Townmouse

The good stitch

There are many beautiful shops in Paris.  My hands down favourite, without a doubt, is the Bonpoint flagship store in rue de Tournon.  As luck would have it, it was just around the corner from our sweet hotel in the 6th.

This stunning store is located in a former 18th century residence.  Room after room prettily displays the high-end children's wear.

The loveliest feature of the store is the amazing garden.  Many of the rooms look out onto the prettiest courtyard garden, with verdant lawns and mature trees.  It was enchanting.

The garden is enclosed by the buildings around it, making it a serene little oasis in the middle of Paris.

I enjoyed my Bonpoint store visit so much I dragged Will there on our last day in Paris.  There is a tea room in the basement (possibly the original kitchen?).  We had a perfect light lunch there.  Like everything else in the store, it was expensive, but oh so desirable.

Quilting time

Lately a lot of modern style quilts have made their way into my Flickr faves.  And I've found some wonderful new blogs to follow.  Namely:

• Red Pepper Quilts
• Film in the Fridge
• Handmade by Alissa

These impressive quilters turn out a surprising number of finished projects.  I was so taken by this quilt by Red Pepper Quilts that I felt inpsired to pull together fabrics in the same blue, green, yellow colourway.

I decided to make blocks in the style of this quilt. I started with fabric pieces of 5 1/2" x 8 1/2".  I then spread them out (as seen above) so that when I cut them through, each one would be slightly different.

I then did the same with the middle section, so that the white centre of each block was in a different horizontal and vertical position.

A few blocks later, and this is the result.

Rather than put them together in a checkerboard pattern, I think I'll piece them like this, with white sashing between each block.

This is one of too many half finished projects in my studio at present.  I hope to be able to show you progress on this project.  So far I like it quite a lot.

Countrymouse

Last weekend we enjoyed a divine couple of days in the country.

We stayed with friends in Western Victoria at their beautiful property.  The 1870s house, a mixture of Irish Georgian and early Victorian, sits atop a rise with lovely views over green valleys.

It was cold and wet, and undeniably pretty.  It's so lovely to visit the countryside at a time of year when the landscape is so lush and green.  All in all, a perfect weekend.