Finishing Touches...

Well I'll be turning in my dissertation next Wednesday, all completed, so you guess these couple of days are very busy. Still writing the introduction and of course there are always those bibliographical and typographical details to check out etc. Unfortunately I've caught a cold (I was in Lille this weekend for Mothers Day and it turned suddenly chilly on Saturday) so it's a bit hard to be at my best...

Anyway, I'm not complaining... I'm in good company. Look who's spending her whole days right next to me! I took the picture from my own chair.

She claimed one of Seb's fleece jumpers as her favourite blankie... Well what could we say against that, she looks so happy on it!

After those few days I'll have MUCH more time so... I'll soon be able to start the Petal Fairy! Next week I should say! Mandy, let's get ready, shall we?

Little Thank You Gifts for Carol

Carol and I are both tea-lovers. As she sent me (among plenty other goodies which I talked about here) some Chocolate Caramel Enchantment tea for my birthday, I wanted to send her some cinnamon-moka tea, and I thought I'd make a little bag for the tea-bags! Had lots of fun combining these motifs

I also made her a bag with Provençal fabric and an Aida insert, but I forgot to take a pic.

Sent my parcel last Thursday, and Carol got it on Tuesday!

A Gift for my Grandma

Here's a doily which I made for my grandma's birthday. I combined different decorative stitches on my sewing machine and finished the edges with a satin stitch. My grandma seems to like it a lot.

Cuddly Update and Question of the Week

The Cuddly Cats are slowly coming to life... On to the night-blue background now!

How do you deal a "stitching slump?"

I've never had a stitching slump. I'm far too frustrated having so little time to stitch & sew to ever be in a stitching slump! When I don't stitch, it's either that I have too much work (and in that case I long to stitch), or that I'm concentrating on a sewing project, and in that case it is by choice. My point in stitching is to relax and create something pretty with threads and fabric, just as in sewing, so sewing does not compete with stitching.

However, I always find plenty of motivation in browsing other stitchers' blogs.
Attending a stitching show is another great way to get more inspiration.
Also, I'll be starting the Petal Fairy soon, and in this case I am a bit afraid of getting stuck sometimes. The great thing is that I'll be stitching her in a SAL with Mandy, who'll be stitching the Feather Fairy! I'm sure that will motivate us both to carry on with our projects.

If anything else fails, a chat with San is always sure to cure any kind of stitching slump! San keeps encouraging me to work less and stitch more ; and having seen her projects in person is an inspiration in itself. I can tell for sure that but for her , I wouldn't be stitching as much!

Frankly, the problem for me is rather finding a limit to my work so I can devote more time to stitching and sewing. But all my leisure time is devoted to them.

Update on Karen's Cuddly

I don't have the time for a proper blog entry, but I thought Karen might enjoy seeing how her Cuddly cats are coming along:

The ginger cat is nearly done, but I ran out of Anchor 387 (ecru), so I can't finish his tail, nor stitch his other paw hugging the grey kitty
Amazing how greedy Margaret Sherry designs are of Anchor 387! I ordered two skeins last Saturday though, and should get them in time (I need to get the fabric to Namuelle by June 17th).
I stitched all the light grey framing the other cat, so now I'm simply filling in the blanks with white. Then I'll give them faces, add the two darker greys, the blue background, and the backstitching. I guess I'm a bit more than halfway done.

Hope you like them Karen!
Wishing you all a great day - the weather is gorgeous in Paris today!

Karen's Fabric.

Hope everyone had/is still having (but it's 10 pm in France) a great week-end. We've had some gorgeous weather at last and it was a very nice week-end. I put the finishing touches to my article on Jane Austen, but now it's all done and emailed to the right person and printed out to drop it to the right place tomorrow. I progressed as much as I could on Karen's fabric. I didn't need to think for more than a second before deciding on "Cuddly" - a big hug is what I'd like to give her!

Here's my progress on it:

This is the right-hand cat, three-fourth complete. Stitching two cats is certainly more time-consuming than stitching one, but... Those two are so cute!
For those of you who may not know the Cattitudes, here's the original drawing:

Carol enquired whether a MS round robin could be acceptable on evenweave... Why I'd say yes! A lot of the backstitching doesn't go into the Aida holes anyway, so it may be more gratifying. I think they'd look lovely on evenweave! You'd only need either to enter a round robin where everyone stitches on evenweave, or to ask your round robin partners whether they wouldn't mind stitching on evenweave... I guess the first option would be preferable since you don't fancy stitching on aida. .

Carol, this is my first round robin ever - but it had to be around Margaret Sherry of course! I initiated the idea actually... wasn't too sure whether I'd get a reponse... And here we are now, a bunch of friends from around the world! This is why I could surprise Karen with the Newton wallhanging - I had her mailing address already...

