Progress!

Great progress has made on the dog mosaic quilts.  My students are quick learners.  Here's a preview.  Can you tell which dog goes with each quilt?  Come back tomorrow for the answers.

Check Out My Guests

Its Pet Mosaic Retreat time and I am so excited for my next group of guests and their puppies.  Yes, it's all canines this time.  Last time Grace, the cat, was the subject of a mosaic quilt.  And Cheryl (not me) finished hers.  It came out great. Don't you love her eyes?

These are the puppies this time.  One's a grandpup named Wilbur, whose owner is named Charlotte.  How cute is that?

Wilbur

Jesse

Riley

Reggie

I'm getting the photos ready

 and keeping my fingers crossed for beautiful weather so that we can take a break and eat dinner on the dock on our little lake. Bailey is looking forward to all the attention that she will get from our guests who will be missing their dogs!

Next retreat? June 9-12, 2016. That's Thursday through Sunday. If you're interested, check out this link.  I can only accommodate 4 quilters, so sign up soon if you love your pet this much!

I'm Glad I Brought Elastic Waist Clothes

The food in France is just amazing and there has been way too much of it.
 Not only is it delicious, its presentation is often art itself.
There are inviting cafes everywhere and a cooking class from our ship's chef to make chocolate lava cake made me drool. The outdoor markets are a staple of French life.  Needless to say, there's no way anyone could stay on a  diet and I am so happy that lycra is an integral component of clothing today.

Enjoy the photos.  They are calorie free!

Can you tell I'm partial to sweets?

What's Love Got To Do With It?

There is much upset in Paris, the city of love.  We walked by the Pont des Arts and it was barricaded to pedestrians.  The locks of love bridge was being dismantled.  That is 45 tons of padlocks were being removed.  Tourists write their names on the locks, fasten them to the grill work of the bridge and  then throw the key into the Seine, professing their love forever.   Who knew that we would be observers of anti-love history?  The problem is that the weight of the locks is destroying the bridge.

Now they are covering the grill work with plywood that has been painted by artists and later, plexiglass will protect the bridge and still allow a view of  the Seine without allowing the placement of these locks.  Do you remember seeing these locks as a challenge on Amazing Race?  

The grill work on the bridge brings to mind all of the ironwork that I find as inspiration for my quilts. Why do I often find my feet in photos?  I am taking pix of the utility manholes on the streets and sidewalks.  I have a folder of them from all the cities that I visit.  These are some to add to my collection from France.

And I love door hasps and any other architectural iron details.

Can't you see a quilt?

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!