The mimosa tree in our backyard split yesterday- so sad.
I am very fond of this tree and have posted about it before, here and here.
on a different topic- a low tech, recycle tip for today. It has been hot here. We use laptops at our house and they can get uncomfortable pretty quickly in the summer. Ben discovered that an insulated envelope (the ones with bubblewrap inside) make an excellent barrier between laptop and lap!
I decided to go out to the Textile show in Sturbridge by myself and I had a great time- I think I was prepped for it by the weekend in New York. It made everything look like a bargain!
First I went to Wright’s Factory Outlet but they had almost nothing I wanted. I needed some white rickrack but there was none- the first time I’ve ever been there and there hasn’t been a huge pile of it. All they had was fuzzy rickrack- not my style at all. O well, onward to the Antique Textiles Vintage Fashions Show and Sale (yes that’s the official name).
I found some great vintage fabric that reminded me of Liberty- same sort of feel. After seeing the Liberty at Purl Patchwork at $35 a yard, $20 for 3 yards seemed like a real bargain! I also got some flocked netting. It probably came from a hat originally, but I’m thinking doll dress.
Next, the white stuff. Other years when I have attended this show, I’ve come home with a bag of all whiteness. I guess I am expanding my colors this year. I love knitted lace- it is the one kind of lace I seem to actually regularly use on my dolls. Seems like a good reason to stock up. I also found 2 kinds of pretty glass flower buttons and some very interesting silk feathers. I bought a bag of 20 feathers to play with.
I was still looking for some white rickrack, preferably cotton. Once everything is labeled vintage, it all seems so much more valuable. One person had some various colors priced at $3.25 a package- too much for me. Down the aisle a bit, at another booth, I found more, unpriced. Geesh, I hate asking people for prices… but anyway, I was rifling through, seeing just what I wanted and trying to come up with how much I’d be willing to pay. I asked and she said 3 packages for a dollar! Now that was well within my budget. I took most of the rickrack she had, including 2 sizes of white (I have already used some of it today), plus cotton twill tape in very light pink, some rayon tapes and some sparkly glass buttons that will make great doll earrings. That was my bargain of the day!
I was on my way out the door and I saw this kimono jacket-
I just had to have it. So, I came home with a bag full of treasures. A great expedition. There is another show on September 4- much bigger then this one. Hmm, any body interested!
These mini sweaters are so much fun to make. I take the ribbing of the full size sweater and sew it onto the tiny one- that’s the best part.
Here he is modeling-
he’s not done yet- needs a few accessories.
I sort of want to go to the Sturbridge Antique Textile Show tomorrow, but not by myself… anybody out there want to go or meet me there?
It is not that I’m not working these days, I just don’t seem to be moving forward on anything. Summer can be a difficult time to work with all it’s distractions.
My lady robot was wearing me down and I decided I had to go on to something else for a bit. I’ve got 2 black and white kitties going.
and speaking of the kitties- I stuffed them with black stuffing. Look at the mess the stuffing makes! Do all black stuffings do this? My white stuffing doesn’t leave a mess of dust when I use it….
It is poppy blooming season in my garden right now- I just love them! The blooms usually last one day and the petals start falling around midday if it is really hot. So many colors and variations.
crinkly petals- I think this one just opened-
Eleanor gave us a demonstration of her new skill, learned in Cape Town. Now she’s gone to Chicago for the summer.
these next pics were taken by Peter’s friend Will-
this one’s my favorite!
I’ve been wanting to try making a traditional teddy bear for a while now. I knew I would never do it on my own, so decided to join in on a class. We worked from a kit- it had a pattern and all the materials. Here are 4 heads (no ears yet) from 4 people in the class, same pattern- I am always fascinated to see the way they each have their own personality.
Here is mine, all finished-
why I did this- I wanted to learn about working with mohair fur fabric, I wanted to try cotter pin and disc joints, I wanted to do a pattern with the center face insert- I’ve never tried it before (successfully). Now I’d like to try nut and bolt jointing, which I heard about from other people while I worked on this guy- new to me. As usual, when I use someone else’s pattern, I don’t really love the final result- somehow it isn’t from me… a craft project versus an art process…
The class was part of the doll club down on Cape Cod, where I taught my gourd head doll in the spring. The club meets at Tumbleweed Quilts. There is oh so much temptation there- they have a big room full of markdowns where I can always find some goodies. And there was some great trim I couldn’t resist. Now the problem is figuring out where to put this stuff!
Yikes, my roommate from last year Ruth Marks, won’t be able to come to NIADA. I’m sad because I was really looking forward to seeing her and her wonderful dolls again. Now I need to find another roommate- anyone out there interested?
We had fun in NY and I figured it was about time I posted about it… it rained a lot, but that wasn’t really a problem. It actually meant we stepped into a few shops we might not have gone into, just because it was pouring so hard.
One place we checked out when we happened to notice it, was the New York Doll Hospital on Lexington Ave- an amazing place. Piles and piles of dolls and doll parts. Lots of heads here.
I went to all the Japanese Bookstores on the Crafting Japanese list. I had the most luck at Kinokuniya- it is a beautiful store and easy to find everything. I found some beautiful books on dolls, my favorite magazine “Dolly Dolly”, a book of puppets and puppetmakers from Japan. I ended up spending way too much money… my excuse was that it is cheaper then a trip to Japan.
We went to the Museum of Modern Art Shop, one of my favorite places. I got these great socks.
We went across the street to the American Folk Art Museum. There was a show of the sculptures of Nek Chand. Fantastic!
On Sunday, we headed down to the lower east side. We went to Pearl River where I could have spent most of the day. So many fun items to look at. I bought some chinese brushes and some paper fans to ward off my current plague of hot flashes.
We then headed over to Purl– the yarn store and also the fabric store. They are just as great as everyone says. Since I absolutely don’t need any fabric or yarn, I had to control myself. I bought some white silk tape that I thought would be great for embroidery. I bought myself some fat quarters- just something to remember my trip.
We went to Pearl Paint which is a total nostalgia trip for me- it was such a big deal to go there when I was young and in art school.
We came home, totally worn out. Now I can start planning for the next trip.