Saturday, August 29, 2009

Quilting

I haven't quilted in quite some time. At the start of Dan and me, still a student, that was my most frequent gift to people. Dan bought the material and I made the quilt, so both of us were involved in the gift being given. That was years and years ago, though. . .

But I've been reading Jennifer Murray's blog, "and other silly things in the studio," and she made the sweetest baby quilt out of quilt squares with circles in the middle of them. She was even so kind as to include pattern drawings so the rest of us could have one, too. Mine, however, will be slightly larger than queen -ized.

I'm well underway, but, of course, as is always the case with quilting, I have a long way to go.


When I make quilts, Dan always gets to pick one of the fabrics. He picked two this time, but the one below cracks me up. We found it at the Needle Shop in Bucktown.

Cloud Appreciation?

Okay. So, I've been digging on clouds lately (though not the last two days filled with rain and that flat grey wall of a sky that comes when a storm really settles in to stay a while), and much to my surprise today, I found out that I am not alone.

Check out the Cloud Appreciation Society. They have a Manifesto devoted to the importance of taking the cloud's beauty, mystery and importance seriously. They offer images of the "Cloud of the Month." They sponsor "cloud chats" and report on breaking "cloud news." And they provide a forum for Society members' cloud art and poetry.

I totally joined.

(but they're a little lame about linking to their site. . . they obviously love the clouds, but don't fully get the webernets.)



Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Cloud Inspiration


the original inspiration. last friday. clouds doing their thing west of Chicago around 5:30 PM.
http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.80917093.jpg
JShear's Modern Abstract Cloud Paintings on Etsy.

http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.78609038.jpg

Ambera Wellman's cloud paintings are amazing. Each one is more beautiful than the next. If I had unlimited resources, I would buy a huge house and fill it with her paintings. . . and would take many trips to Halifax to buy her work personally. I both love her work and am horribly jealous of it.


Clouds

It's been stormy here in Chicago, which means knock out skies, beautiful clouds. I'm always watching the sky trying to figure out what makes clouds clouds, visually speaking. . . how the light plays on them, how they fit together so complicatedly. This last weekend, driving around, every time D and I saw the city, there was a bank of low clouds behind the skyline. Something about their positioning, that we couldn't see their bottoms, they created the illusion that Chicago was located on top of a mountain, high above the clouds. How do clouds do that? It's amazing.

I'm imagining a whole bunch of small punch-needle skyscapes showing up in the near future.

(don't fret.)!

More (don't fret.) on one of his most ubiquitous canvasses.

I swear that every time work gets hectic or times get tough, a new (don't fret.) shows up to remind me not to fret. Happy day.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Sunday


L.P. should get to have some fun.


dill seed from the garden, finally ready for harvest



paella is magic

Saturday


Chinatown. . .


One of the Xylenes singers also plays accordion. . . and a beautiful accordian at that.


Fake food!





I bet you can't guess what's better than a "Punk Rock and Roll" maki roll.

Chinatown has an answer for everything!


This is the 3rd page of specialty drinks at Joy Yee.


Salad and onion tart.

We Killed This Weekend

Dan and I did it up this weekend--stealing a page from staycationland. We went to the farmer's market in Oak Park, where we obviously had fresh donuts and then bought lots of produce.

Then we went shopping for a few goodies. Then on to Chinatown to see a buddy play in a 80's/90's coverband--the Xylenes--at an outdoor festival to benefit the Chicago water taxi. We walked around a bunch, saw some fake food and then ate the real thing at Joy Yee.

Then grocery shopping in Logan Square, picked up Dan's bike, visited the Needle Shop (a tiny fabric store that specializes in Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry and sewing classes, conveniently located across the street from a bar Dan is trying to gig for).

Then home, where I made an onion tart and a balsamic-y cantaloupe, greens, pine nut salad for dinner.

And then today, we had a lazy Sunday. I stained a number of embroidery hoops, while Dan did some homework. After, we went to the Berwyn Y and worked out. Then back home to play with LP and work on the quilt, while Dan did more homework. A lovely bath, reading a new printmaking book I purchased from the Needle Shop, followed by making homemade Paella with spanish chorizo, chicken thighs, cod and shrimp.

We ate our whole way through the weekend--but in a good reasonably healthy way, barring the donuts and chorizo.

Pictures of all to follow.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

kid*a*collective

Who has a little girl that wouldn't want this dress?

http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.80384164.jpg

So beautiful. Subtle color. Birch Trees. . . are maybe the prettiest trees (and not just because I only see them on vacation and so are attached to the happiness of being away). This dress and other ridiculously cute/fashionable baby/kid clothes at the kid*a*collective shop on Etsy.

