log cabin

Finally..... pictures of something I have been working on for a while! I started this quilt, sometime after moving last year. I painted the whole house in different shades of grey and grey-white. A neutral pallet, not because I am afraid of color, but because I wanted to play with texture and showcase my collections more than the wall paint. Also as much as I love a great hue or shade, I love coming home to relaxed, warm, escape from the world. Of course I also had to keep in mind the person I live with, and neutral grey was a great compromise.
That is where the inspiration for this quilt came from. It is actually for a real bed, not just an aesthetic quilt but a very utilitarian one. It is for the master bedroom, with the slanted ceiling on one side of the room, it makes the room have a cozy-cottage like feeling. What better accent than a handmade quilt, in a traditional pattern!



While the cabin is a traditional log cabin, I did use many modern prints and a soft border for the logs. I am making it extra long on the sides because the bed is tall and I hate having a bedspread that is too short. I feel as if a queen size bed spread always needs about 5 more inches on either side! (A constant pet-peeve).
I still need to finish connecting the longer pieces, and add the back, and quilt the whole thing... geez! Makes it sound like I just started working on it! It is much closer to being finished now that the logs are done!



My cozy nook, where I often read. The light in this room is beautiful during the day, cool and soft in the morning, thankfully, so I can sleep a little longer sometimes, and very bright and warm in the afternoon. The color of the room changes all the time, grey is funny like that.



In college I never wanted to make many things that were utilitarian, I mostly focused on concept and aesthetics. As time passes and my life moves forward, I have become very interested in traditional textiles. Before I would be fascinated with what women made in the past, and the idea of women's work. I drew a lot of inspiration from it, and then would have quikly taken the tecnique or pattern and used it in way that hung beautifully in a gallery, but not a home. For a while now the home and what is in it, how it feels, the light in the rooms, the texture, the times spent in it, have become just as important as the concept of what I make to put in it.
It all goes back to the idea of the past and how it pertains to the future, how things, people, places, phases all come and go and how the memories that surround them are affected in our minds. I am coming to realize that what I used to make versus what I make now are related, but on such different scales in the art world and aesthetic world. I can still think, feel, see, and live in the world that makes me think and question all the time, but what I make has so much to do with process, time and living with it everyday now. Instead of having a closet packed with old work in bins, protected with tissue paper and soft pieces of cotton I live with what I make everyday and I share it with others.
Not to say that every once in a while I don't just make something out of pure concept and idea, I do, and still love that way of making, and thinking. However I am currently challenging myself to really reign my craft on traditional techniques, and revisit some of the way things were made in the past, especially for the home. I guess some of this comes out of having my own home, and the sense of growing and realizing that I am closer to what I want that I thought I was... Or maybe it has just changed and I am accepting that... I have a record of being my own worst critic! So I give myself a hard time when I decide that what I wanted for most of my adult life, has changed the past two years... Maybe the better way of looking at it is that what I wanted versus what I want is a growth on what I have always been drawn to. With experience, travels, and life I have figured some it out better, and I am sure as everything does.... It with morph and change again.
Thank you for sticking through this long post, that is starting to sound like a fragment of my brain. I hope to make it more clear someday and until then I will be finishing this log cabin!

2012 and everything before!

Hello 2012!! As time does, it passes quickly the older we get, the more rapidly things come and go. I have been very distant from posting (I have made a resolution to get back on that!). Since last time I posted so much has taken place. I have kept up with the house, finishing some projects that have been on my list since the purchase. Worked in the garden well into the fall, which I can't wait to get back on this spring! I have stitched away at a quilt that I am so close to finishing I can see the end, always an exciting part of a long project. Helped plan and set up a backyard wedding for my mom and new step dad, which was lovely and beautiful. Decorated the house for Halloween, had a chili party, complete with backyard bonfire and gravestone cupcakes. Then the Christmas season was upon us, so I decorated the house to the point where every room had an ornament in it! And now here I am 16 days into the new year, decorations are down like it never happened (always a little sad by that), and on a mission to finish this quilt these next couple of days. The photos of the quilt will come in a post later this week, however below are a few to share of the things that have happened since, that have made me busy and kept me smiling.


