A new WIP - Internet bits & bobs - accomplishments

Hello friends! And thank you, for your ever kind comments. They are making my day!

First, here is a project I started while I was at my parents':

This is L'Ange du Sommeil (the Angel of Sleep) by Angèle et Cie, a French designer whose work I really like; Namuelle had sent me the chart for my birthday (she knew I'd wanted it for a while!). The fabric is a Silkweaver Solo from my Halloween treat bag, and for that reason, I decided to change the colours so they would match the fabric. The nightgown is stitched with GAST in Sugarplum, which was another birthday gift from Carol! The feet are stitched in Anchor variegated 1302; the sleeves and nightcap tassel in Anchor variegated 1349; the star in Anchor 1304.
My sister thought it was looking like an insect at that point

Now for the Internet bits and bobs:
~ I've long hesitated to set up a wishlist for exchanges &c... But I've realized how useful my friends' wishlists were, so I finally got around to it last week. I took the opportunity to set up a minimalist website to gather bits and pieces that don't really fit into a blog.

~ I finally updated my stitching and sewing online albums (sewing 2005; stitching 2005; Christmas sewing 2005; WIPs). This was also a good way to look back on my sewing and stitching accomplishments this year, since this is what everyone seems to be doing at the moment!

~ However, I won't set up a list of stitching/sewing goals for 2006... I keep having to plan out my work - sometimes very far out -, and that's more than enough for me. Stitching and sewing are precisely a way to let the pressure and anxiety go. I realized this year that setting too many goals and therefore putting a lot of pressure on myself (I feel such a failure when I can't fulfil a promise, even to myself!) was one of the main causes of my insomnia problem. Besides, it's always very difficult to know exactly how much time in a week (or a month!) I can devote to stitching - it really varies depending on my teaching obligations - and even more on the progress of my research.
So let's just say, I'll go where my fancy carries me. I certainly want to finish the Petal Fairy and perhaps start another large project next year; I'll have to stitch the final round in the Margaret Sherry Round Robin; I want to stitch in several exchanges, and of course, gifts for friends and family! Other than that, I have lovely projects in my crafty drawer, lovely fabrics to play with as well, and... I'll just see in due time what I want to start!

~*~

Finally, since this is a good time to look back on the year's accomplishments... This brings me to my major accomplishment in 2005: to finally get rid of my insomnia problem.
I started suffering from severe insomnia when I was 17. I don't want to go back on that dreadful time and the numerous attempts to solve the problem (the few months before last March being among of the worst); but when we moved in our new flat in March, to live in a much quieter environment (we can't hear the traffic at all from here), I was determined to do anything I could to solve the problem. I think it is now possible to say that I succeeded, since on January 4th, it'll be 10 months since I've last taken something to help me sleep!

I received much help from a book by a French psychiatrist who is one of the main experts in France on the subject. This book has taught me so much, and has made me change my attitude radically. I've learned not to let myself think to much when I'm in bed. I've banned every book or sewing magazine, every activity from my bedside (this was tough at first, as I've been used to read in bed since I was 6!). I'm learning to dwell on the accomplished at least as much as what's left to do. I've learned not to make a big deal if I don't sleep well for one or two nights. I've learned a lot from Violette's serenity and happiness in sleeping! (we adopted Violette at the end of March).

I know that I'll have to be ever careful about this... that there might be a relapse some day... But I have gained so much confidence and happiness in recovering a natural and sound sleep, a child's sleep...
Sorry for the long post... but it felt good to put this into words!!

Christmas gifts to my family

Hi friends,

I am finally editing the pictures of the gifts I made to my parents and siblings. Unfortunately, I realize that forgot to photograph a couple of them... Ah well.

Here are the scarves I made for each of my siblings:

From left to right: the first scarf is for my older sister (the eldest), in a fancy "eyelash" wool; the second one is for my younger sis, in mohair wool; the last scarf is for my older brother; I cut it from fleece, and embroidered a little snake on the scarf; I also embroidered a fleece hat to match.

