might just be able to get it done, if not in time then at least before they go to L.A. What thread mix do you use, or what make? I am hoping to get up to the QS at Thiviers on Saturday so can have a rummage in the thread section then.

What length of stitch, etc, etc, etc. I don't have a walking foot, just a plain old universal one that does everything. Would you advise me to get one or just see what happens. On the other hand, perhaps I should stick to hand quilting. After all, my machine isn't a posh one and I do prefer hand quilting. What do you all think?

And to brighten up what is turning into a miserable day, here is a picture of my Alex lying in the freshly cut hay talking to Magic yesterday evening.

Nothing to do with Quilts ....

2007-06-12T15:17:00.000+02:00

If you click on this link, it should take you to the Geoportail site which is the French version of Google Earth. it also loads a lot quicker than Google Earth so is good for those on dial up - I should know!

You should see 4 (yes I know) houses with pools. Ours is the one in the foreground.

Wandering Around Brantome

2007-06-08T09:28:00.000+02:00

We had a walk round Brantome yesterday before the season really starts and you can't move for Grockles.

One of the smaller supermarkets closed its doors recently and I was interested to see what, if anything, had taken its place. Prime site so surely someone would have the sense to open up a sensible shop, rather than a tourist one. Don't be silly Clare! Brantome is a tourist town and don't the retailers know it. Overpriced tat!

Anyway, the shop has been taken over by an importer of woven cashmire and Middle Eastern bits and pieces.

The scarves are beautiful and not that expensive, but look what I found at the back of the shop.

This is part of a folded wall hanging. No batting, but silks machined together and then backed and bound. No quilting. But oh my goodness look at the price! AARRGGHHHHHH!

The next picture is a section of one that was hanging up. The workmanship is appalling. Split seams all over the place so how they have the nerve to ask that amount of money I do not know.

Towards the front of the shop was some more "patchwork" similar to Tonya's Crusty, but about 3 times the size. Fantastic colours and beautiful workmanship this time, but still horrendously expensive. No photo - sorry. Owner was looking at me oddly by this time so I didn't push my luck, especially as DH tried to distract him by asking the price of a carpet (8,000 Euro).

I wonder how much the people who make this stuff get paid? Not a lot.

Ok, next bit. In the Place du Marché is a fossil shop selling, apart from fossils, jewellery and the normal tourist stuff, fabric, yes fabric. Not just any old fabric, but hand woven and hand dyed batiks imported from Senegal in purples, blues, greens, reds, blacks and yellows. The price? Wait for it, 7.50 a metre. Yeesssssssss! Tonya - you have just got to see these colours and patterns.

Sorry no photo. Don't you just hate it when you are being "watched".

To round off this post. I have been meaning to take a photo of this for years. Propped up outside the Au Fil de L'eau restaurant on the Quai Bertin.

Lovely setting, lovely restaurant and gorgeous food if you are into duck cooked in a variety of ways and rounded off with a rich Perigord sauce.

London 2012

2007-06-06T10:25:00.000+02:00

I don't usually comment on what is happening in the Old Country and made a promise that I would keep off the subject of politics and what is happening outside my little corner of South West France, but this is something which just goes to show what money is being spent on when it could be going elsewhere.

Go to London 2012 logo - can you do better and see what you think. Our quilt designs are better than this!

I like the Underground Map one and the Smiley Faces, but then again I would as the designer of the latter is our very own Nick Cliffe who designed the Qs4L logo.

Perhaps if you voted for your favourite, Lord Coe would get the hint don't you think?

Wip Wednesday - 06-06-2007

2007-06-06T09:04:00.002+02:00

Well, here we go. The first photo of My Family as it is at the moment. I have just about finished stitching "Jean", will then go on to "John", finish off adding names and words at the top and then move down to "Diana" and "Martin".

Am itching to get this finished so that I can start on the Wedding quilt, but the weather seems to have taken a turn for the better so quilting is not included in today's activities, whereas grass cutting, pool cleaning and catching up on the laundry is *sigh*.

Whoops - picture has come out a bit dark. Bear with me - this camera is taking a lot of getting used to.

The Wedding Quilt and Fabric Diet

2007-06-05T12:38:00.000+02:00

This is the material.

The FQ's for the letters cost a Euro each, the background cost a little bit more (ouch), but it was a "must have".

Thanks to Kim for this month's fabric diet badge. She's got a lot on her plate at the moment so it was great of her to take the time out to upload the new design.

Its Arrived

2007-06-05T10:56:00.000+02:00

And its brilliant. I love it to bits already. Its an HP Photosmart R727 with docking station.

Spent most of yesterday mucking about taking panoramic shots and fiddling. Now I've just got to work out various other bits and pieces and we are off.

