Thursday, May 31, 2007

The matthew scarf

back detail. pretty on both sides ^_^


I just finished this scarf from the book Stahman's shawls & scarves. I loved the shaping of the neck with the ribbing and then the lace down the length. It is made from Knitpicks Gloss in Woodland sage with size 6 needles. Too bad I have to wait 5 months to wear it.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Chicago Antique Market

The last saturday of the month May through October the Chicago Antique Market takes place about 5 blocks west of us. Nina and I went and found some cool stuff. There was some awesome metal cabinetry. I would love to have this.

One of these tin ceiling tile mirrors would look great in my downstairs bathroom.

I love the nesting chicken boxes and little metal hen house. I kept trying to think of a logical reason I should own these.

I did have to buy this graphic tea towel.

This Frieda green apron with smocking was irresistible. Especially when all the vintage waist aprons were going for $5 each.

This flower print apron I could not pass up with the ric-rac and little ruffle inset bottom center. I just saw a vintage apron pattern for this exact design.

This brown gingham I thought was interesting because it is not sewn together with anything but the pearl cotton cross hatching.

The edges are turned under and the brown squares are cross hatched to secure it.
It looks like who ever made it , did not get a chance to finish it. All the strings were loose at the center of the waist band. So I machine stitched two rows of stitching to catch all the threads and pulled them to the back and snipped them.

All set to bake some cookies.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Thinking blogger award

Wow, I have been nominated by Sandy from the blog Garden Path to be the recipient of the thinking blogger award. I am so honored. She has a beautiful blog, if you have never seen it you should visit. She is a nature lover from the state of Maine. She takes the most gorgeous photos and often writes haiku's to go with them.

I am not going to go about this in the usual way and tag 5 other blogs, but I will highlight a few of the many blogs I like to visit. So many of the blogs I like are purely for the eye candy, I love lots of pictures, especially of cool stuff that people are making. Craftzine is a great way to see what a lot of different crafters are up to. I also like looking at blogs that are not textile related but feature different artists work, as well as art and design in other media. Like Rag & Bone, Print & Pattern, Decor8, there are so many good ones.

If I were to list some of the blogs that I like to follow that fall more in the category of "thinking" blogs they would be TedBlog, BoingBoing, Paleo-Future and Neatorama. Unfortunately I rarely have time to read everything on them that I would like.

And lastly like so many other lovers of fiber in all forms I always enjoy The Yarn Harlot .

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Finished!

Finally done, binding sewn down, sleeve sewn on and label attached! I sewed wide yellow ric-rac into the faced binding. I think it adds that little festive touch and will help it to show up against the black drapes in shows like IQF Houston.

Right now I don't have a spot to hang it for a photo of the whole quilt. I will post one when I get a pic later.

Monday, May 21, 2007

May birthday Bash

Sunday was the Chicago School of Fusing May birthday party, hosted by chef and artiste Melody and her husband Dave.

These were the fabulous appetizers, you can see more about the food and recipes on Mel's blog

Laura, Frieda and I were the first to arrive and got a good start on the nibblies and a rum coconut lime drink that wiped these two gals out before we even got to eating lunch.Here is Emily with the ever present needles in hand. This is how she gets so much knitting accomplished, she knits ALL the time. This is Emily's beautiful sock yarn that she sells in her Etsy shop.Mel made all the birthday girls a pair of socks.Emily made every one totes, you can never have too many! This is Anne packing her tote.This adorable brown one is for me. I am not a May birthday, but it is sort of turning into an everyones birthday party.
You really need to check out the great slide show on Mels blog and Friedas photos too.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Oprah Live

This morning was the taping of the show. It aired live in Chicago so I have not seen the show yet. I will have to wait until 11 pm tonight to see it. During the taping they showed the previously recorded footage of the party and the landscaped balconies on a big screen, so I did see that.

My daughter took these photos off the tv this morning.
Oprah and I are like best friends now, not, lol. It was clear actual communication was not an option.

I noticed they did manage to include the footage of me trying to hide in the corner while Micheal Buble sang. There is nothing worse than seeing yourself on tv because it makes you realize how much weight you've gained.

Cheryl
, I thought of you and your mom as Micheal Buble belted out a couple more songs at the end of the show this morning.

Here's what I came home with. Another gift package like we got at the party so I can make more mojitos. And a gardening bag from Smith and Hawkins which I think will make an awesome KNITTING bag with all those pockets. Inside was a book from that cute Aussie gardening guy, sun hat and gloves, a gift card for gardening tools, seeds and a Lowes gift card for I think $150.
 
This is what happened at the party with Oprah.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Oprah meets her neighbors

Will air live tomorrow (thursday). My neighbors and I are supposed to get in line with the general audience tomorrow at 7 am for the 9 am show. I will let you know what it was like after the show.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

7 random things about me

Deborah tagged me, and I am finally getting a chance to sit down and write up my list.

1. I designed the mosaic tile dome on the top of FIDM (The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) in Los Angeles.

2. In kindergarten I missed the school bus home because I was too absorbed in drawing a turtle to notice.

3. When I was 13 we moved out of our house and drove 18,000 miles around North and Central America. That year I was home schooled, it was the most educational and influential year of my childhood.

4. I have a genetic disorder called Ehlers Danlos syndrome. It is a collagen disorder that affects the joints, vessels and skin, making me overly flexible, prone to sprains and mild dislocations.

5. In my teens and early 20’s I suffered from terrible panic attacks. I had heart palpitations and cold sweats just introducing myself in a small group setting. I still get light headed before I speak to a large group.

