Journey to Europe 2: Lea Stansal

On September 9th, after checking L'aiguille en fete PRO we went seeing an exhibition of an amazing artist, Lea Stansal with our friend, Claire.

Her style is very distinctive. The bold combination of colors, threads and fabrics catches our eyes.

When we were invited to exhibit Masako's quilts at a quilt show in Wilverwiltz, Luxembourg, Britta who was a German artist and exhibited her works just in front of us said, "There was a wonderful book sold at Marylene's booth. I'm sure you will like it, so please check it out!".

This is how we knew Lea's books.

Marylene and Claire were Lea's students and let us know about the exhibition before leaving Japan.

The theme was "BOX".  Different kinds of boxes were displayed on the beautifully complicated wooden 3D structures.
It might be boring just to lay boxes in line. But this display showed us boxes at different angles.

This is her new book where all boxes are shown.

Can you see a sticker where numbers are written down in the picture?
The first number,12 means 2012 and she numbered each box.
Why do you think she did it? Because the boxes were available!

Unfortunately the one I wished to have was her favorite and unavailable.

She is slightly older, but more energetic than me! I am learning a lot from her!

Journey to Europe 1: Paris

Emi and I returned to Japan from a 2-week-journey in Europe 2 days ago. There are so many things that we would like to share with you, so we sort them by categories.
Today's theme is "PARIS".

Yes, we know we have been already there twice within the year, but before going to the European Patchwork Meeting in Sainte.Marie aux Mines, we had to stay there to check a wholesale show called "L'aiguile en fete pro" for the first time.

The show was smaller than its retail show "L'aiguille en fete", but we could place some orders for lace and buttons .. we might post some pictures of works using them in the near future :-)

This is our favorite yarn shop called "L'oisive The et Trico". (thier website)
We arrived 1o minutes earlier than its opening, but Aimee welcomed us with pleasure. She didn't know why but thought of us in the morning by looking at the yarns that we bought last time. How sweet! Even if you were not a knitter or crocheter, you would enjoy their lunch.

I'm wearing a scarf which I made with the yarn that I bought there!

If you visited Paris over a weekend, checking flea antique markets would be definitely one of what you must do.

We went to Vanves market again to visit 2 shops in particular which we liked.

He sells fabulous antique buttons. He fluently spoke Japanese. No wonder many Japanese fell in love with the buttons!

She often appears in Japanese books. The way of her decoration is just amazing!

If you felt worn out after walking all day in Paris and were not in the mood for having dinner at a restaurant, or for buying cold foods at a supermarket either, "BOCO" would be a nice choice.

As you can see in the picture, all is made from "100% BIO". Sometimes it may be tiring for tourists who don't speak French to give an order by looking at menu in French at a restaurant, but there you can see anything then take what you like.
Everything is stored in a glass container which I regret to throw away after eating.
They heat it up if you wish!