Watch out, watch out, photos galore!

Oh and does anyone know how to use the new widget for the header on Blogger? I've tried and all I get is a blank. What am I doing wrong?

No Surprise There Then

2007-05-31T12:17:00.000+02:00

I ordered a new camera. A very smart new camera and was getting all excited about its arrival yesterday or today.

The web site is one of those "follow your order" ones.

I checked about 10 minutes ago. It left the warehouse at 11.21 am today. Arrival date? Your guess is as good as mine.

On to the quilting. My Family (Aunt's quilt) is going well. I started on the top row last night and have still got "Diana" and "Martin" do to, plus a bit of infilling. Then onto the fans.

I need some words for Tamzin's wedding quilt. Anyone any ideas?

I thought of Marriages are Made in Heaven. Love at First Sight. That sort of thing, but it seems a bit tame.

Whoops - since writing that bit I've found, lurking in the depths of my Inbox, an old mail from Tonya which contained some ideas. How about

May Tom and
Tamzin always
be happy

7 July 2007

All Bank Holiday'ed Out

2007-05-29T09:31:00.000+02:00

Oh my goodness. What a long month May has been this year. It seems to have dragged on forever.

We started on 1st May with Labour Day. That was fine. As it was a Tuesday it broke the week up. The following Tuesday was Victoire 8 Mai 1945 day which again was fine. We then had a week of no bank holiday's at all.

Then came the Pont d'Ascension on the 17th and 18th. Most of France took advantage of this and went away for the weekend to open up the maison secondaire, or visit friends and family. The traffic was awful and Brantome was heaving - a seething mass.

Right, got over that weekend with Alex at home 4 days running and whinging about being bored. Then along came Pentecote. Funnily enough this has always been a bank holiday, just as it is in England too. A few years ago the Government took it upon themselves to say that we had enough time off in May as it is and they were going to "cancel" the Pentecote break. France went on strike!

This year we assumed it was a bank holiday as Alex was off school. Driving back yesterday morning from staying with friends on Sunday night (A was at a sleepover), we noticed that some of the factories were open, but most of the shops were firmly shut.

It seems that the French have decided, like me, that you can have too much of a good thing.

The camera is in its last throes so I took these the other day before it died completely.

And I may, just may, have a surprise for you tomorrow or Thursday. Nothing quilty, but a surprise nonetheless.

Woo hoo - it's Geranium time!

Can you see where the dratted slugs and snails have been munching the Hosta's?

David

2007-05-28T12:34:00.000+02:00

David in Germany, the recipient of the first quilt, passed away in the early hours of this morning.

His courage and bravery, his determination to live and to fight the disease has been an inspiration to those who have been reading his blog and have been sharing his last few weeks with him.

Please do not shed tears for David, he would not have wanted that. Instead play your favourite record and turn the sound up loud so that he can hear it.

Not a Lot of Quilting Going On

2007-05-23T10:43:00.000+02:00

The Poppies having been opening up for about a month now and the fields are slowly but surely turning red with them. We have a few in the courtyard and this is a photo I took last year.

The farmers are beginning to cut the hay and I hope that our fields will be cut sometime this week. The grass is so tall that Magic won't go through it. Hurts her eyes she says.

The temperature today is going to hit 31°C so finally it is pool time. DH has put up the parasol, we are eating more salads than stodge and last night I was sitting under the walnut tree with my glass of wine at 10.30 pm listening to the cicadas and the nightingales and wishing my camera worked!

I think I can safely say that summer has, at long last, arrived.

This photo was taken some years ago with the original traditional camera. Standing in our courtyard looking through the door to the terrasse. The pool is through the door and on the right.

Forgot to say. Its my favourite time of year - Chelsea Flower Show. For those of you without access to the BBC, you can take a virtual tour here. There are some stunning gardens this year. Take a look at the Urban Oasis Garden. Wow! Fancy that in your back yard?

Oh calaminty calaminty! Woe is me.

2007-05-22T08:25:00.000+02:00

I've dropped my precious camera! We took it into the SAV at Auchan yesterday who said (with a lovely smile) that it is cheaper to get a new one than get this one repaired (I promptly burst into tears). So I am sitting here trying to get some sense out of HP Support, in both English and French.

This is one of the last photos I took with it before the dreadful event.

I have quilted the middle three rows (click here for a photo of the quilt in its entirety) and have a few more names to add before doing the top and the bottom lines. I am stitching the ditch of every single seam which is taking an age, but at least my stitching is getting better.

Then some big Fantabulous Fans I think for the border, some black binding (do you think black will work or should I do something a bit more jazzy?) et voila!