6. I am allergic to seaweed. I lost 10 pounds the month I spent in Japan. Maybe it's time to go back.

7. I drink tea everyday. Earl Grey with cream,

I’m tagging Deb, Frieda, Emily, Vickie and Kathy

Thursday, May 10, 2007

What a party!

Where does one begin except with the sad note that NO CAMERAS were allowed! So I will just have to tell you all about it. Okay, I have to add pictures, because I can't stand to not have pictures on my blog, they just won't be my pictures.

First off I decided not to wear a quilt but a plum colored silk top, I thought the quilt would add more than 10 pounds on camera :)

I walked into the party to find a camera right in my face that looked me over head to toe, boy that was awkward. On my left was a wild guy hosting the bar called the Margarita King from San Francisco. He was making mojitos, margaritas, and some pomegranate mixed drink. Evidently this guy does the bar for events like the Grammy’s, he was really fun. After getting a mojito, I walked through the room. There was a very nice jazz band playing in the corner. In the kitchen I find none other than RICK BAYLESS with his full staff preparing the appetizers. He just won the James Beard award for the best restaurant in the country on Monday, and here he is at this party.

The cameras were everywhere and usually about 9 inches from your face. It was a little uncomfortable to say the least. How can anyone eat all those yummy things, (ceviche, goat empanadas, little hot chocolates with tequila and a churro on top) constantly going buy on trays with cameras every where you look. It was hard enough drinking the mojito and making sure a big chunk of mint leaf was not stuck between my front teeth.

When Oprah came in she looked just as beautiful as she does on tv. She came by and said hello and shook hands with everyone. Where did all those words go that were on the tip of my tongue just moments before? After a while she went up to the microphone to talk and said a few words about neighbors and community and good friends. And then she said she brought a good friend- Michael Buble! (who had just spent the last hour and a half hiding upstairs in the bathroom) He sang four or five songs about three feet away from me. I wanted to back up but I was cornered with the piano player a couch and a tree right behind me. Oprah and several of my cute, thin, young, single neighbors danced away to Michaels crooning. Mel, I wish you could have been there, you would have loved it!

After Oprah left and the cameras started to turn off, I made it to the kitchen to try some of the yummilicious appetizers and treats and got a chance to chat with Rick Bayless. He is so down to earth, a nicer guy could not have won that big award. It is so funny cause Juan (my husband) just met him on a trip to Dallas at a restaurant event and brought back an autographed cookbook for me last month.


As we got ready to go we were told that we would get a call from the studio and that we were to come over at 7 am next Thursday morning for the live taping of the show. Eek! All that footage really is going to be broadcast for the world too see.

We all left with a big gift, just like when you go on the show. Inside it was a trifle dish filled with, a Michael Buble CD, Frontera grill salsa and chips, and the Margarita king’s margarita mix and cocktail shaker.

I hope I don’t look like a big dork on tv, it feels so unnatural to have that many cameras watching your every move. But it was a lot of fun!

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Oprah meets her neighbors

Easter weekend, some people from Oprah’s studios across the street stopped me in my lobby. They said that Oprah wanted to meet her neighbors and that it would be featured on the following Thursdays show. They interviewed several people in our building, including me, and walked through our units with cameras filming. Our place is a working studio that two adults and two children that are homeschooled happen to live in. There is no living room just a big open space filled with large tables, sewing machines, computer equipment, file cabinets and art supplies. There are projects of all kinds everywhere. We were not chosen to be on the show, much to my relief. I was not up for the cleaning that would be involved in having the rest of the world see our place.

Our neighbors down the hall were picked. An attractive successful couple with a loft, similar to ours, except that it looks like a contemporary furniture showroom. It was immediately obvious why we were not chosen, they are saving us for the Nate Birkus episode where they come in and fix the disaster that you call home.

If you happened to catch that episode of Oprah, she gave our neighbors a case of Dom Perignon for their next cocktail party. I got a call last Friday night from Oprah’s “people”, thinking for sure they were calling to see when they could schedule that appointment with Nate. But instead they were calling to invite me to a party down the hall that Oprah will be attending. I got my invite today, it is lovely pearlescent paper wrapped with bright orange and red satin ribbon. It says festive cocktail attire, geez; I was hoping to get away with my standard pair of jeans and a black shirt.

I am sure this shindig is going to be filmed since the cameras were down the hall in their unit last night filming. Maybe I can wear one of my quilts…

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Rubber Stamps

The other day Dick Blick had a whole display of linoleum blocks and rubber carving blocks. So I had to buy a few of each to play with. I thought I should start easy and carve the softer material first. What the package says is true "cuts like butter", it is so easy to carve, but I am not sure it would hold up to much abuse since it is so soft. Time will tell. Very fun though.



Thursday, May 03, 2007

Aprons

My sister Deb went home yesterday, after three weeks. It was a very therapeutic visit because we mourned for our Dads passing, made art, shopped for cool new art supplies, went to the Art Institute and hit some good restaurants.
Our last project together was to make "grammy" aprons. I bought this fabric from Purl Soho. I have not bought fabric and sewed anything resembling a garment in years, but this fabric is so cute I could not resist. You will have to check out Deb's blog to see her apron, she is supposed to post a pic today too.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Immigration March

This was the scene from our windows yesterday afternoon. More than 150,000 people marched past for more than one and a half hours, chanting, carrying flags, banners, playing drums and sometimes a few jazzy horns.


There were a few people dressed in ethnic clothing and an impressive statue of lady liberty with her head bowed hanging from a cross and wrapped in flags.



I think this guy may be confused about what protest he is in.

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