Fashion Wanderings

One benefit of living in the city is that I can observe the summer fashion trends and give Frankie her much needed exercise, all at the same time!

For new readers, one-time readers, and those who have simply forgotten; this is Frankie!

And what I am seeing in the windows of small Brooklyn boutiques is very loosely fitted clothing...

...showcasing ethnic prints. 

Lots of spaghetti straps and gathers. Here we have a short tired dress with an American Indian influence.

This is from a larger national chain in my neighborhood, Lucky Brand. Same loose fit featuring a delicate cotton print from India.

So much reflection on this window, but I hope you can see the interesting use of the striped fabric in this loose fitting dress!

More very loose tops with flowing maxi shirts.

Another gathered neckline. The high/lo hems are also very popular!

The easy breezy summer of 2014!

Trying to Piece it All Together

I'm holding a lot of ideas in my head and trying to take my time to carefully plan them so that they might actually come together someday rather than become half-sewn members of the "didn't quite work out" pile.

However, time doesn't quite work out the way we would like, does it? For example, this is a photo of the lower half of my storage closet which I had to totally unload this week. I switched internet cable companies (long story) and I wanted the wiring done a little better this time, meaning it needed to go behind that large storage shelf. What a nightmare! And, of course, it all needed to be sorted out and downsized once again before it went back in. Anyway, the only place for this "junk" to go was on my work table which certainly put a dent in my product development!

Knowing that nightmare task was on the horizon, I grabbed a few hours beforehand to play around with hand-printing fabric. I had not touched my stencils or stamps in quite awhile and it was like visiting old friends! I wanted to develop some colorful prints for kids that I might pair with Indigo Dots and Boxed Dots which are two hand-prints from India that I carry in my shop. I've always seen those two as being really great for children's items. Of my personal prints, I am the most happy with the top square. I was hoping the three would go together as a mix in a quilt, but now I think they all have very different "looks" so I am going to separate them. They don't play well together!

I'm also considering this high-contrast black, red and white combination. The darker one is something I purchased from another etsy seller and I am not totally convinced it works for a baby quilt. I might also need to add a few solid squares because it's looking a bit busy. All that visual stimulation keeps the babies busy, however, which is a good thing!

I've been trying to work out something to do with this hand-printed swatch of mine for a long time. I've considered making it a half apron or part of a pillow or summer tote. Now I'm thinking about adding a border with this other very lovely swatch from India that I bought from this great shop and making it a wholecloth baby quilt. Interesting mix of contemporary and traditional, I think. Plus, I love green. But, do babies love green - or rather do parents love green for their babies? Would love some feedback on that! Maybe it should be a table cloth......

And this is where I come face to face with indecision and stare off into space. Then, Frankie starts barking at me. 

She is not at all comfortable with the artistic process!

First Night In My New Apartment

It seems like years ago already, but the move-out was just last Wednesday. It was brutal. We began at 8:00 am and worked hard until around 6-7pm. The movers left and I swept up, in the dark basically, and closed the door on the apartment I had lived in for nineteen years. It was oddly unceremonious, considering how much had happened there. I then went next door to spend the night with friends. Next day, I took Frankie to her local "dog hotel", drove my car to the dealership and sold it back to them, then boarded a train bound for New York City.

 I got to Brooklyn around 8:30pm on Thursday night (Jan. 24). Here is a photo of the morning after, minutes before the movers and all my belongings arrived. You see a few boxes arranged to function as tables and coat racks. The boxes were the packaging for the West Elm Tilary Sofa I had delivered months ago, thinking I would be moving in sooner rather than later. It works well as a casual sofa and as a single guest bed. Plus I got it on sale! I had to take the "in stock" fabric choice, which would not have been my first choice but I was willing to do that to save $300! Anyway I have all my printed pillows to liven it up! I have to say the sofa was very comfortable for sleeping, which came in very handy for me that first night.

The movers showed up the next morning around 10 am. Move-in was a little easier than move-out but it was still very chaotic. Luckily I had worked out a floor plan so that I could have the furniture placed exactly where I wanted it. I have a few heavy pieces and I didn't want to risk having to move them around myself. 

Frankie was driven down from Boston by my good friends. They enjoyed spending one night with me and, once again, the sofa was put to good use and got rave reviews!

