A Colorful End

A dye blotter from the hand painted petals

for beautiful couture silk flowers.

Marcy and Sara in stripes in the Palais Royale garden.

 

The sewing room at Giverny.

View from the bedroom window.

 

Tulips across the pond.

Under the wisteria.

Reflections in the garden.

Irene, Nancy and les Nymphes.

A wonderful time!

Katherine

To The Streets: Sunday & Monday

  

It is so in the blood, this love of flea markets. 

Items of interest for sewists can always be found. 

I didn't get this but found some great old zinc hooks.

The crew at Heartwork - a group trend forecaster Li Edelkoort started 

that help support, design and market indigo and other crafts in Africa and India.

 The Louis Vuitton portion of the exhibit at the Musée de la Mode et du Textile 

is visually and historically interesting.

The Marc Jacobs portion is much ado about nothing.

Mr Jacobs clearly has talent. Unfortunately his ego is larger.

Later, sitting in Cafe Flore, experiencing a bit of French ennui 

and enjoying a glass of wine, we noticed more and more people walking down the street.

 Soon a police car came through leading even more people 

carrying flags and signs and cheering. 

The French presidential election had been decided and we had front row seats!

A parade of happy Hollande supporters continued down Boulevard 

Saint Germain de Pres for hours on their way to the Bastille.

Monday morning we were in Saint Sulpice viewing this stunning marble and conch font

by Pigalle, a master French sculptor who can make marble look like water

(and whose name is unfortunately now associated with a seedier side of the city).

On rue Visconti learning some French history.

Peeking into the courtyard of Gertude Stein's apartment.

Standing in the courtyard of Picasso's studio where he painted Guernica.

My feet are sore and I am so happy! Big wow...

Katherine

ParisTilton Day One and Before

 This is actually pre-day one as we went to check out this wonderfully weird exhibition of Commes des Garcon garments that felt like Butoh meets Tim Burton. We'll be back!

 The window at the Hermes home store is another wonderful and weird experience with animals, broken crockery and tilted references.

 Heaven is in the Marais - a sweet shop with beautifully sewn original clothes.

 Styling cyclists by Notre Dame. I love the green pants and her shoes!

Tracy, Peggy and Kim, smiling on the Seine.

The Eiffel Tower, as magnificent as ever, backed by billowing black clouds 

that thankfully didn't dump on our boat ride.

Katherine

Paris in Shadows

Lacey shadows in the Tuileries gardens on Tuesday. By Wednesday the rain is back...

Went out and found French teddy bears 

for the Teddy Bear Picnic in Takilma in June.

Nothing like a teddy bear to keep things in perspective.

 Window at the Miller et Bertaux studio.

We come to Paris to experience French fashion and they are doing retro American.

Ironique.

What does it mean?

A graffiti smile as enigmatic as the Mona Lisa.

Katherine

Another day in Parisdise

My niece Madeline arrived in the midst of the May 1 demonstrations in Paris. Even with the streets closed off and forgetting her map she managed to find us at Martine's apartment. With the windows open on this glorious day we could hear 'La Marseillaise' reverberating down the narrow street.

People were having picnics everywhere, even on the bridges.

This window display seemed a little OCD...

Love this old building but what do you suppose 'Paris American Art' is, exactly?

The front of Serge Gainsbourg's house covered with graffiti.

Inside it's the same as the day he died.

Helmut, street artist and his work.

Walking home through the Louvre pleasantly exhausted...

Katherine

Paris délicieux

Had lunch today at Le Progress in Montmartre which is becoming one of my favorite Paris restaurants. This gorgeous salad (which I have already tasted at this point in the photo) is the best salad I have ever eaten (and I make some pretty great salads!). Thinly sliced tomatoes, spicy roquette, tangy feta, dressed with a fine balsamic vinegar and a pesto oil that moved the basil flavor subtly onto each leaf. Oh so very good!