I do not know how to hand-knit... But I used a knitting loom to knit the first two scarves. This is totally unknown in France but I was asked to participate in a Canadian (Quebec) loom-knitting group to translate online patterns for them. I finally had to buy one! This is where Ebay is a great ressource to buy stuff from the American continent!

Here is my little sister's kitty blanket, in the only place of the flat where it could lay flat - on the bed:

My sister loved it, so it was WELL worth the work!

For my elder sister, a wallhanging quilt:

Each of the 16 panels is stitched separately before they are all assembled; I then sewed French lace all around (funnily, French lace is called "English lace" in French!), and then added a layer of batting and a lilac lining. I coordinated the colours to her home decor, and she loved it too

I embroidered a pair of boxer shorts for each guy in the family - my brother, my BIL and Seb.

Seb got a kitty one:

("P'tite Mignonne" is what we most often call Violette: "Little Cutie")

And my brother and BIL each got a monkey one:

"This is MINE! I know I can't wear it, but I don't care! Meow!"

I embroidered a fleece sweater for Seb and another one for my BIL, but apparently forgot to photograph my BIL's sweater!
Here's the one for Seb:

It was impossible to do the colours justice in photographing this dark fleece! That's the best I could do... (my BIL's sweater has a Miro-inspired bird on it)

I finally ended up making something for my parents, besides the expresso-capuccino machine we got them. Their gifts pile would have been too scarce otherwise!

For my mother, a Sunbonnet/crinoline lady:

For my father, I stitched two bookmarks whileI was in Lille, but forgot to take pictures!!

I also stitched this little chicken for my Grandma while I was in Lille:

Stitched over one on 28-ct linen

As for me, I was spoiled by my family with wonderful, thoughtful gifts!
Stashwise, my mother spotted a fabric store that was closing out nearby and was having a huge clearance sale, so she bought me a BIG box of fabrics; among them are three pieces of silk - the kind of fabric I would never dare to buy myself! Now I need to find the perfect patterns for those...

I have been FAR too spoiled...

And I'm not even talking about the gifts from my family! But I came home from my parents' to find so many lovely, thoughtful gifts in the mail... Christmas is certainly not over!

(click for a very large picture)

From the top left and clockwise:
- My friend Séverine sent me a scarf in a lovely cherry "clafoutis" color that she designed & knit herself; she even made the badge on it!! The funny thing is, she knit it at the very moment when I was sewing gifts for her!
- My dear sweet friend Jenna sent me one of the fabulous ornaments she made this year... I told her specifically I didn't want any... But she sent the one I liked best!! Her stitching is amazing. Thanks again my friend... That ornament will hang above my desk all year long! (You can see a better photo in her gallery - if you don't know Jenna's awesome work, have a tour, you're in for a real treat!)
- Bernadette is a lovely lady whom Zoanna knows well, since she made many beautiful toiletry bags for Katrina evacuees. I had sent her a couple of gifts to thank her and she knitted me that adorable kitty in Violette's colours!! Now Seb and I each have our own precious kitty sitting on our bedframe (he has the blue kitty I made him last month)
- Bernadette also embroidered and made a lavender towel topper for me... It is so pretty...
- My friend Carol sent me the Margaret Sherry kit of one of my favorite designs - Purr-Pendicular!! She also sent some mint green Cashel linen along - Carol, I assume you think it'd be a good choice for Purr-Pendicular itself?
- Finally, Christiane made me some lovely gifts, again. I don't know what to say, as she'd knitted a fabulous scarf for me in November, and I thought my thank you gifts were so lame in comparison!! And now she sends me those beautiful, delicately embroidered gifts - a superb bookmark and a pretty envelope (lined in a Sunbonnet fabric! I LOVE sunbonnets!!)

To top it all... I received a big box of goodies from my dear friend Zoanna, in which she included the cutest gifties for every French seamstress who contributed bags to the Katrina project. I don't want to show you mine, because some of my French sewing buddies come here and I don't want to spoil the surprise... But I can at least tell you it's adorable, and show you the sensation that the box created when I opened it:

And I am not even mentioning the cards I received... I am overwhelmed! Thank you my friends!!

