From Teatowel to Cushion

I bought some tea towels a while ago in Next but not because I wanted them to dry the dishes.  I bought them because they had Paris and the Eiffel Tower on them.  My intention was to make a small cushion with one and a wallhanging with the other. 

Well, they had a while to wait but yesterday I finally got around to making the cushion.  I'm afraid the wallhanging will be for another day.

I quilted around the design and then made up the cushion.  It was a nice way to spend an afternoon.  Hopefully it won't be too long before I finish the Eiffel Tower.

Bye for now.

Sandra

French General Cushions

Firstly, I must thank my young brother for coming to my aid.  I wasn't able to upload my photos on the blog and so he changed me over to a new browser so now I'm up and running again.  Thanks Stephen.

For a long time, I have meant to make new cushions for my home from the remainder of the French General fabric that I used for my Stepping Stones quilt. 

So, I finally finished them before Christmas and was very pleased with how they turned out.

French General Cushions

They're a nice mixture of brown, red, beige and cream.  The backs of the cushions are French General fabric too.  Well, it is one of my favourites.

Churn Dash Cushion

Eight pointed star

Squares and triangles

Pinwheel cushion

 As I'm already talking of things French, I thought that I would show you some more of my photographs of Paris. I would highly recommend the open top bus tours and we were able to get off and on whenever we to explore.  It also gives a good vantage point for taking photographs.

The Pont Neuf

Notre Dame Cathedral

The doors on this imposing building were quite amazing.

One of the doors

Whilst we were queueing to get into the cathedral, I couldn't take my eyes off the hinges on the doors.

Intricate leaves, birds and scrolls

The metalwork was just so beautiful and delicate looking.  All I could think of was trying to quilt or applique something like this.  Amazing! Very inspiring.

The Rose Window

We found the prettiest sweet shop ever.  It is called La Cure Gourmande and it is impossible to walk into it without wanting to buy everything before you leave. 

Boxed chocolates and nougat

There were a few different designs for the metro signs.  Maybe if you lived there you wouldn't notice things like this anymore but I found everything very beautiful.  Hopefully I will be able to return to Paris again.

I could go on forever but that wouldn't be fair on you.  So I'll call it a night.

See you soon.

Sandra

Milestone Moments

I must apologise for not having blogged for such a long time but I have just had the most amazing month. 

My husband and I celebrated our Silver Wedding Anniversary and both of our families threw us a fantastic surprise party.  It was wonderful!  My daughter couldn't be there as she is in England at university but my sister-in-law skyped her so that we could all see her and chat.  My sons had secretly gathered photographs starting with our wedding, the births of our three kids and a few other favourites and had them made into a book.  It was absolutely lovely and will make a lovely keepsake.

I then had my 50th birthday which was another milestone moment.  I celebrated with family which was great. 

I am now slowly coming back down to earth after having spent a wonderful weekend in Paris with my husband, something we had always said that we would do for our 25th Anniversary.  Paris was even more impressive than I had hoped for.

 

We arrived in the evening and from our window we could look out on the Gare de l'Est Station which was very beautiful.

 



Gare de l'Est

One of the beautiful windows

 

 As we were able to see the Sacre Coeur lit up on the hill ...

 

Sacre Coeur in the background

... we just had to go and visit it that night.

 

Basilica of the Sacre Coeur

Framing the moon

The next day we took an open top bus tour and began our day at the Louvre.  It was so impressive driving through the archway and the space just opening out in front of us.  I know this stitched photo isn't great but I wanted to try and show the size of the place. 

 

The Louvre and Pyramid

Our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower

   

Through the trees

What a way to spend a beautiful crisp cold morning!





The Eiffel Tower seemed to me to have a lot of contradictions.  In some respects it looked delicate with lots of decorative pieces.  Yet the sheer span of it at ground level and its height were so impressive.  Far more than I had expected.       

I'll have to fill you in with the rest at another time.  It's too late now. 

 

Bye for now.

Sandra