While Marcy went looking for fabric I took the funicular up to Sacre Coeur to gaze over the city while it was still relatively clear. The skies were quite artistically cloudy
and still you could see quite a distance.

The area was jammed with people everywhere so the energy was lively and happy.

This talented man was doing amazing things with a ball while standing on a pillar about 3' x 3'. If he had fallen it would be down a steep hill or the stairs. He kept this elegant dance up for at least 20 minutes of grace and ended by walking the fence
and then climbing the light post, all the while keeping the ball spinning.

It was a solo Cirque de Soleil as he held his body out parallel to the ground.

Then there were the brides having their photos taken...

And the chestnut trees in bloom!

Au revoir à  Avril en Paris.

Katherine

Avril à Paris

Lilies-of-the-Valley brings happiness on May 1 for the French - according to the women we met in the market this morning while we were wallowing in the scent of some real ones. The history comes from Charles the first who decided to give them to the ladies of the court. This window display in one of our special dessert spots captures the joy inherent in one of my favorite flowers and I'd bet that chocolate cupcake tastes way better than dirt!

We encountered an ocean of shoes in the lower level of Galleries Layfette. One whole square block of nothing but shoes, each designer showcased in their little boutique. So many shoes, so few that could actually be worn if you wanted to be able to walk...

Our neighborhood hardware store carries everything you could ever need. Artfully arranged floor to ceiling, no space is left unused, even the door had this well balanced display of balls of string.

Plus à venir!
Katherine

Creative Spring - leap, jump, bound, vault, bounce, arise, emanate, sprout, surprise...

What an amazing season Spring is when she finally arrives. The sun likes to hide out in March providing an inner chill that feels colder than December. Then one day, after a grey heavy morning, the sun appears and clothing is shed piece by piece until I absolutely have to get the shoes off and the sandals on. Put the socks away and open the windows.

We leave for Paris tomorrow so it’s full-Tilton packing and getting organized today. The clothes are organized, some are in the suitcase and two pieces at the sewing machine.

Sometimes I notice my mind fretting about how I am going to come up with new ideas. What new thing could possibly be done with a t-shirt? Something always seems to show up but that never seems to help in the moment of fretting. Once I let go of that the ‘something’ always appears. In this case I got to experience, once again, that necessity really is the mother of invention.

I purchased a really nice turtleneck my last time in Paris. It perfectly matched a jacket I have but I rarely wore it. The jacket is the perfect weight for Paris in May the the shirt felt too wintery. Once I’d shortened the sleeves to 3/4, cut the neck down and removed the turtleneck it looked much better but now the length seemed too short. What to do?

I picked out the hems on shirt and sleeves with a seam ripper. I took the turtleneck apart and removed a small piece of elastic that was there to give it a nice scrunch. After pressing everything I cut the sleeve pieces into rectangles. Now I had 3 pieces that would go almost all the way around the bottom of the shirt. When I found a scrap of stripe that matched I knew I was good to go.

I stitched the short edges of the sleeve and turtleneck pieces closed, turned and pressed them. These three pieces along with two stripe scraps were arranged with edges overlapping around the lower edge of the shirt and basted down. After a final try on approval the seam is serged and voila a whole new look!

Jumpin' Creativity

This photo shows a small corner portion of the visual feast provided in the studio where I was lucky enough to stay this past weekend. Tucked into a lush garden by a creek I was in heaven.

Twelve amazing and creative women gathered for a 'Beyond The Arty T' workshop and played with fabric and paint for two full days. It was an extraordinary time of sharing, growing their work and laughing. They made jackets out of sweatshirts, turtlenecks, t-shirts and cashmere sweaters. They cut, painted and silk-screened up a storm. I demonstrated, showed images and clothing and was in awe of the fine work that came out of their hands.

Mary wore this comical version of Vogue 8748 with color blocking, 

which she scaled down for her petite frame.

Tamara tried her hand at 'watercolor' painting on her white T.

Pansies in full bloom share our creative spirit. What are you making today?

Katherine