Bagging up the scraps

 This French Provencal fabric is very precious to me. In fact, it is precious to everyone in the sense that it is very pricey. It is only printed in France and is not cheap even when in France. There are other patterns but since I am a sucker for blues and especially when paired with yellow.
You can order it from French Rendevous online.

I only had a very small scrap left and it either could be made into a very teeny pillow or a small bag. Zippers scare a lot of sewers and I have been avoiding them for years, but have recently met the challenge.

 





















The inside lining of the bag is evn better for consuming the large stash of remnants that we accumulate as they can coordinate or SURPRISE!

When the leftovers are boring just create your own fabric with the help of THE GRAPHICS FAIRY.  The transfer gave this a nice feel as well and the label is perfect for cosmetics. I swear by Lesley Riley TAP paper.



 

A Graphics Fairy French postcard image complets the back and then I had a place to use my tiny scrap of beige toile inside.

The next one is not a scrap inside , but I have been obsessed with polka dots lately and decided I better use some up and they go so nicely with the ticking in brown and black. And I even had the transfer printed out just waiting for the right moment

 

Please come visit my Etsy shop HERE I may be listing some of these soon



Meet Francine

My hubby and the grandkids have all been models for me on this blog but I needed a really attractive woman to display my lady-like stuff. I found her last week on Amazon.com and she didn't demand a high price. As soon as she came out of her box I knew her name was Francine. Don't ask why. She just IS Francine.

I'm slowly transforming my kitchen into a somewhat Provencal style and that room has the best light and available picture taking spots, so I set her up there in an apron made of fabric from France. I have traveled there but didn't have the forethought in 2010 to bring back a lifetime supply of this hard to get fabric. I have found a great online  source in Cincinnati called French Rendez-vous .

 

 

 

The fabric picture here just arrived a few days ago and it is a coated fabric that wipes clean but is not nearly so heavy and glossy as an oil cloth. I plan to make placemats with it.

 

My weekly bow to the Graphics Fairy is the pillow shown sitting on my French farmhouse-like chair. It is made from an old damask tablecloth and Battenburg style lace adorned by the great hydrangea image. The back is made from a fat quarter of the perfect hydrangea print.

 

 





 

A few of my favorite things

A trip to Provence


Mas du Petit Grava  B&B

      






A special fabric


Fabric made in Avignon


















A lucky photo

The Market in Aix-en-Provence

The paintings of Van Gogh


A very long must read for everything Van Gogh

The Graphics Fairy


check out the great stuff at graphicsfairy.com

 The NY Public Library


Visit the NYPL digital collection

All of these came together to help me create something to help hold these images in one place.






I always seem to return to working with fabrics and thread and now these other visual sources have allowed me to be more personally involved with the elements of mixed media. The photos and some of the graphics were transferred to fabric with Leslie Riley TAP paper.  Some were reprinted into card stock. A few ribbons, raffia and fake lavender finished it off


 I left this a wall hanging with no frame because it was totally intuitive with no preconception of the outcome. Once I saw that the name of the French fabric manufacturer was on the salvage edge of the piece I couldn't bear to cut it off.