Excited to announce our three days of craft workshops featuring Shea Fragosa and Debbie Murray, Tracie Lyn and Marilyn Huskamp, Anna Corba, Charlotte Lyons and Molly Meng. Each workshop has been created for our Art of Craft weekend - which coincides with the CHA show in January. Come for the craft and stay for the day! More details and information here.
Molly and I hit the Alameda Flea Market this past weekend - in the rain - and I discovered this old quilt being used as a packing blanket in a vendor's booth. I was a bit worried about the condition and if it would hold up, but when the dealer offered it to me for $10 I thought - I'll take my chances. The Drunkard's Path quilt pattern is said to have played a significant role in the Underground Railroad. The quilts were hung on a clothesline or over a porch railing to convey hidden messages. Legend has it that the Drunkard's Path told slaves to "zigzag a path" to make tracking more difficult. There's also evidence that the pattern actually originated in the late 1920s. I am working on improving my knowledge of early American quilts so I can incorporate our Moda fabric line into these designs - early 19th century French florals and stripes meets early Americana.
More photos from the hat factory in Septfond...but these were the pieces that were too dear to Guy's heart - he couldn't part with the old stamps - each used to stamp the name of a particular hat. I think Rebecca might have convinced Guy to sell the number stamps - used for marking the size of the hat. The sizes weren't as important to him - but the names - ah yes, the names. 
The basics in jewelry making are happening this Saturday at French General! Come learn how to work with the correct jewelry tools, the best glue for glass cabochons, the secrets of opening and closing a jump ring - did you hear the click? - and looping headpins. All materials are provided in the class fee, as well as a table of inspirational materials to make your project unique. Each Saturday, throughout the month of December, we are offering up simple craft workshops to learn the elementary skills....beading, collage and textiles are all explored on the craft tables at French General. Sign up for a class at frenchgeneral.com - bring a friend and your glasses!
How to choose just one? Every memory was special and conjured up images of younger years or family members that were quilting long before we were born. After much reading, the quilt used to wrap the dog was a memory we couldn't get out of our heads. Later, when talking to a friend about this idea of wrapping someone or something with a special quilt, she mentioned that she had wrapped her mother in a quilt before she buried her. I love this- the idea of covering a loved one in a quilt - to use something we have spent countless hours creating, to comfort someone else.
When you take groups of women to France who all collect the same thing - old trim, buttons, textiles and paper - you have to have a strategy for looking for your own stash. Logic tells me that I want to be the first one in the brocante, quickly survey the layout and then head straight to the armoire where there are piles of old textiles. But I've learned to take the slow approach. Now, I am usually the last one in and I head in the opposite direction of where everyone else has gathered. This lace sample book is a perfect example. When we all walked into our favorite antique shop in Montauban this past summer, everyone immediately spread out and started looking for gold. I hung back a bit, talked to the old owner, Guy, and told him about our escapades at the hat factory. He then pointed to a box on the floor in front of his desk and said "There's something in there you might like." That was my clue. I dug through the box full of old papers, scraps of tickets, maps and eventually pulled out this amazing sample book. Set up like a paper accordion, the pages all pull out - 25 in total - to reveal a bit of handmade bobbin lace. Each page has a selection of four inch lace samples tacked down - mostly in white, but a handful in black - for the mourning period. I tucked the book under my arm and thanked my lucky stars for finding the needle in the haystack.
Although there are many places to dig for treasures in France, one of the best places to dig is Patrick Bru's backyard in Septfond. Patrick used to own a huge warehouse on the main road - filled with French antiques - but two years ago he packed it all up and moved it over to his grandmother's maison where he now lives with his whole family. 
We do both love the old bits of French history - the unused stock - the piles of school books, the old boutis and the well used breakfast bowls. This past summer I knew enough to go looking for Patrick on our first swing through town. Sure enough, I spotted him right where I thought he might be - at the new local bar in Septfond - sitting at the outside cafe table having a cigarette and a glass of beer.
