DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SANTA FE?

I'm still enjoying the wonderful "meet-up" in Santa Fe last weekend...seven wonderful fiberly types came from all over the US to meet, some of us for the first time "in the flesh", and to spend four days together, visiting fabric shops, visiting retail shops,

seeing the sights,

eating,

drinking

and having a glorious time.

Are we having fun yet?

Such a warm, welcoming group with LOTS to talk about...

pictures to share

purchases to show and tell

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to hang out with my good friend Sharon, from Communing with Fabric blog. (By the way, many of the pictures I'm showing were from her camera...we took so many and shared most of them, so I've forgotten exactly which ones she took...)I KNOW I took this one...

Sharon and I talk and text almost every day, but we don't get to hang out that much, which is too bad, as we ALWAYS have fun together...

We did a lot of "snoop shopping"...I had the exquisite pleasure of trying on a

dozen Issey Miyake pieces which were fantastic...and WAY out of my price range. We met a darling young saleswoman at Santa Fe Dry Goods, Bethany, who encouraged our frenzy, kept bringing us pieces to try on, then patiently buttoned/zipped them up and returned them to the rack. Yea, Bethany!

I got to try on some of my other favorite designers, too...Uma Wang, Dries van Noten

look at these SHOOZ! OMG, I had to put a padlock on my purse! I did buy another  pair of Fly London sandals...

(Sharon bought them in mustard...we switched out the ugly khaki shoe laces...

we are very much each other's enablers....)

I also loved this Dries van Noten belt, but I would wear it as a necklace

I bought a cute Babette cotton/linen jacket and mesh tee...

I LOVE the placement of the stripes...

Sharon and I took off for Canyon Road in Santa Fe on Sunday...we enjoyed the galleries and outdoor art

 Look at those fantastic Santa Fe colors...and check out my new purse...that had my name on it!


Beautiful antique baskets and weavings...

and an installation of one of my favorite artists, Christina Chalmers.

As we walked along Canyon Road, it got colder and colder...

what we thought were falling petals turned into SNOW, so we ran into the

TeaHouse to get out of the snow and eat lunch.

They had a lovely fire in the fireplace which helped our mood (as did the wine....) But then, we had to walk back to the hotel...

SO much fun!

I had started a black shirt/jacket before I left for Santa Fe...I just finished it yesterday. It's my TNT B5526 made out of a Babette fabric from Fabrix in San Francisco

I lengthened the shirt and added a stiffly ruffled collar

and am wearing it with my new "ink-spattered" pants from my last post

I can't help show casing my beautiful roses...

Thank you for hanging in for this long, long post! I will be joining in on the

Visible Monday post over on Not Dead Yet Style a little later this afternoon, thanks to our hostess, Patti.

TTYL

P.S.   I can't help but show this picture of MicMac and Paddywack, finding their

places in the sun, in my closet...

PEEPS!

A little beyond the cute, fuzzy baby chicks  which they were 2 weeks ago; but I love the teenage phase they are going through right now..."surfer dudes", we call them...this one enjoyed his first time outside in the sunshine today!

DD and DSIL are up for the holiday weekend...I thought Maggie might step in to take photos (she is a fabulous photographer, among her many talents) but she had a run-in with a mandoline this afternoon, and she lost...:(

Here we are during the photoshoot

I am showing my most recent sewing project, a pair of my Lynda Maynard pants 
in a wonderful cotton/linen blend from my new source, Smuggler's Daughter;
it's off-white with a fabulous "ink spatter" pattern from Milly.

We are feasting on grilled, butterflied leg of lamb (scallops for pescaterian DD),
roasted red potatoes, asparagus, and wine (and CHAMPAGNE!)

An endless sink full of dishes to be done...

I'm checking in over at Not Dead Yet Style where Patti is once again hosting

Visible Monday...

I hope your holiday or Sunday has been wonderful!

TTYL...

BUSY AS A BEE!

That's me...spring has sprung and I have been buzzing around like a madwoman. I had a dinner party for a dear friend, involving LOTS of Middle-Eastern cooking; my eldest niece and her darling high-school senior son came to visit en route from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which he will enter this September; DD and DSIL are coming for the weekend, and next week I'm off for a few days in Santa Fe with a group of "Fiberly Friends"...it's all good.

In between activities, I was able to grab some studio time and made this tee

an OOP Vogue pattern by Marcy Tilton (8582). You will notice, I'm sure, that it has some COLOR...it's a very pretty knit from Emma One Sock that had all the right colors in it.

The next project I tackled was a Claude Montana pattern, also OOP, Vogue 1373

I've always loved his designs, and have "collected" a number of them on eBay.

Since these are mostly 1980's patterns, I had to do a lot of work on the shoulders, armscyes and sleeves. They were HUGE, to accommodate the shoulder pads of the times.

The fabric is a black and gray leopard print denim from JoAnn's;

I used black piping on the princess seams in the back.

You can see I have a little more work to do on the shoulder area before I try another one...it can be worn open over a tee, as well.

The last item I made is a shirt/tunic in my old reliable B5526...