I also started a dress - drew the pattern and cut out the fabric, which is always the most tedious part to me! So now it should be more fun.

Oh, and I got some stash too... All my material for the Petal Fairy has now arrived. I chose some Zweigart Cashel linen in Mint Green. I think that fresh green will be lovely in our flat... And I think it's in keeping with her sitting on a flower.

And... I planned everything out for my next corset - traced out the pattern to check the fit, measured the length of the bones and the number of eyelets I'd need etc., so I ordered the material ! Once again I placed my order ordering at Venacava's, they carry the best supplies around and their team is so kind and helpful! And yet they're the least expensive corsetry store by far.

As you see, I've got plenty of projects to keep me busy!
Hope everyone has a nice week!

Oh oh... I've been tagged! If I could...

San just tagged 3 members from our round robin. I've been following those questions rolling from one blog to another and I think they're fun! My turn now...

I have to choose 5 prompts from the list below and complete the sentences, then I get to tag 3 people:
If I could be a scientist . . .
If I could be a farmer . . .
If I could be a musician . . .
If I could be a doctor . . .
If I could be a painter . . .
If I could be a gardener . . .
If I could be a missionary . . .
If I could be a chef . . .
If I could be an architect . . .
If I could be a linguist . . .
If I could be a psychologist . . .
If I could be a librarian . . .
If I could be an athlete . . .
If I could be a lawyer . . .
If I could be an inn-keeper . . .
If I could be a professor . . .
If I could be a writer . . .
If I could be a llama-rider . . .
If I could be a bonnie pirate . . .
If I could be an astronaut . . .
If I could be a world famous blogger . . .
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world . . .
If I could be married to any current famous political figure . . .

If I could be a musician... I'd be an opera singer. I used to play/sing a lot of music when I was younger, and my singing teacher wanted me to turn professional. Unfortunately, academic work took over... Ah well, you can't do all you'd like to in a life, can you? But I've retained a big interest in music and singing.

If I could be a doctor... I'd listen to my patients a lot and do my utmost to understand them. And I would take into account not only their physical, but also their mental ailings. And I would never laugh at them, or scorn them, when they tell me they can't sleep.

If I could be a missionary... I'd try to convey my message and my faith not so much through explicit preaching as through what I would try to bring to people - love above all.

If I could be an architect... I wouldn't forget to create easy access for the disabled. There's still a lot of work to do in France in this regard! And I wouldn't forget the smaller people either - I'd be careful not to design the access to things too high...

If I could be a writer... I'd try to get out of the "end of art" rut!

I want to tag Cathy, as a way to get the ball rolling to her after her Culture Questions, Anneke who's another good friend and whose ideas as a Dutch lady I'd be intereted in knowing, and Mandy, because I really enjoy her blog, and so that things are truly cosmopolitan!

Namuelle's Birthday Gifts

Yesterday was my friend Namuelle's Birthday! She opened her presents yesterday, so I can show them to you at last. Fortunately I had started making them a while back - I don't know how I would have managed to make them in the present circumstances.

Here is her birthday card:

A lace coaster, embroidered on organza.

A wallhanging patchwork, with kitties embroidered in colours matching the fabric. Namuelle too is fond of cats.

I also included a cut from the pastel rose aida I used for my round robin... She told me she loved it when she received my round robin back in February, so I thought she'd enjoy having a piece of her own!
I really hope Namuelle enjoyed her gifts and had a lovely day!

Sorry I cannot be longer today... Hope everyone has a nice week-end.

A few gifts I made over the last couple of weeks

As promised on Saturday, here are some pics of little gifts I made over the last few days...

First, here are gifts for a friend in Normandy.

A lace bowl

I created the lace panels on my embroidery machine, and then sewed them together with a zigzag stitch.

Next, a sewing sampler

This is machine-embroidered cross-stitch. My friend is a lady who loves sewing... After embroidering the design, I turned the piece of fabric into a bellpull (cut the bottom into a triangle and sewed it to another piece of fabric of the same dimensions, right sides together, then turned them inside out), created a casing to put a little wooden stick as a dowell (I rounded off the edges with sandpaper), and simply tied some ribbon at both ends to hang.

Finally, a Butterflies card to write my letter to her.

Below is a card stitched in redwork on Thursday for my grandma who sent me a birthday :

That's all for now! Have a nice week everyone!

Cathy's Culture Questions

Cathy asked her readers to give a few details about their way of living in their country. Here are my answers.

What is (roughly) your daily schedule? What time does work begin? What time does it end? How about meal times? Does your country go in for the afternoon rest time?

