Monday, June 1, 2015

France and Fabric

You don't think I would go on a trip and not have fabric involved in some way.  We are traveling in the Provence region of France. Most people are familiar with the traditional Provencal fabric.I forgot to take a photo.

I found some other, quite colorful fabrics made right here.This was a shop in Arles.


Beautiful Jacquards manufactured here (and invented here around 1800) are primarily made into tablecloths.They are woven and heavier in weight.   I saw this one and I fell in love.  I'm a sucker for aqua and chartreuse.  The fellow who owns this store is also  a manufacturer.

He also had some other beautiful fabric of which I had to partake! Linen and this bright floral.  I have plans for both.


I had my own bit of drama on our ship.  The crew aboard this Viking ship will do anything they can to make you happy, but I found the one loop hole. Whenever I travel, I bring some type of handwork.  Often it's a project with fusible applique.  I don't fuse all the pieces down before I leave home because they will inevitably fray or fall off before I can stitch them down.  I rely on using the hotel's iron.  At most hotels there is an iron in your room and if there isn't, a call down to the front desk will bring someone to your room with an iron and ironing board in hand.  I figured I could rely on this logic for our river cruise.  Was I surprised.

After about 2 days, I needed an iron to fuse more circles onto one of my Curvalicious projects. There was no iron in my room.  So I visited the front desk to ask for an iron.  "No, I could not have an iron, I was politely told.  It is a safety hazard. We would be happy to iron your clothes for you."  But it's not clothes I said and of course she looked at me with a very quizzical look.  Also, keep in mind that English is not the first language of most of the crew.  I told  her that I would only need an iron for 5 minutes and I would be happy to go downstairs to the laundry or wherever it is that they iron.  I'm sorry she said, we can't allow it. Now I am getting pretty frustrated.  The driving force became less  that I wanted to finish stitching, but to get my hands on an iron.   I know how to use a damn iron and I only wanted it for 5 minutes.  She told me she would speak to Housekeeping.

The head of Housekeeping told me they would be more than happy to iron my clothes. They even left a note in my room to that effect.  IT'S NOT CLOTHES!!! After a couple of hours I stopped at the front desk again and was told this time that the Ship's Director would have to approve.  How hard could this be?  Walking through the dining room I saw 2 cordless irons that they use to iron tablescloths in place. " Please, please, please, can I use an iron?  I saw them in the dining room."

Well, finally, I was given permission to use the irons in the dining room with supervision after dinner service. Come back at 10:00PM.  If you know me that is way past my bedtime, but I managed to stay awake.   This was way too important.  The crew member, Palma, who supervised me was so sweet and was so curious about what I was doing.  I was told I could come back any time. Thanks Palma.


Ironing on the buffet!

6 comments:

  1. Too funny, who would have thought that ironing would be so hard?
    I LOVE that floral print!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this story!!! Persistence pays off!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gosh, maybe you should ask to steer the boat. Might be easier! Love the fabrics. Eat some sheese for me!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Now that is dedication! Good for you, and in French too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Too funny about the iron. We should have a France fabric challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  6. so funny! love that fabric store - wow

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by. I'd love to hear from you.