Hi Honeys, I’m hoooome!  You’ll be unsurprised to know that I didn’t get any sewing done while I was away gallivanting around France, but I did bring back some lovely design inspiration, so I hope that appeases you in the meantime.

This Sunday finds me back at the Stitch Gathering over in Edinburgh teaching a class on making my ironing mat/caddy from my recent ‘Things to take to a sewing retreat’ series, I look forward to seeing any of my readers that are attending at the event.

Onto the pretty pictures:

I found this painting in the small village of Séguret, which is perched, somewhat precariously, on the side of a steep hill and overlooking many of the Gigondas vineyards of the Côtes du Rhône.  They happened to have an art exhibition on of a few local artists, and while there are several paintings that I would have loved to bring home, this one really spoke to me (and thankfully was the smallest, and therefore cheapest!)  I just loved the colourful rendering of the kind of chaotic nature of the buildings in the locality, and I have to admit that with this artist and the one that was on display directly opposite her, I immediately thought quilt!

The local markets in Provence usually have at least one pottery stall where bowls, plates, platters and many other wee bits and pieces show off the local decorating style.  Often they’re in bright shades of reds, yellows, greens and blues, but this year I spotted this lovely turquoise, grey and lavender combo, so I grabbed a few pieces:

I really liked this trivet, as it reminded me of the old style advertising you still see occasionally painted on the sides of barns and other buildings in Provence:

Of course there was fabric as well.  This came from the market in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, a lovely wee town that actually boasts 2 markets a week, including an arts and antiquities market on Sunday.  It also has some fun galleries and studios in town which we got a wee look round too for the first time, since on previous occasions that we’ve attended earlier in the summer it’s been too packed to see anything!  There’s a variety of stripey canvases, quilting cotton (bless the salesman, he asked if I understood what that was!) and some lovely geometric poplin prints:

And this collection came from the market in Bédoin.  They’re all home decor weight, and lightly waterproofed, so I have a few ideas of what I can do with them:

I managed to get a photo of the top one on IG, I loved the tile pattern (which is square BTW):

Hopefully I’ll be able to show off some sewing next week, including what my class made :o)

Have a great week!