BITS AND PIECES...

This post is to catch up with all the little bits and questions I've been asked! In no particular order...

Our trip next fall, to North Eastern India; this will be my EIGHTH trip to India and I have wanted to go to Nagaland since my very first trip in 1990. Why?

"The uncontested 'wild east' of India, Nagaland is probably one of the reasons you came to the Northeast in the first place. A place of unparalleled primeval beauty, Nagaland's dazzling hills and valleys – right on the edge of the India–Myanmar border – are an otherworldly place where until very recently some 16-odd headhunting Naga tribes valiantly fought off any intruders. Of course, the place is a shadow of its once savage self today, and much of the south of the state is fairly developed. In the north, however, you still stand a good chance of meeting tribesmen in exotic attire who continue to live a lifestyle that is normally only seen within the pages of National Geographic" 

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/northeast-states/nagaland#ixzz3GkOk0Z2Y

I was attracted to their textiles the first time I saw them...maybe you can see

why...

I must have been a Naga woman in a previous life... travel to Nagaland has been difficult in the past, but Lesley Robin, who specializes in textile tours, is

inaugurating this new tour next year, so we're on! I've traveled to South India with Lesley in the past. I'll let you know more details as I get them.

That's not to say we won't take another trip between now and then....

Several readers have asked about my fabric data base which I showed a picture of here. I use Bento, a Mac program that was developed by FileMaker, and unfortunately is no longer offered or supported. Since I had already set up my own templates for my fabric stash and my patterns, I continue to use them.

I have experimented with Evernote, which would probably work, but to tell the truth, I haven't spent the time necessary to set up the application as I would like it.

This is the "form" view which consists of a picture of the fabric and all the data elements I determined I needed. As often as possible, I copy the description of the fabric from the website of the vendor (in this case, Emma One Sock). This is the first step.

This is the thumbnail view, which shows the picture of the fabric and the description.

This is the list view, which can be sorted by all the different fields I chose...I really like this app, and will continue to use it as long as I can. Like any database, it only works if you keep it up...:(

I set up a similar data base for Sewing Patterns...if anyone wants to see it, email me and I'll go into the details.

The giant hook and eye tape I've used here

and here

came from (I think) Fabric of Vision in Ashland, Oregon. It appears to also be

available on Vogue Fabrics' site.

And one last share...my mother studied at the San Francisco Art Institute (then known as California School of Fine Arts) in the late '20s and early '30s. As well as Fine Art, she studied dress design and designed and sewed most of her own clothes, as well and mine and my sister's, all her life. When I last cleaned out my studio (waaaaay too long ago) I found some note books she kept in the early '50s, chronicling her designs, mostly of my sister's high school graduating outfits and the wardrobe my mother made for her when she went to the University of Washington. There are a few outfits of my mother's and one or two for me (I was about 14 at the time).

I thought you might like to see some of them...

Aren't those fun?

TTYL...

BERGEN...THE END OF THE TRIP!

Finally! I have a lot of pictures of the last week in Norway, which was SO beautiful...when I last wrote of our trip, we had gone up the mountain and were on our way down to Bergen, on the west coast of Norway.

Before we reached Bergen, we had a wonderful 2 ½ hour cruise on the Sognefjord...spectacular scenery and a thrilling experience.

Cool, misty, mysterious...

It's hard to imagine living in such a remote location...but there's always the
"mail boat" which makes daily stops and also takes travelers...

So, we arrived in Bergen, a city dating from the 11th century, always a significant port city and center for trading. It's also a stop for cruse ships...

so tourism is a very important element. There are many colorfully restored building on the old quay...

There is a daily fish market on the wharf

and lots of boats...

The seafood market had a restaurant which we really enjoyed.

We walked the streets of Bergen, seeing wonderful old buildings,

festive street decor...

and statues of famous native sons (this one is Edvard Grieg)

We were amused by the local adaptations for familiar food...

We took a funicular to the top of the mountain for the view...

took pictures of each other...

and had a treat before we left for the ride to the bottom.

I've got WAY too many pictures to include in this post...here is a link to my Picasa album for anyone who wants to see more!

On our last night, we had a farewell dinner with the group, and our charming leader Ylva and I modeled our outfits from Bitte Kai Rand

So...we were no sooner home than we drove north; I dropped Dave off to visit his brother in Santa Clara and I raced to Artistry in Fashion where I met up with
Shams from Communing with Fabric and many other textile-type friends.

This is the only picture I took all day, of Sharon with her distinctive handbag
she bought in Santa Fe 

.

but helpful friends, like Jane Foster, emailed us copies of their photos.

                       L-R: Jane, Sharon and moi...

Sharon and I discovered Marirose and her wonderful jewelry, so...

 I bought these earrings,

Sharon bought these,

and I bought 3 of these bracelets that have hardly been off my wrist since.
I was very grateful to the readers of my blog who came up to say hi at the event...

Well, that's the end of the travel posts; we HAVE chosen our next trip...to
North Eastern India, but it's not till October of 2015. I'm dying to get back into the studio and sew something, but we are redoing our bedroom, so I may have to take a detour into the realm of home decorating...

I'll head over to Patti's Visible Monday to see what the super visible women are up to...come look, too!

TTYL

OF POP-UP TRAILERS AND NEW CLOTHES...

I didn't know till now what a pop-up trailer was...DD and DSIL were gifted one
for their wedding a year ago. They just took a two week road trip and traveled up and down the California coast pulling the trailer. They arrived at our house on Friday and left today.

This is the trailer un-popped... and here are some pictures of them setting it up yesterday so we could see what it becomes..

It's a two-person job, and Maggie and David have it down to a science...

Here it is half-way up....

And here it is being inspected by DH...

It was fun to see them and hear about their adventures.

Earlier this year, I bought a RTW vest with very interesting pleating...

except I bought mine in a pretty cool-toned taupe...and of course, I had nothing to wear it with...

So....I had recently bought this wonderful hand-dyed shibori dotted black cotton
from Marcy Tilton and decided to use my TNT shirt pattern B5526 to make a long shirt

I added a stand-up ruffled collar, as I have done before, and top-stitched the shirt in a contrast thread for a change...

and, what do you know, I found another taupe and black fabric in my stash, also

from Marcy, many years ago, and made another B5954 to go with the vest.

Well, I have NOT covered the last of our trip in Bergen, nor have I mentioned the very fun time I had at Artistry in Fashion several weeks ago... so more to

come...

TTYL