Stash, Part 2

A lot of this stuff was on sale, since it was bought at the shop going out of business. There are another Bleu de Chine heart, three Il Etats des Fois charts (one of which is a really big sampler), a Mouton Rouge kit of a red sheep, an Isa Vautier chart, and a kit for making lace. I still have a few more pictures of stash to post ... anyway, I'm very thrilled with my buys.

Midi Part Two Done

I've been working on Part two of this for at least eight months now, probably longer. This week, I finished it. Big accomplishment for me. The other parts are all smaller, so it should go more quickly from now on. I'm happy with the way it's looking, although I think I chose too dark a background for it. No going back now, though.

A New Start - Lady of the Flag

I just started Mirabilia's Lady of the Flag as a charity project. When I get it done, it will be framed by my husband and then raffled off by the Lehigh Valley Blue Star Mothers. The money will be used to support military personnel and veterans. I'll post how to buy raffle tickets when they're sold next year. Anyway, I think it's a fitting thing to do.

Stash, Part 1

As I told you, I went on a stash buying spree last week. Here's part one. The threads are all hand dyed cotton from French dyers. I hadn't seen them before. There are three heart charts from Bleu de Chine in this picture and a sampler tree from them too. I didn't buy a single thing I could get in the States. It seemed pointless to. There are two Bleu de Soie sampler type charts and two from Lili Soleil. The red one and the blue background one are from the same designer. This was bought at two shops - Broderie Passion in Houlme, outside Rouen, and Travaux d'Aiguille in Rouen, which closed on Saturday.

Bird on the Wing

I got a bit more done on one bird this week. Maybe I'll just push through this week and get it done so it's off my plate. It has to be mailed by the tenth, anyway. I think I'll do that. This and my other round robin project remind me why I dislike working on Aida. On top of the near impossible quarter stitches, the hand is so stiff and uninviting. The hedgehog's still cute, though.

Purse, c'est fini

The beads came last week, so I finished the purse for my daughter. I hope she likes it. I think it came out good - so good, in fact, that I've bought ribbons for my purse. I learned a lot doing this and I'd recommend a project like this for others who want to explore beadwork without a lot of hassle. I learned a lot about purse construction, too.

Unfortunately (or fortunately if you look at it the other way), I bought a lot of stash this past week and fell off my 25 project challenge. That means I have to start over and this is the first finish of the do over.

Alencon

We went to Alencon last Sunday to visit the Fine Arts and Lace Museum. The town was deserted. There were very few people on the streets and maybe two restaurants open. This is definitely not a tourist town. The top picture is one of the church. Evidently the front panel is rather rare on it as it shows the Transfiguration. The church is rather pretty.

This is the front entrance to the lace museum. It's also the municipal fine arts museum. No photography allowed inside. The paintings are mainly pre-Impressionist and some are ones I recognized. There's one of Phillip of Orleans that really looked familiar. Another one with night fishing was beautiful. The lace - it was mainly Point d'Alencon and Point d'Argentan. There is an excellent video about lacemaking and several Paco Rabban wedding dresses made with lace from Alencon's lace school.

I believe this is the city hall for Alencon. It's just a really beautiful building.

This is the entrance courtyard to the fine arts museum.