I wasn't too happy with the material I bought for Tamzin's wedding quilt. It just doesn't feel right. So I ventured into a QS on Friday and, oh my goodness, fell in love with the most gorgeous Tamzin type material and matching thread. Et maintenant le appareil photo numérique est en panne! So you will have to wait to see what transpires.

More as and when, but from now on the posts will be photoless (sob).

Seven Things

2007-05-16T14:22:00.000+02:00

Oh crumbs - I was hoping to get away with this one, but Joyce decided she wasn't going to let me.

So here goes - ummmmmm - thinking hat time. 7 things about me.

Find it absolutely impossible to draw, cut or sew a straight line. Even a ruler doesn't help matters. I need lines, like on the cutting mat, to help me.
Like Dianne, I tend to overbuy on fabric. After all, it could be discontinued couldn't it and then where would I be.
Lived with DH for years before we got married and that was only because Alex came along. If she hadn't we'd probably still be living in sin.
Love my Mum more than anything else in the world.
Hate being cold. I mean I really hate being cold. No matter how warm it is if there is a breath of cold air you bet I'll feel it.
Love books to distraction. Just wish I still had the time to read these days. Used to get through 2 books a week. Now I can barely managed one a month.
Worry too much about nothing in particular.

Not very inspiring I know, but brain is half dead having spent most of the day on the internet for DH.

Ok, so now I tag Vivi, Tazzie, Anne, Patti, Dawn, Jen and Fiona

Woo Hoo - Going up in the Listings.

2007-05-15T16:21:00.000+02:00

Looking through the referrals on Site Meter which I do from time to time (it is interesting to see how people find me), someone typed "quilts france blogs" into a German search engine and, there, at No 5, was little old me. Bea at Capricorn Quilts was at No. 3 cos she mentioned me when talking about her Leukaemia blocks.

The Qs4L blog was there too, but not as high as this one.

And on that note I am going back to planting out my Geraniums.

Vide Grenier/Brocante Purchases (and a quilty photo)

2007-05-15T13:11:00.000+02:00

The brocante/vide grenier (empty attic or car boot) season has started again and we have been busy little bees scurrying around the countryside picking up bargains.

The big purchase was at the Villars brocante. I spotted it in the back of a lorry belonging to one of the traders. We have been after a tv cabinet for a long time, but trying to find one that fits in with the rest of the furniture has been difficult. This one fits!

At the same brocante I spotted a piece of fabric which was definitely a must have. I know I am on Kim's Fabric Diet, but this was unbeatable at 1 Euro.

A bit heavy, probably not 100% cotton, but brilliant for a border don't you think. The 4 curtain rings still attached to it can be used for a wall hanging. They alone are worth 1 Euro each!

This last purchase was on Saturday.

Remember Fi's hat in 4 Weddings and a Funeral? Does this look similar? I simply could not resist it. It can be pulled into any shape and squishes into a bag without loosing its shape.

And to return to what this blog is supposed to be about.

A cat in repose, but a bit cross that her beauty sleep has been disturbed (don't look too closely at the quilting please :-) ).

Mucking about with Flickr

2007-05-11T10:15:00.001+02:00

HPIM0281
Originally uploaded by dordognequilter.

I have discovered that you can upload photos from Flickr. A bit like Picasa which was/is driving me crazy. Sooooo this is a test post.

This is one of the street lamps on the Pont St Pierre in Bordeaux.

Well, it's done it., It loaded beautifully. I think it is now Flickr instead of Picasa.

WiP Wednesday - 09-05-2007

2007-05-09T13:17:00.000+02:00

A finish at long last!

This is Rachel's quilt and has well and truly wrapped the world, with blocks from America, Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Turkey, and the UK.

I busted the batting stash on this one. I used up the bits from the really thick stuff that I used on Alex's 9 patch so it is thick and heavy and tied really well. Never, ever again will I fuse bits together.

Aunt's quilt is not going too well (sniff). Got a bit of a problem on the quilting front. I think I am going to have to be naughty and machine quilt the letters in the ditch.

Stashbuster Topic of the Week - My Dream Quilt

2007-05-03T15:24:00.000+02:00

Please forgive me. I know I'm going on and on this week, but the weather is yuk. Despite what the Weather Girl says I am not in shorts and T shirt and am waiting for the grass to dry out before mowing (again).

So my dream quilt is one of the first quilts I saw when I first started this blogging lark. It's right here on Tonya's blog. This is what converted me to free piecing cos it is sooooo gorgeous.

WiP Wednesday - 02-05-2007

2007-05-02T16:03:00.000+02:00

Aunt's quilt has been basted and backed and I'm in the process of quilting it.