Apart from that... Our Christmas was a happy one! I'll tell you about it in another post... But I wanted a separate entry for the gifts you friends sent me!

Merrry Christmas my friends!

My Dear Friends,
I wish you all a wonderful Christmas, full of love and laughter!

Thank you so much for being my friends...
Knowing you, and interacting with each and everyone of you, has been a great blessing throughout the year.

Day after day, you bring lots of smiles and happiness into my little world...
May your kindness be returned to you tenfold!

Much Love and Christmas blessings!

Meeting up with San in Lille

Hi friends! Thank you all for your well wishes. I'm not a lot online... I thought I'd be working but in the end I really need a break. So I'm merely spending my time talking with my family, reading, stitching, and decorating the house! It's so good to relax.

San and I met in the center of our hometown on Tuesday morning. We wanted to explore a few stitching shops and above all to catch up on each other. She gave me the cutest felt kitty ever, who was sleeping in a pouch sewn with tiny kitty buttons.

Aren't they freaking cute?? Thanks San!!
(you can see what I gave her on her blog)

The funniest thing is that I bought a package with the same buttons on that very morning, before she gave me the pouch. Talk about knowing my tastes!

I also bought a small kit to stitch a gift for my grandmother (who raises hens and chickens in her backyard); it's stitched over one but as it's half stitch with two threads, (and as I have some time!!), I'm almost done. I love the subtle shades (for the chicken's body, there are 3 different shades of yellow + some white).
And I chose a little something for Ann who totally surprised me by sending me a gorgeous card, a Christmas cross-stitch leaflet and an online pattern of a kitty. Thank you Ann!! What a nice surprise! I was really touched. Let me also take this opportunity to thank you for leaving always kind and thoughtful comments over here. I really appreciate each and everyone of them, and it would be just great if you had your own blog where we could interact more equally (I always feel that you're the giver of comments and never the receiver)!
I'll send you something in the New Year.

Finally I can show you some of the gifts to my online friends that have already been received, a bit everywhere in the world.

A second after I'd taken that shot, Violette jumped on the sofa and lay a proprietary paw over the gifts.

She is always immensely interested in what I make; but the trouble is that she always consider them as gifts for her - and is quite disgruntled when I take them away! I don't think she'll ever forgive me for taking my sister's fleece quilt away from her. It was so obviously her property!!

(And you can see that she looks almost twice as big as in the summer - although she tends to eat less!! This is due to the fur she develops in winter - quite amazing!)

A couple of gifts haven't arrived yet, though - I'm especially wondering about an envelope that I sent to Ohio more than two weeks ago... Has anyone from Ohio received a tiny gift from Paris? (don't want to spoil the surprise!)

Hugs everyone!! Enjoy your Christmas preparations!

Before I leave...

I'm about to take the train to go spend a week at my parents' in Northern France, but since I'm done early with my packing (though how on earth am I going to manage in the métro and train with those Christmas parcels??), I thought I'd share a picture of the Petal Fairy with you.

(the picture is a bit overexposed: this is a total no-sun day, so I had to use the flash...)

I didn't work on her this week (obviously!), except for yesterday afternoon, since I was done with my Christmas sewing and HAD decreed the weekend to be a fully crafty one.
And I tried to work on her as often as I could over the weeks before the last. In the evening, if I'm done with my work and whenever I'm talking with Seb or we're watching a DVD, it's become a reflex to pick her up. Seb doesn't mind as he enjoys seeing me happy with my stitching.
I've completely lost count of the hours, though!! But I'm very happy with this project. It's sheer delight to see her grow! I'm not taking her with me to Lille and I'll miss her this week!

This is where I was at the end of November:

Now it's time to pack that laptop and leave! Everyone have a great pre-Christmas week!

Christmas gifts update

First, I need to tell you that I just fetched my letters from the mailbox and found amazing gifts from my friend Shashi the doll artist!

Isn't all this adorable? Shashi made the scissors fob herself and it's so pretty!

I'm over the moon, thank you so much my friend for making me feel special. (((hugs!)))