The photo above was taken just a few minutes ago. There have been about 3 days of unpacking already and I obviously have a long way to go. There are, of course, a lot of distractions here plus I have to get Frankie acclimated. 

Here is Frankie at a local dog run, hanging with some of the other Brooklyn dogs. She is fitting right in!

I'll check back in when there are fewer boxes.

Brooklyn Terrier?

I finally had my coop interview this past Monday. I have to say it was a tad stressful and, when it was over, I had no sense of whether I would be approved or not. I felt like I had been, perhaps, too honest and revealed too many of my own concerns. At the same time, I thought it was important to get a sense of whether these would be major issues or not. The coop board continues to ask for various financial documents, which makes me nervous. I have to say, if you can avoid buying a coop in NYC (which most people can of course!), you should!

And, I am worried about Frankie. Will she like her new home?

Things are Crazy!

Do I have an excuse for being away from my blog for so long? You decide! I was working away on my apron pattern and new fabric designs when suddenly I just had to take off for Brooklyn. I've been thinking about moving there for way too long. A very good old friend of mine was going out of town and let me have the keys to her apartment so I could take some time to look around. When something lucky like that happens, I figure what the lucky thing is helping to happen is meant to be! I pounded the pavement for 3 straight days, exploring new neighborhoods and seeing some really really small (and sometimes very ugly) apartments. I lived in NYC for almost 10 years during the 1980s and did not go to Brooklyn all that much. It was just not a favorite  destination then. But it is now and that is reflected in the ridiculously high rents! Not sounding very encouraging is it..... well I'm not giving up yet!

Another project that was keeping me away. I did not think the repainting of my long dark hallway was blog-worthy. However, it is a design challenge! It's long, narrow, and dark so you wouldn't want to paint it a dark color. And yet, the woodwork is so dark that a light color is too much of a contrast. Not at all complimentary. All the units downstairs have their woodwork painted white, but too many people cautioned me not to do that. And, since I am moving to Brooklyn, I wouldn't want to paint what the next person might want to strip off. 

I'm having to paint the walls because I had some old wiring fixed and that destroyed the faux finish I painted years ago. That was the solution then. Not up to faux finishing the hallway, and so begins the endless search for a new color. Trying to go with something to compliment the wood a bit more. I also decided to try to paint both walls along the long stretch different colors and the ends of the hallway another color. Just to make my life more complicated and to try to make it not look like what it is: a long dark hallway. 

This was my inspiration. It is a photograph of a photograph in World of Interiors magazine. Wonderful magazine, by the way.  Now I'm realizing the old faux finish is somewhat like this magazine picture. Oh well, obviously I solved it best the first time around. Tried to come up with a new flat no-faux solution. The problem became how to make the wall color pink but not too pink. Need to bring about this earthy pinkness. So, I went with a pinkish clay color which was probably popular in the 1970s. Hoping it's making a come-back, but I have no idea. 

What goes with clay (since I was determined to use three colors)? Well, a neutral is always a safe bet. So here we have a warmish gray. Are you all still with me? Isn't this exciting? OK, well let's break here and I will try to post the results soon!

And, of course, Fankie is still the main challenge. This is a very grainy picture taken with a cell phone but I just had to show you what I like to call her devil-dog-clown-face. Now THAT is crazy! 

Dog Days

A little behind on my posts, I'm sorry to say. Although there is no schedule, I would have liked to say (show) something sooner than this. But I have this challenge in my life and it's name is Frankie. She is my sweet, cute, and sometimes hysterically funny dog (pictured below). It is a good thing she has those nice  qualities going for her because she also has some very bad manners. My vet says it's because she's a teenager. She's nine months old. I did not know the teen "years" came so soon. She is also a (mostly) Boston Terrier mix which is a very high energy dog. Strange, when I was researching what kind of dog to get, the internet told me Boston Terriers were good apartment dogs (you've seen my yard). The internet experts also said they are "good with the elderly" and I took that to mean calm or easy to train. Puzzled by this, now that I know my dog, a friend suggested that "good with the elderly" meant fun to watch. Ok, well, she is that! Problem is, I have more things to do than watch my dog all day. So, this week has been full of looking for dog trainers, dog training classes, dog daycare, dog walkers, you name it. The days have turned into dog week. BUT, coming soon: several projects using 5" x 5" quilting squares! There are so many things you can do with them!