This is for you, Ant- Gemma and I in the garden just before she left for the boat today. Sad to see her go - the next time she'll arrive with you and Gareth - can't wait!!! We're on healthy diets as preparation for the wedding. I have ordered the most wonderful hat - a local lady who is very artistic and creates the most superb hats - you should see her work!! You just don't realise all these artistic people live in Guernsey - she is making hats for Ascot, Paris etc - stunning modern designs. Mine perches on the side of my head and will match my outfit - coppery/mink brown with fuschia feathers - they aren't full feathers - long feather spines with a dot of colour at the ends - can't really explain it but Gemma approves. I found this photo of us taken at Da Nello's last summer - will we swim a lot this year do you think?

And this is of you (Antoinette) and Pop when you were 18 months old - your hair was really curly then too

I have lots of sewing to do now - embroidering Gemma's wedding dress, finishing bridesmaid's bags etc. will start afresh next week!!

These are the bags i made whilst in France (again)! I used Antoinette's sewing machine (she wants it back when she eventually comes back to live in the UK!!!) which is a little Elna - sews beautifully - much smaller than my Bernina but seems more manageable in some ways. Gemma has chosen this bag below. Antoinette has seen the bags on the computer and has chosen this one below. It took longer to make than the others as anyone who does patchwork will appreciate. I don't do an awful lot of patchwork but I love the effect.

The bag below was the first one I made - I had prepared the strips and quilted them months ago but had never found the time to finish the bag. I've kept this one for myself as it's my favourite!! Whilst in France I couldn't resist buying more fabrics and once Gemma's wedding is over I am on a bag making session - Christmas presents for the family!!

We have discovered we owned more land than we thought in France and have our very own bluebell wood - it was in full bloom at the beginning of the month - I took lots of photos for future inspiration - not really in a flowery mood at the moment. The photo below shows Sam admiring his trees!!! - mainly poplar and some fir trees - with a stream running through - all very pretty.

Gemma is over this week to sort out wedding things - I have a list of things to do before 9 August - embroidering wedding dress being the main one - I will just have to knuckle down and shut myself in the spare bedroom with the dress. Someone has very kindly lent me a tailor's dummy to put the dress on which will make life easier. When i need a break from sewing i will have to take time to add to this blog - getting the hang of it now!!

As in my previous blog, these are the bags I made whilst in France at the beginning of May. The patterns are from a book by Yoko Saito, a japanese textile artist - the book is in french but such lovely patterns!! I bought the fabrics from a shop in France and also used some antique chinese silk fabrics which I found at the knitting and stitching show in Harrogate last november. Antoinette and Gemma (my 2 daughters) will have to choose which ones they want - hope they don't fight over one bag!!! Gemma is coming over to Guernsey next week to sort out a lot of things for her wedding in August - she is bringing her dress to which i am adding embroidery - will keep me quiet until 9 August! Gemma will help me look for a hat for the wedding whilst over - hope we can find one in Guernsey!!And I need shoes and a bag - may need to make one!!!!!

still learning

I'm still learning how to 'blog' - have had instructions from Antoinette (Daughter who lives in Vietnam) who has been on skype tutoring me for about an hour - she can't believe how stupid i am on a computer!!!! But i may have got there now. Here are some photos of some of my work. The above is entitled 'what a tangled web we weave! It is knitted hemp embroidered in buttonhole stitch!

This is a silk painting inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo - hand embroidered.

This was inspired by a holiday in Mexico - the pyramids in the Yucatan peninsular were spectacular and i took so many photos - this is a detail of a wall!! At the time Antoinette was teaching in Mexico City but has now moved to Saigon - our next holiday - silks here we come!!!

This is a detail of another mexican inspired embroidery - i did a set of three - i dye my own fabrics and layer them then use hand and machine embroidery.

These are the bags i made whilst in France recently- the fabrics were sourced in france and antique chinese silks found at Harrogate last November. I have a superb bag book - patterns for the lovliest of bags - very inspiring!!

How is that for a first proper blog - Ant - are you proud of me?????

Learning to post blogs

We're in France at the moment for two weeks - Sam is busy in the garden and I am enjoying myself making bags. I've made 2 so far and want to make another so that Antoinette, Gemma and I have one each! Going into Dinan today to stock up on a few sewing essentials (!!!). I'm trying to learn how to post things on this blog but will have to wait until we're back in Guernsey to play for longer as we're not on broadband here and it's so tedious having to wait so long to do things!! Will also have to learn how to post photos - help!