Oh, what luck

Yesterday was Family Day. A day off work and therefore a day to hit the antique malls. And what a day it was.



I found some great vintage patterns -- with all of their pieces and in my size! The smock pattern (I'm pretty sure I've seen pictures of my Grandma wearing one of these when she first got married) and the blouse pattern are both from 1948. The blouse pattern is even unmarked, which scares me a bit. I, until now, had only heard of unmarked patterns. How are you supposed to know what to do with them, let alone which one is which?!? The 1950's Butterick dress is so great, and I've already picked out the fabric for it. I have had some floral fabric in aquas and reds kicking around for a while, so I think I'll use it for this with a crisp white linen for the inset collar. It seems like a pretty simple pattern -- with kimono sleeves! How fun!



I also got this- the Better Homes and Gardens Sewing Book. I started reading last night and it is actually really good. It has valuable sections, like the one shown, Making the basic muslin. Now making a muslin has been something I have been thinking about doing for a while, I just wasn't sure I'd know how to adjust it properly, but this section of the Sewing Book is quite extensive so maybe I'll jump right in. I've noticed a lot of the vintage patterns I have don't quite have as detailed instructions as current patterns, so this book should be helpful. I guess everyone sewed back then so they knew what they were doing! I found some nice buttons too. Black iridescent plastic ones in two sizes and some really pretty sky blue plastic ones that have a nice way of sparkling in the light. Also purchased was a complete set of floral iron transfers. These are hard things to find, and I have been looking specifically for florals for a while. I have an idea in my head for an embroidered tea cozy.



I also found these two little cookbooks; one a Magic Baking Powder issue and the other a Monarch Flour. I loved Monarch's clever slogan of "Happy Bakeday to You!" and it contains recipes like Graham Molasses Nut Bread and Sour Milk Gingerbread. Yum. I had to get this specific Magic Baking Powder cookbook (there were a couple), because of the penciled note on the front- Mrs. Hasp, June 1935, Camrose - Be careful of it (the cook book I presume) as there are some of my favorite recipes in it. I wonder if it was returned to her.



And last but not least, the mugs. First found was the pretty milk glass mug with aqua polka-dots. Perfect. Then..... the Medalta bull mug. Now, all I can say is wow. I have another bull mug that I got at the Goodwill years and years ago with a brown band across the top and a different bull and it has long been a favorite. So to find a partner for it is really quite exciting! Coffee anyone?

Since I've been home....

Sorry it's been such a long time since I last posted. I've been enjoying being at home. There's the novelty of snow and the pretty kind of light it reflects. It's so crisp and bright and makes colours so beautiful.

Miss Kya is also happy to be home. I noticed rapid movement out in the yard the other day and when I went to the window to investigate she was playing catch with herself. She was throwing the ball across the yard and then making dramatic dives through the snow to recover the ball. It was very entertaining, although she seemed embarrassed when she noticed me watching her. Yesterday she visited with one of her pups, Arlo. Now that Arlo is bigger than her, she's having a harder time showing (or maintaining for that matter) her dominance!



I've been painting. Not in the studio yet, but in the house. I was lucky to find some lovely mistints at the hardware store the other day and couldn't resist the yummy chocolate and rich putty for the front entry.



I've also been making some curtains for the upstairs bathroom. I was really wanting to be sewing while I was away, so as soon as I got home I got to work. I've had this fabric, which I bought a few years ago, slated for this project forever so I'm glad to be hurrying them along. The feel of this fabric is really nice; nubbley and heavy. I'm really happy with the way they are turning out.



This first week back at work was tiring as I was starting work when my body thought it was still 5 in the morning holiday time! So this weekend I have been enjoying long and leisurely breakfasts. I love breakfast when I have the time to enjoy it. This morning there was fruit salad and toast with lemon curd - yum.

After Vermeer, Too - (and so on, and so on)

Devorah Sperber, After Vermeer 1, 2003-2004
4,669 spools of thread, clear vinyl tubing, aluminum hanging apparatus, 4” clear acrylic sphere, steel stand
90 3/8” h x 96 1/4” w

I was looking around on some crafty blogs yesterday and came across a link to the artist Devorah Sperber and her "Thread Spool Works". They are works made up of thousands of spools of thread (partial funding by Coats & Clark), each spool acting as a pixel, that only when view from afar do the spools 'disappear' and join to transform into a whole image. The spool image assembled upside down, with a looking glass placed in front that flips the image to show it right side up. She recreates numerous works by many artists - from Picasso and Rembrandt, to Chuck Close and Jackson Pollock - but in the end it starts to seem a bit gimmicky. I would like to see her work with her own images. She obviously has a good eye, and is more than capable of a good idea, which I think would be better if they were her own.

Maybe I am interested in Sperber's work because I too have a painting entitled After Vermeer (as seen above). Since January 2006 I have set a project for myself where every (or almost every) painting/drawing has a two dimensional, usually upside-down, reproduction of a work by a famous artist. I also try to pick a specific painting to use as inspiration for the work; quoting colour, composition, or mark making. They don't have to be the same artist for both inspiration and inclusion, but sometimes they are.

For example, I used the Degas painting Portrait of Diego Martinelli, 1879 (left) as an inspirational image. I like the haphazardness of the items on the table, and appreciate that this feeling is accomplished with very little information or detail, just loosey-goosey mark-making. As always, I love Degas' off kilter composition, too. Then, as the image included in my painting I used Singer in Green, 1884-5 (right).

Here's how I've interpreted and incorporated them. This picture was taken when the paint was still a bit wet, hence the shine. As I'm miles away from it at the moment (so I can't post a better picture) we'll have to make do with this one.

In turn, the envelope and postcard from my still-life inspired Jodie Anne to make the following collage.

Hence the so on, and so on in the title -- one thing inspires another, and in turn another and so on and so on...