The fabric is a beautiful drapey rayon with a lovely hand from a NEW SOURCE!

The site is Smuggler's Daughter...I have ordered several pieces of fabric from her and am very pleased with the quality and speed of delivery.

I made a double collar on it, which is kind of hard to see in the photos...

(that large round thing on my bosom must be a water spot on the lens)

This too, I can wear open over a tank or tee.

Sorry for the dot...

During my sewing times I listened to several audio books...I particularly enjoyed

Daughters of Mars by Tom Keneally, the author who wrote "Schindler's List".

I'll probably post again before I leave for Santa Fe...

TTYL

PS, sorry for the duplicate photos, I can't seem to fix them!

Yet ANOTHER Ikat Jacket!

Did I mention how much I love ikat?

This is my first (but not my last) iteration of Sandra Betzina's new Vogue 1385
with the lovely neckline. I will make it in a softer fabric, and perhaps skip the interfacing, as it seems to be prettier that way. But, I'm very happy with this
jacket...I lengthened it, removed the pleats from the sleeves and lengthened them, added a pocket and a narrow piping around the edges. The fabric is a stretch cotton jacquard, the reverse is as pretty as the chosen side. It is from
Emma One Sock.

It can be worn open, as shown, and also buttoned up as a light coat.

(Now I'm showing off my roses...)

These are the buttons I used

and this is a close-up of the pendant, by the artist Charlotte Valestra...

We're hosting a birthday dinner for a dear friend next weekend, so I don't know when I'll get back in the studio...Have a great week!

OH, DEERE! ™

OUR biggest news in the last few weeks, is that we replaced THIS

with THIS:

Our old Honda ATC, seen in this post, was more than 30 years old, and dangerous to drive. Our cute little John Deere Gator CX will be much safer, not to mention HOW CUTE IT IS!!!!

Here I am in my latest pair of Lynda Maynard pants, in that lovely windowpane check fabric...(which I am aware you can't SEE)...

Also wearing my new United Nude black and white sandals...

 The shoes are darling, but what I REALLY like is the writing on the box:

In my fashion wanderings on the web, I found this picture a few weeks ago:

and thought it was pretty, albeit a little bland (for me, that is). I ordered the lace top from Nordstrom and made pants and a tank top to go with it. The first

tank I made was from the same fabric as the pants (high-tech matte hybrid in

cream) from Emma One Sock, but it needed a little zing, so I made a 

Kwik Sew 3462 in black Parisian Microfiber Knit from Marcy Tilton and liked it

a lot better.

My many wisteria vines are in full, fragrant bloom, and the roses are beginning to pop...

 it's time to welcome spring, although we never really had a winter.

You'll find me (and my Gator) over at Patti's Visible Mondays a little later

today...

TTYL....

IKAT

I have always been attracted to ikat designs...it's an instantly recognizable type of weaving..
"The defining characteristic of ikat is the dyeing of patterns, by means of bindings, into the threads before cloth construction, the weaving of the fabric, takes place. " 

In my textile-oriented travels, I have seen ikat weavers in India, Southeast
Asia, Central Asia, Indonesia. In Chiang Mai, Thailand, I went to a cooperative
called Studio Naenna, begun by the woman who was leading us on a private textile tour of VietNam, Laos and Thailand. I watched the women dye the threads and then weave them in various ikat patterns...

I was able to buy several pieces of fabric (one shown in this post, which I unfortunately RUINED). I finally gathered the courage to try again, with this
lovely design.

I was smart enough this time to use a TNT pattern, M5433 (OOP) 

to make this long jacket...

I made the pants, too, out of a lovely drapey denim-y fabric...I think I might like the jacket better with slim black pants... I lined the jacket with a silky satin, so it goes on easily, and used an oversized hook and eye tape I picked up several years ago. I also added a mandarin collar, which seemed to be just the thing for this fabric.

I'm joining the Very Visible women over at Not Dead Yet Style today, where Patti

provides us with a place to be seen!

P.S....I have a new favorite shoe brand...

This is the Yoko Wedge, by Fly London...cute, no?

RAIN!

For those of us in drought-stricken California, the last few days have brought us 4 inches of rain, a blessed gift, although not enough to bring us out of the current 3-year record dryness...

Instead of going in my studio on Friday, I sat in front of the window and reveled in that glorious downpour.

I have been doing a lot of cooking lately...from my favorite Jerusalem cookbook, of course...

Baby Spinach Salad with Dates and Almonds

Very good, with unusual flavors...

Lamb Koftas with Pomegranate Jam and Tahini

Outstanding...the Pomegranate Jam is wonderful and could be used in many ways

Roasted Broccoli with Tahini Garlic Sauce

This one is from the NYT, also Middle Eastern. Very Good!

Friday, we went out to lunch in the pouring rain...I got to wear my new Polish

Gray Fedora, which I'm using to link to The Style Crone's monthly Hat Attack...

The lovely Judith shares her love of hats with us all...

Back to the studio today, where I'm working with a special fabric from Thailand which I've had for 10 years...

TTYL...