I rolled down the window and shouted "Patrick Bru - c'est moi" He kinda looked at me like - "What??" But eventually recognized the girl from California who travels with her mom and sister - and a whole lot of friends - and waved back. I quickly told him we would see him later and he responded with a thumbs up signal. We visited Patrick two - no three times last summer, and every time I found an armful of treasures. He now invites over other friends who are dealers and makes up a small brocante in his backyard for us - a pop up market for the afternoon.
We've finally taken the plunge and designed a couple of quilts - with a little help from our friends! I remember attending Quilt Market a couple of years ago and being so intimidated by all the master quilters. I still am - only now, I talk with some of them on a regular basis and somehow they have coached me into thinking "yes we can". 
It's been a long time coming for us to try out the waters with kits and patterns, but I think I am finally beginning to understand what goes into the pattern making business....a lot!! We've made up 50 of each of these kits- hoping they are loved by the quilting community. Each kit is complete with the fabric and pattern. The Maison quilt comes with a full size template for the house applique and the Reine quilt comes with a plastic hexagon template. Both kits are packaged in a fabric carry-all with two custom labels. I hope you enjoy our first two quilts - and if you make one of the kits, I would love to hear your feedback. Please e-mail me your comments and ideas at notions@frenchgeneral.com. Merci!
There is an old hat factory in Septfond - a small town near the chateau we rent for our Chateau Getaway. I try to explain this hat factory to people and I can never get it quite right. I want to tell them how it's an abandoned factory - how one day, the workday bell rang and everyone put down exactly what they were working on and walked out. A cigarette, a half finished crown, the iron - everything is left - exactly where it was left 50 years ago. There are rooms and rooms filled with old horsehair braid, crinolin, buckram, unfinished straw hat blanks and yards and yards of old silk labels for berets. The owner, Guy, doesn't really think too much of his old warehouse - although pick up the wrong hat to buy and he will quickly replace it with another - regailing you with the time Maurice Chevalier came in and was personally fitted with that particular hat. Lately I find myself crossing my fingers and hoping that the old hat factory remains untouched until we return next summer. Not that I am worried about the stock being depleted - but more so about the character of the rooms being disturbed - I don't want anything to be cleaned up or tidied - I want time to stand still at this small secret stash in France.
My friend, Katy, at the The Grey Colt in Hudson, Ohio sent me an invitation to participate in their annual stocking competition. Normally, I don't think I have any time for such extra fun - but now that I find myself sewing ALL THE TIME - I decided to throw my hat into the ring!
I started with a simple stocking pattern and cut out two pieces from an old hemp sheet.
I gathered up all sorts of old red scraps and sewed them down to each of the two pieces - on opposite sides. I didn't bother turning under the seams - I just sewed a simple patchwork with raw seams. Each piece fit together like a jigsaw - I tore at the pieces that were too big and fit them into the right space - just like a puzzle pieces.
Eventually, I had two pieces with patchwork sewn on opposite sides. I sewed them together - inside out, leaving a 1/4" seam for good measure.
I used an old curtain 1" top scrap with a ring sewn on to reinforce the top of the stocking and add in a hanging ring.
Honoring those who have passed - especially my friend 
We're busy busy busy getting ready for one of my favorite events, Silver Bella! This year, I am teaching two jewelry classes - both jewels designed with Josephine in mind. A handful of creative teachers, like Charlotte Lyons, Betz White, Lisa Kaus, Beth Quinn, Colette Copeland, Lynn Whipple, Kerry Lynn Yeary and Sally Jean Alexander are teaching a couple of classes each. I am excited about returning to Omaha and seeing the old main drag, Howard Street - it still feels like an old stagecoach town. If you have thought about attending a creative weekend, this is a great one to start with - lively, artsy, and intimate - Silver Bella attendees are wonderful souls to craft with. 
If you happen to be in Los Angeles at the end of October, come join us for our first Saturday class of the season. Molly Meng, visiting from San Francisco, will be leading a workshop all about historical fiction, memory and the small bits left behind. This layered inspiration board is a great way to use all of the precious pieces that get lost at the bottom of our pockets. Bring a photograph of someone you'd like to remember and French General will provide all of the embellishments and notions for your memory board. For more information about our upcoming classes or to sign up for this workshop, visit frenchgeneral.com
