Nothing to do with Quilts ....

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

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

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

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

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

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?