I usually get up at 7:00 - I just love early mornings! Seb usually gets up at 8:00. The time work begins varies a lot according to the job and even the place where you live. The people in Paris generally start working later than in the rest of France (shops for instance often open later)... But of course, they finish work later too!
That being said, many workers start working at 6:00, which means getting up at 5:00 or earlier if you live far away from work.
The meals in France are: breakfast, lunch (anywhere between 12 and 1:30 pm), often a light snack at 4-5 pm, and dinner around 7:00-8:00 pm. But DBF and I tend to get absorbed in our occupations in the evening and often start to think about dinner after 8:00! ;)
I believe most people go to bed between 10:00 and midnight. That being said, my parents go to bed between 9 and 10 - but they get up early too. I usually don't manage to go to bed before midnight or a quarter to midnight... There are so many things to do in a day!
I don't know if many people take a nap. I never do, and I don't know anyone personally who does. But I know some people do take naps if they've been up early, and provided their work allows them to nap. Little children usually nap after lunch, although I remember I hated to! ;)

What is the predominate language spoken in your country? Are many people bi-lingual?

The language is French. People born in France and from a non-immigrant background are not bilingual. People who immigrated to France of course speak their own mother tongue often better French, and those whose parents were immigrant usually know the tongue spoken in their originating country as well as French.

So far, the teaching system in France was excellent at teaching written foreign languages, but quite poor at teaching oral skills. Hence the reputation of the French having such a heavy accent abroad! ;o) In France, unless you decide to do the effort yourself and go abroad and practise lots and lots, you can't get an authentic pronunciation. Fortunately, that is right in the process of improving, as several heavy and demanding pronunciation tests have now been introduced in the exams you need to take to get a professoral degree. I took those exams 2 years ago, and believe me, unless you have a really authentic pronunciation, you won't pass, irreproachable as your written knowledge of English and literature may be! That's good news for the next generations of students - their teachers will have received a good oral training, which means they'll have at heart to teach the right pronunciation to their students. That's a virtuous circle! :o)

What sports are popular in your country?

Football, cycling, tennis, rugby, gymnastics, athletics.

Are there supermarkets where you live?

Yes. But they don't open on Sundays and none are open 24/24 as many are in the US. But it's easy to plan ahead just for Sunday.

Who are the real-life heros in your country?

Jean Moulin and De Gaulle, undoubtedly, because they led the Résistance movement during WWII. De Gaulle turned out a very conservative President after that (remember May 1968!) but he is nonetheless very much admired. And Father Pierre (l'Abbé Pierre) for his action in favour of homeless people.

Is there a day you celebrate your country? What is the celebration like?

We celebrate Bastille Day on July 14th, when the people of Paris, starving, rebelled against the King and took over the Bastille (which was a prison). It marks the beginnings of the French Republic, although democracy was to be had at a bitter cost! There is a big parade on the Champs Elysées on that day, and every town/village has its fireworks at night. People used to dance (bal du 14 juillet) but I'm not sure that's still very much done.

Pictures of the corset

THANK YOU Everyone for your lovely birthday wishes!!

Seb and I are off to dine out, and later I'll have to tell you all about the lovely gifts Carol, Namuelle and Laure sent me, but right now... Here are some pics of the corset!

You can see my new hair cut by the way! This is quite a change for me... I used to have really long hair since I was 12.

And here's a full view of my circle skirt too! I made it a month ago. It still needs hemming...

And now... Dinner time!

Challenge met

I managed to finish the corset yesterday evening! I was a bit afraid I wouldn't succeed in the end, since I had to handsew the binding and trim, and because of my work I could only start at 6 pm. I'm very happy with it! I can't wait to show you pictures, but this shall have to wait till Sébastien comes home this evening. But he won't come late as we have something to celebrate... I'm 24 today!
Still, I'll try to take some pics of the corset later today - even if I'm not in it, I can still show you its details...


Carol, I was good and haven't opened your parcel yet!

Nearly there!

Hi guys!
I'm nearly done with the corset. I only need to finish binding it with bias tape, and to add the trim. I wanted to get that done last night, but
1° While sewing the bias tape to the first edge, I realized I'll have to do that by hand, as the bones are so close to the seam line that I kept breaking needles trying to machine-sew the bias tape along the edges. One edge is bound, so there are three more edges to go... And then add the trim! That should take some time by hand... But I'm not daunted. I stitched a whole dress by hand exactly a year ago!
2° I've run out of black thread! Means I need to go to a LNS... And hopefully they'll have corset laces too. Since I wanted my corset to have a wide gap in the back, the lace I have is too short and I need to put an extra one in.

... And I HAVE to get that all done by tomorrow! So I'd better get my work done fast today!