POOL PARTAY !!!

Last saturday, we hosted a pool party for the our grand sons boy scouts pack .

There was racing, canon ball and belly flop competitions, and assignement of swimming belt loops/patches ; it was a lot of fun.

A lot of splashing and confusion, we are thrilled to say that no one jumped on anyone else, which was a minor miracle, with some 28 boys, and all.

TTFN.

Something Wild

Some time ago, I became fascinated with the african textiles their graphic brilliance and the colors... those colors that resonate, something earthy within the soul, something basic. I made a quilt (about 3 by 5 feet) based on this feeling of spontaneity. Probably the only one of its kind for me, since I usually prefer softer tones, for once I I gave a voice to the wild heart in me ... hidden somewhere.

TTFN

Of Old Skeleton Keys

I have a thing for keys, the promise of an open door, the hope for a new freedom or an exotic discovery. Old skeleton keys made noble by rust, the substantial weight of the iron and their inorganic scent that makes the teeth tingle a little, I own a few of them. Some are very pretty, and some are highly historic , some of mysterious origin. I can't let them rust away in a drawer,I shall use them in silly and unexpected ways.

J'aime beaucoup les vieilles clefs : La promesse d'une porte ouverte, l'espoir d'une nouvelle liberte, ou d'une decouverte exotique. Vieilles clefs annoblies par la rouille, le poids de l'acier, la legere odeur metallique qui fait envoient des frissons dans nos dents, j'en ai quelques unes. il y en a qui sont tres jolies, d'autres sont historiques, et certaines d' une origine mysterieuse. Je ne peut pas les laisser rouiller dans un tirroir. Je veux essayer de les utiliser.

The above key holds a lot of memories for me. It is the key to the flight deck (aka the cockpit)from the time when I worked as a flight attendant . Sometimes the flight deck was the only place to catch a couple of minutes of (relative) silence. On a twelve hours overseas flight with three hundred restless passengers, it had an almost meditative quality.

TTFN.

Le cle ci-dessus est un souvenir de mes jours comme hotesse de l'air. c'est la cle du cockpit. des fois c'etait la seule place ou l'on pouvait se trouver deux minutes de relatif silence sur un vol d'outre-mer de 12 heures avec 300 passagers fatigues et irritables.

Finished : The Family Chronicle Quilt

It is finished, FINISHED ! Not a bad performance, in view of the fact that I started it 4 years ago :-)

Okay, It still needs a little more quilting, but I can do that at my leisure during those long winter evenings while watching tv.

Enfin termine : Le Patch de la famille Henry !!! pas trop mal comme cela m'a pris (seulement) quatre ans a finir. Il a besoin d'un petit peu plus de matelassage, mais je peut faire ca durant ces longues soirees d'hiver au coin du feu (devant la tele, plutot)

Boys, boys everywhere you look.

Kai's Birthday Party: Seven Candles

Fox is such a pretty little imp, and a big fan of chocolate frosting

Fox est un bien joli petit diable qui estun fan du chocolat

Chase, who wants to be grown up in the worst way , but is not above licking the frosting off the candles.
Chase qui veut etre grand, mais n'a pas oublie comment lecher le glacage au chocolat sur les bougies.

Kai on his birthday , August 2nd, with a chocolate cake, custom made for him with 7 candles.

Grand sourire (un peu edente) de Kai le jour de son anniversaire. un gateau d'anniversaire fait a la maison pour lui... avec Sept Bougies

I'm Baaaaack : a BORO textile experiment

I t's official, I deserve the title of "Bad Blogger" of the month. I've got excuses, but I am not going to bother you with them, because, they are after all, well, excuses. So I'm back after a long hiatus. I've finished a few projects that I now need to photograph.

And for starters, I have found this japanese textile art form, that I find fascinating. It is called "Boro" which translate into "rags" or "waste fabric" in English. The story behind the Boro textiles is a little similar to our quilting tradition. When fabrics were rare and expensive, poor people in Japan did not throw away any of them. Instead, they patched and mended, and replaced and added to the garment until it looked a bit like Joseph's Coat of Many Colors. I find this art-craft form poignant since it represents a history of the person, or family that owned it. You can see a few exemple of beautiful Boro pieces here :
http://www.kimonoboy.com/catalog.html?category=Sold_Boro

Anyhoo I tried my hand at making a New Boro (and as you can see I just I love Indigo.) I realize that it is cheating, for the value is in the antiquity, but, in my defense I want to mention that all the fabrics I used are quite old, leftovers from dress making and faded tea towels and old blue jeans. There's something so primeval about the rough, visible stitches and the raw edges, it has inspired me to do other pieces, not Boros, but, my own creations. So much so that the title of this blog "My Little Papers may no longer be appropriate, and perhaps should be changed to "My little Stuff," Whadaya think ?

Toodles

o

TEXTE EN FRANCAIS

J'ai decouvert cette forme japonaise de Patchwork, qui s'appelle "Boro" qui se traduit a peu pres par "Tissu perdu". Il y a un ou deux siecle quand le tissu coutait tres cher, les pauvres gens reparaient et ajoutaient des pieces avec un resultat tres interessant. Bien sur, les Boros authentiques coutent les yeux de la tete, et sont tres recherches par les les collec-

tionneurs, alors, pour rire, je m'en suit cousu un (voir photo.) Il n'est pas trop mal reussi, meme si il lui manque la patine de 2 siecles.

Vous pouvez voir des Boros authentiques dans le lien si dessus (au milieu du texte Anglais) je les trouve superbes, si touchants, et personnels, et en meme temps, tres graphique et modernes enfin c'est le design Japonais... imbatable.

A plus tard.

More of Burgundy,

To say that wine is important in Burgundy is a gross understatement: In Burgundy wine is a religion.

Here is the chateau of Meursault where we visited the cave and sampled some great wines.

The chateau of Meursault is built on top of an 11th century monastery of which only the magnificent vaulted cellars are left.

This is the vineyard of Meursault, right next to the castle.

Vineyards are everywhere scaling up the hills, as far as the eye can see. It is interesting to see the names on each vineyard, legendary names like Pommard, Meursault, Gevrey-Chambertin, Puligny-Montrachet, and to see that their vineyards are relatively modest in size, (I sort of expected immense, impressive fields matching the world famous reputations.)

TTFN