A quick little getaway

My dh and I were lucky enough to have a chance to get away for a quick trip to Paris and we jumped at the opportunity.  Fortunately, my friend Will was available during our trip and her friend Charles was having his wonderful open house at his fabulous apartment overlooking the Seine, so we were able to see some of his collection of antique quilts. He has quite a collection!

First, let me show you the view from his apartment:

From another window is a view of the Eiffel Tower in the distance, but sadly there is construction going on and you see the great view with this enormous orange crane in the way.  I skipped that.  But I can never stop being amazed at his gorgeous view.

I met up with Will and we had a lovely little coffee in a cafe near her apartment in Montmartre, which is such a charming neighborhood where she knows everyone!  We then went to her apartment where she treated me to see some of her amazing work.  This little something was hanging on her wall.  Will makes quilts using tiny pieces which always go together so beautifully. Notice her blue border, which you'll see again in the next picture.  She has a great eye for color and how to put things together.  Would you think of using 3 different fabrics for borders, which are all so very different?  And repeating the blue in the center?



She showed me her Mountmellick quilt, which I had last seen in Nantes on display.  Now that I've started the quilt, it meant so much more.

The center is pretty challenging so I was happy to look at her hers carefully.


This is the next border but notice how artfully she mitered the corners of that blue squiggly fabric.  It almost looks like the thing is moving!  Will admitted to me that this was one of her FIRST appliqué quilts.  WOW!

This was something else she was recently working on, as a gift for one of her daughters. She told me that she was going to take the blocks apart and add that denim-like sashing, which you can see under the top in the front.


Now to the show.  Charles collects quilts that are so very varies.  This was one of my favorites.  I think I loved the use of the stripe fabrics.  I also just love this block and am threatening to make something following the pattern, one of these days.    I really wanted to take this one home with me, but it was out of my price range.  But so charming!


Here you can see one of the piles of quilts he had.  

I particularly liked the one on the side table.  Again, very simple but so striking.

Charles seems to prefer log cabins, I think.  here was the bedroom!


This little appliqué was hanging over a door. I love the edges of the baskets.


These two were hanging in the hallway, towards the front door.  When we stopped to look at them, he surprised us by showing us what he had underneath, hidden!!


Behind the pineapple:

Aside from the size of the triangles, the variety of fabrics was remarkable.  And the setting was so unique.  Kind of random but not entirely.

Do you like postage stamp quilts? This one was charming!


From another room, you can see even more piles.  When I say there were piles of quilts (and tops) everywhere, I was not exaggerating!  And he was happy to open them all up, one by one!

Don't overlook the gorgeous wood floors!  That is the back of Charles.

Here are Charles and Will admiring an Ohio Star quilt we saw, folded up.  I don't think you can see from this picture but on two sides, the stars were chopped off!  Just two sides!



This was another of my favorites.  Here's a better picture:

We called the blue on the border Prussian Blue.  Such a gorgeous color.  This one was extremely interesting.  Not sure can see that the 9-patches are uneven:  on two sides, there are two rows; on the other two sides, there are three!  Also, you can't tell but the center stars are actually made of 4 blocks, sewn together perfectly.

More piles!

The little throws on the couch are actually selvages sewn together!  that is a hexagon quilt hanging in the doorway, although I think they may have been elongated.

Here's another log cabin; this one, though, is very small!

Can you see some of the fabrics used here?  pinks?  yellows?  greens? even blacks? In a predominantly red/white/blue quilt? She mixed up the colors, too, which is awesome.  it's not perfect.  My style of quilt!

I really liked this one.  I'll bet you can't tell that it's appliquéd rather than pieced. This was a top (not quilted) so I did look at the back to verify that in fact it was all appliquéd onto light backgrounds.  I love the variety of fabrics!  Wait until you see the close up:




Will and I found this very simple rail fence so striking!


Then it was time for me to head back to our apartment to find my poor husband, who had to wander around Paris on his own all day.  He actually loves it (he's probably used to it by now, since I always ditch him to spend the day with Will!).  What a great sport.  And he doesn't speak French!  He does know how to ask for Deux croissants, for our breakfasts, though.  VBG


And what a fabulous view I was treated to, as I made my way to the bus.

That is Notre Dame Cathedral, in the center in the back.  What's not to love about Paris?  We are so very lucky.

Back to the real world tomorrow.