Yesterday and today, my friends Laurence, Olivia, Séverine and Sylvie received their packages. In fact I decided in November to send a little giftie to each seamstress who had participated in the Katrina Kits project (hence the delay in starting my family's gifts!).

Olivia received a pillow embroidered with fairies busy around a dressform.

Olivia is a wonderful seamstress and she keeps sharing tips and projects on her blog. I thought those sewing fairies were apt for her!

Sylvie authorized me to post this picture from her blog: I made her a scissors case and a lace star ornament.

You can see Séverine's gifties here, and Laurence's gifties here. In my frenzy I forgot to take pictures!

I can now tell you that I started experimenting with embroidery on cardstock last week. I had already written and sent out a few cards before I tried, so I'm sorry that not all my cards will be embroidered...
I really enjoyed making those cards!... Karen got a design with a little reindeer jumping over fir-trees... Maybe Karen, if you've got time, you could take a picture? It is not very important though... I just feel a bit silly that I didn't take a pic!


And here is an update on the gifts for my family:
- my little sister's quilt is finished (but I have to tell you Barbara, this is not a patchwork quilt - the top is only made of one fabric! So, although it is huge and was thus difficult to handle in our small flat, I didn't have to piece the top first... I'm not wonder woman! )
- my big sister's wallhanging is all done, and I must confess this is one of the favorite things I've ever sewn!
- For my brother, I finally embroidered boxer shorts + made and embroidered a fleece hat and scarf set; following your advice (thank you friends!), I also sewed him another little bear, and still need to stuff it.
- My BIL's sweater is embroidered
- Seb's gifts are done (can't tell you what, because contrary to my family, he may come and read on my English blog). I still plan to add a cute little gift, but I have to hurry, as he'll be back at 10 pm tonight!
- I finished an extra present for my Mum, even if we're buying the expresso machine. You see, when I made a wallhanging for my father last September, she said that there were things with the siggie "for Dad from Isabelle" all around the house, but very few with "for Mom from Isabelle"... The main reason is that my Dad's Birthday falls right after the summer holidays, so that I have time to make him gifts! Whereas my Mom's Bday falls mid-February, which is always a busy time of the year... But her remark made me feel so bad!

Once I followed you friends' advice not to freak out, I've been truly enjoying making those gifts!

I can't show you pictures, as my family may sneak in here - certainly not to read the English, but to take a look at the pictures!! Ha ha. I would love to show them to you though... But to make amends, here is finally a picture of the "cat doll" I made for Seb for our anniversary in November - I never got around to taking a picture... Seb is as fond of cats as I am, and with this kitty I tried to represent how I figured Seb would be as cat. But I'll spare you the details of why I chose this and that...

You can see the kitty where it always sits: on the bedframe, right above Seb's place. OK, I know this is a very unconventional gift! But who cares? Seb likes his kitty!

After Christine... Christiane!

After Christine in Ontario, my friend Christiane from Southern France received her little Christmas parcel today.

Those are ridiculously tiny gifts... as Christiane really spoilt me last month. But I tried to send a gift to as many friends as I could for Christmas (and yet I haven't managed to send something to everyone I wanted to... There are so many of you friends to whom I would have loved to make and send something for Christmas! ) . I do intend however to make amends to Christiane next year!

Everyone enjoy the weekend!

My first Christmas gifts made it to Canada :)

Friends, before I start, I want to thank you all so much for your good wishes and words of comfort. I do enjoy making my family's gifts immensely, and you are right, they must not be stressful. But last night I finished my little sister's quilt, and as this was the most daunting and huge of them all, I am now confident that I'll get everything done in time.
Tonight I will work on my older sister's wallhanging. And I shall have the whole weekend to myself, as Seb will be away in Lyons (and I have decided that I won't touch my work next weekend! ).

~*~

My friend Christine in Ontario was the first to receive her Christmas package! Yeah!
Since Christine is fond of Celtic designs, I made her a "Celtic-inpired" purse, with her initials at the back:

This was the first time I experienced stitching with golden thread, but it was fun!

I also made her a little Winter Heart ornament:

I'm glad you like them Christine!

Now I hope the rest of the packages will make it quickly to their recipients!