Market Day

With wall to wall sunshine and great wine at knockdown prices it is easy to see how life in France is very different to that in the NE of England.

Those differences are even more marked when it comes to shopping for food where the weekly market is very much the go-to place for fresh, local produce.

So, I thought you might like to see what is on offer this week.

It's France, there has to be fresh bread!

There are two bakers in our village, one is currently closed for annual holiday and the other obviously underestimated demand on Bastille Day as they ran out of bread. The shudders of horror could be felt all over the valley :)

Fresh eggs are a given

but live hens? You can tell it is rural France :)

Langoustines for lunch? Our absolute favourite.

At least two of our five a day, no discarding irregular shaped vegetables here thank you!


And to bring all that food home

A stylish bag or two

The icing on the cake, a fabric stall which, of course, needs to be supported :)

Makes that weekly trawl round the supermarket very dull, doesn't it ?

Meet Cheddar

You have already met Basil and Hilda

and their farmyard friend Daisy the Cow.

Now meet the latest addition to the farmyard

 Cheddar the Mouse!

I only bought one of the frames before I left for France, so I will have to wait until I am back in the UK to frame Daisy and Cheddar.

Linking up to

Tiny Togs and Tall Mountains - New to Me in July

Welcome to this month's New to Me Link Party

Where we celebrate trying out something new whether it has been successful or not :)

I have had very different New to Me's this month

Three New to Me's are all wrapped up in this tiny t-shirt.

My first attempt at clothes making, my first time sewing with knit fabric and a New to Me pattern maker Brindille and Twig

I enjoyed making this so much that I have already made another one :)

I have also visited a New to Me country

On our trip to the South of France we were within striking distance of Andorra, nestled between France and Spain, so we took the opportunity to tick another country off our list. In fact, that day we had breakfast in France, lunch in Andorra, afternoon coffee in Spain and then dinner back in France! That might not be so easy to do in a couple of years when the full effect of Brexit kicks in, so we thought that we had better take the chance whilst we still could :)

So that's my New to Me's this month, now it is your turn to share the highs and lows of trying out something for the first time. As ever please help to spread the word by linking back to this post in your post and/or adding the blog button to your sidebar.








Check out the other links too and, maybe, leave an encouraging comment along the way. The emphasis of this link party is to celebrate the trying so a little encouragement here and there would not go amiss! 
The link will remain open until 23.59GMT on July 31st, so you have some time yet to try something new and link up and join the party :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Woodland Friends

A few weeks ago I volunteered to test a paper piecing pattern for Juliet, The Tartankiwi. Juliet has designed a set of patterns on the theme of Woodland animals, and I volunteered to test the bunny pattern.

At the time I completely forgot that my fabric stash was hidden away in the depths of a storage unit somewhere between the NE of England and Scotland! I have some fabric with me in France but not much in the way of scraps, but fortunately I was testing a 4" block so the fabric requirements were not very large and I had the remnants of a low-volume scrap bundle from Plush Addict so it wasn't all bad!

I have to admit to having three attempts at the ears, making a different mistake every time but other than that and despite the size of some of the pieces it all went together fairly easily.


As all of my pincushions are also hidden away in that storage unit I decided to turn my pattern test block into a pincushion. He looks rather sweet don't you think?

Juliet is hosting a QAL for her mini Woodland patterns with some great prizes up for grabs, you can find out more about it here


Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts

Christmas in the Sun - Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew

Welcome to another Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party, where we aim to work on Christmas and Holiday projects throughout the year so that come December all will be calm and collected in your part of the crafty world!

You have already seen my Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew project for this month, my first ever baby t-shirt!

I made the 3 month size as our first grandbaby will be that age around the end of the year. Just in case though I have started on a next size up t-shirt as my next project so that all bases are covered :)


So, that's my contribution to the gift stockpile. If you are looking for inspiration for a Christmas/Holiday project head on over to this month's guest host Heidi, at Red Letter Quilts, for another great tutorial. Heidi hosts the One Monthly Goal link party with some great prizes, so if you are looking for a little extra motivation head on over and check it out

As always, it wouldn't be a Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party without a giveaway and this month one lucky linker will receive their choice of one fabulous bag pattern courtesy of the lovely Sarah at Sew Sweetness


Sarah designs the most wonderful bag patterns the lucky winner will be spoilt for choice.

The winner of last month's screenprinted FQ bundle was Sandra who linked up her cute strawberry zipper pouch, congratulations Sandra!


To be in with a chance of winning this month's giveaway head on over to Heidi at Red Letter Quilts and link up your Christmas or Holiday makes from July. As ever the link party closes at 23.59 GMT on July 31st, so you have lots of time to get those projects linked up. No blasts from the past though, we are all about stockpiling throughout the year here so restrict yourself to links to projects you have worked on this month:)

Thanks again to our lovely giveaway sponsors who have been so generous in their support of the link party.

  

 

Baby steps

Welcome to TGIFF, the link party that celebrates that Friday finish feeling!

This week I have lots of celebrations rolled up into one very little package!

My first celebration is for the fact that I have never sewn an item of clothing in my life before, other than the obligatory costumes for school plays. So, I am beyond thrilled to have produced a recognisable t-shirt :) It might not seem much to the dressmakers reading this, but it is a big deal for me.

Not only is this my first item of clothing, but it is also the first time I have ever worked with knit fabric.

In May I saw the gorgeous baby leggings and hats made by Cathy at Blueberry Patch and thought that it might be fun to have a go. I followed the link to Brindille and Twig patterns and couldn't resist buying a pattern (or two!) Well it was May is for Makers over at LR Stitched, so it would have been rude not to :)

I have to say that working with knit fabric wasn't the easiest thing that I have ever done, and there are definitely a couple of wavy seams in there, but all in all I am pretty pleased with my first attempt with knits.

Which is just as well as I might just have got a bit carried away when I ordered the fabric from Fabricworm and ordered all of these too!

I think that I will have another go at a t-shirt before I attempt the even scarier combination of knit fabric and elastic for matching leggings :)

So, that's my TGIFF finish now it is your turn to link up and celebrate your finishes. Don't forget to check out the other linkers to spread the celebrations around!

An InLinkz Link-up