The beautiful centerpieces that my mother made for her wedding.


The backyard ready for over a 100 guests.


A little peek at Halloween, it was much more interesting than just cupcakes, however I seem to have been avoiding my camera.


The mantel with the Christmas village on it, I love this at night when it is lit up its sweet and looks warm, and feels like home.

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The front steps to the house, I made a "Winter wonderland" with branches found in the backyard, spray painted them in places with silver and white, wove in branches of pine wrapped in ornaments and lights. It was pretty walking through the steps with it, however it is a little lost in photos...

2011 Was a very busy and full year for me, however it was well worth it! I can't wait to see what this year brings, thankful that the buying, packing, moving process is over! I know that with a house there is always a project, but it feels amazing to just live in it and not have to worry about the big changes that come with the first few months! I am looking forward to working on creative endeavors in the studio, traveling and spending moments with those that I love.

Chicago Antiques

Of course I could not go on a trip without finding a little antique store... or 5! In Andersonville there a few shops and a yummy brunch place called M Henry.
This is actually a thrift store in the area that occupies and old building. It reminded me of our diversity thrift here, when it used to be in the old building on main street. I loved it there.



Roost- Had a great assortment of really eclectic things and really well organized and interesting to look through. I want to order some letters from them. They had a great assortment.










This store had a Scotish/English feel to it, lots of plaid! Really great blankets to upholster things with. I would love the cabinet with the little drawers!!

Chicago Gardening

There is a gorgeous Nursery in the Andersonville area in Chicago, that has all sorts of plants. This time I stumbled upon miniature gardens. I have been following these on blogs and online but have not found them here in Richmond. I ended up coming home with some furniture to make my own. Here are a few of my favorite. They look like a fairy could pop out at any moment.

Inspired Chicago

The weather here is gloomy and we may not have power for long. Irene is here! What a strange week with earthquakes and hurricanes, oh yeah and the bat that we found in our house this morning, the joy of home-ownership... there is no one to call and take care of these things because your name is on the house! Anyhow considering everything, we are well. While I still have power I want to share a recent trip to Chicago, last time I was there it was still winter. This time it was the height of summer and gorgeous! So clean and Green with blooms everywhere. If it were not so cold most of the year I would love to live there.



We went to the Shedd aquarium, I love aquariums, find constant inspiration and calmness there. This one is located right on the
Michigan river. The boats were all on the water the city behind them, a great view. The building is surrounded by gardens and the inside is done in an arts and crafts movement style. All of the chandeliers and walls have inspired sea life on them. I want a giant octopus lamp so badly after seeing this one, however my little cottage would not be large enough for it.





The Shedd had a Jelly-fish exhibit going on that was just gorgeous. It was beautiful they move so gently and softly. The tails remind me of embroidery floss and thread. The little black jellies moved like silly little mushrooms, faster than the others, less gracefully.



graceful.



soft.



thread-like.

a few tid bits.

The black petunia's deserve a spotlight, so pretty in the darkness. And of course this little moldy, but pretty finding.

outside now

If you look down to a few months ago at what the outside of this house looked like when we bought it and how now look here.... It has been a major change. Still have to paint that front door but it will have to wait until the fall. Thanks to my mom and tom we have really made this garden a nice retreat from the rest of the world. I have been watering, weeding, and trying to get rid of a clover patch that is taking over some flowers.



I can't wait for the tomatoes to ripen, to make bruchetta and salad and sandwiches mmm....





These were the freshly picked veggies today. They are growing at a pace that makes me smile... It is so nice to go out there and pick my own fresh veggies! My mom mixed some chicken poop into the dirt when the seeds went in and I thought it was strange at first.. I now understand why she used that these veggies are amazing and lush and yummy. I made Zuchini bread for the first time yesterday and it was delicious next time I am going to try making it with some squash mixed in too!
So this is the reason I have been playing outside instead of inside, I have been spending time in the studio, but this has been a nice way to unwind from the rest of the world when I get home in the evenings. Happy summer!