Jasper Panda


The fabulous Jill Huntsberger mused out loud over lunch one day that it was unusual that I hadn't tried making a panda yet--after a few years of making a bunch of other animals.

So, here you are, tfJH! Pandarama!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

New Rattles




Suspension Bridge

Cincinnati also boasts a gorgeous suspension bridge--designed by John A. Roebling (the same gent who designed the Brooklyn Bridge) and completed in 1866. Back in the days when Cincinnati was the first major city in the "West" with five times as many residents as Chicago.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Plus a Great Cincy Yarn Shop


One More Stitch--so great for knitters or needlepointers in Cincinnati (though properly for knitters, it would be called "One More Row"). I scored a very short #36 circular needle there--very hard to find. Mama bought yarn for a sweater for my favorite new (only, but still, she's exceptional) niece.

I'd give you a link, but they don't have a website. They're located on Madison Ave., across from DeSalle's and Purcell.

More Cincinnati



The "vineyard." Clearly there's a lot more growing these little grape vines need to do, but they're on their way. And for now, they make a pretty walkway down the center of the "truck garden".




Maybe the family farm shouldn't be on this list because not everyone can visit it. But it's a draw for me and it's an appealing reality of Cincinnati and lots of smaller cities--in that there's nature and farmland nearby. Cincinnati is an incredibly green town--in the traditional sense, meaning tons of trees and green expanses. And then right outside are these beautiful gems: family owned farms, wildlife preserves, huge public parks within a 10-20 minute drive from home, instead of an hour.

There are city folks who faint at the sight of mud or bugs or views unobstructed by tall buildings and cab stands. But for those city folks like me who like a mix of rural and urban, maybe the smaller city makes more sense? We'll see. . .

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Chalk Food


Leave it to Dad to find the most "bar food" item on the menu to go with his beer. Fries. . . but "Duck Fat Fries". We all had a taste and they were amazing.

Mozarella and tomato salad


The Market Cheese Plate and smack in the middle of the plate is a piece of honeycomb from Richard's hives.


Melon Cucumber Salad


Mushroom Ragout


Lobster Risotto


Ribeye steak over beans and marscapone potatoes.
(Blurg, that was yummy).

Chalk

Okay, so Chalk Restaurant isn't technically in Cincinnati. It's located in the rejuvenated riverfront area of Kentucky directly across the river. . . but it's all part of the package of Cincy living (as is the York Street Cafe--which is one of my favorite restaurants of all time, also in Kentucky).

Chalk is an amazing upscale restaurant that crafts new menus every week, based on what local produce is available to them in the area. And Cincinnati is a small enough city that there are farms close by--making that local shopping and eating so much easier than in a big city like Chicago.

Chalk showed up on my parents' radar because the chef came to buy produce from the family farm in Cleves, OH--Carriage House Farms LLC. He buys honey and bee pollen from my brother--plus seasonal veg and flowers for his table centerpieces. Read the fine print at the bottom of the menu and you'll find CHF listed in the thanked farms.

Giant hanging garlic scuplture. The restaurant host made fun of it, but I think it's clever.

Findlay Market

Why, oh why, doesn't Chicago have a big old food market in the European tradition? One big building filled with Butchers, Fishmongers, Pastry shops and Cheese makers all indoors with local produce vendors in outdoor stalls while the weather permits? A cathedral ceilinged cavernous building filled with the noises of families picking out good food from local vendors?

Cleveland has the Westside Market--Dan and I visit it with his brothers every Thanksgiving and get gorgonzola stuffed olives, lil smokies and Israeli couscous.

And Cincinnati has Findlay Market:

This is the parking lot side of the market, but essentially, it's a large central building (not shown here), with a collection of shops on either side of it in these amazing old structures. And there are butchers in those shops that have been in business in Cincinnati for over a century.


When I visit Cincinnati, I always make my mom go for a Findlay run, if for no other reason than to visit Silverglades--home of the best Spanish Chorizo in the Midwest. Why in a town with such a strong German history? Who knows. . . but I get two Chorizos every visit for paella back at home where you can only get Mexican Chorizo.

This time, I also bought four of the German Veal Bratts. . . nothing like 'em in Chicago.
Sometimes, I have dreams about living in the top floor of one of Cincinnati's beautiful old buildings--buying it for a song and renovating it with Dan. We would stabalize the top floor so that it could hold the weight of a rooftop garden--so that I could finally be the perfect blend of city/country mouse. And then we would go to Findlay Market every Saturday for freshly made belgian waffles and coffee, and return home with arms full of baguettes and fish and fresh produce. I'd work for Cincinnati ArtWorks and Dan would be a computer genius for some lucky company, right downtown, both within walking distance of our beautiful home.