Foggy Lima

Hemingway was right: this is "the saddest, gray city". I do disagree about the sad part, but the gray description at least this time of year, is accurate. The fog hangs over the city like a blanket. So why did Pizarro build his Sparkling Empire here? He founded the city in January 156?, when the sky was brilliantly sparklingly blue. The middle of summer here.

Our hostel, theh 1900 Hostel, is directly across the busy thoroughfare from the MALI, the Mueseo de Arte de Lima. We caught the last day of an exhibit on Carlos Baca-Flor Sunday. A lifetime of work was on display, from drawings he made during his teenage years to the portraits of JP Morgan the year before he died, and the Parisian street scenes and landscapes he dabbled with in between. We walked about 100 miles yesterday (OK, maybe that´s an exaggeration!), to the downtown to see the Catedral (of course), the Governor´s Palace and several pretty plazas. In the Plaza San Martin, we found the statue of the Lady of the Llama. She was supposed to have a flame on her head, but the spanish for flame and llama is apparently the same word, and the sculptor chose lifestock. ohwell. The city is tranquil, in spite of the heavy traffic, and clean.

I just tried to insert a picture here, and will need to work on the method...Stuart is waiting to begin our day´s adventures, so will sign off now.

Leaving Mrytle Beach

We left the RESORT hotel in Mrtyle Beach before the sun rose, with rain coming down. A phone call to the airlines confirmed all was on schedule. Hurricanne Sandy is not going going to interfere with our trip beginning. We spent far too much time in the Ft. Lauderdale airport, arriving in Lima late last night. We are staying at the 1900 Hostel for a few days. The hostel is directly across the street from the big art museum,The Mali. Off to find adventure in Lima!

Lisa and Harper arrive, we depart

Can you believe this luck?  I mean with Hurricane Sandy.  It's too late in my life for a hurricane to come ripping up the east coast.  Guess Sandy didn't get my message.  So, we hoping the blow won't change the plans for air traffic out of Florida, where we depart Saturday for Lima, Peru.  I'm trusting Spiritair to make the right decision.  I've wanted to spend some time in Ft. Lauderdale.... 

Lisa and Harper arrived yesterday.  How they can live with so few bags is a real eye-opener.  They each had one medium sized suitcase.  Wait.  I'm going away for 5 weeks with a back pack.  Well, I guess we really need far less than we are hoarding.  ohboy, I'm proud to say that it took less than 5 minutes to clean out the guest bedroom closet, because there was almost nothing in it.  We had a lovely evening, talking and having a typical karen dinner:  whatever is in the fridge and pantry usually comes together for a meal that can't be duplicated.  We were all out and about today, so we'll get to the List tonight and tomorrow.  You know, how to operate the dryer with the timer that isn't reliable; which door is squeaky; trash day; and how to add salt to the water softener.  They are hauling us to Myrtle Beach tomorrow afternoon, for our early Saturday  flight.  Wooohoooooo!  oh, and Lisa is a quilter, so is going to be able to use the embarrassment or riches in my studio while we're away.

Totally different topic:  The Sistahs did some batik experimenting last week.  Here is the yellow-over-blue dye pot.  The light color is the original color, yellow.  After applying the wax, we put this in blue dye.

 This is a piece I dyed, using Ann Johnston's Parfait method.  The dyes were old, so I'm surprised with the outcome.  I expected this to be much more washed-out looking.

 This is Bonnie's, and it is much brighter than the camera captured!

 This is mine,and will become a blouse next spring.  I'm reaalllly happy with how this one came out. 

ok, down to the last few decisions:  water color pencils or water color crayons? 

Miniature Enchanted Houseboat

    This picture was taken just minutes before I was reduced to a sobbing mess...That's Kari in the background, one of the two Builders of the Boat.  She and Julie are masters of miniatures, creating unbelievable vingnettes so real looking a photo might lead you to believe they are real...just look here:










The adirondack chairs are duplicataes of the chairs Stuart built for our real deck and gardens.  The church birdhouse is also one of his creations.  Impossible to see in my poor photo is the Sandy Bartholomew Zentangle book in Gini's lap, the book we all love and that Gini has done so much beautiful work with.  A bowl of popcorn, a bowl of freshly harvested veggies and a chicken in the other chair!







Bonnie, tending the vegetable stand, just as if the produce came from her real garden...there are pumpkins 'growing' in the housetop garden, too.  So much like a real mercado scene!  Kari made the produce from polymer clay.  Bonnie is also tending the bottle of wine and tortillas, in the background. 

 

Martha, in the kitchen.  The black pottery on the floor is typical of a village in Oaxaca, MX.  Hanging in the window is a stained glass piece Sam C. made for me 20 years ago, right beside the Betsy vase with silk flowers and the small picture/frame Julie made...all identical to the originals.  Behind Martha is my gas cooktop, and a comal, which I use often.  See the lights above the wall cabinets?  Gourds and grapevines, just like the real kitchen.

ohmy, this is the my downstairs powder room...complete with the sink, mirror and cabinet Stuart made.  The tiles around the mirror are exact duplicates of the real mexican tiles. Julie made them from polymer clay. The brightly colored cabinet over the toilet even has the little pictures in the frames we have in the Real bathroom.  The details continue: the blue vase and flower, the faucet, the basket on the floor, even a duplicate of a book we have!   Through the door, the studio is visible....

....complete with the stack of books and papers on the floor in the foreground.  They're duplicates of the stuff I use!  The little jars on the table top, with colored pencils and paintbrushes, the Ott lamp, jars of mediums and paints.  Just in the front corner, a few of the fabric postcards I've received hang on the orange wall.  See the pegboard in the corner?  It's just like the one in my studio, filled with the hoops, scissors and ruler.  Even Betsy's turtle fan is there.  Flat Karen and her wardrobe hand in front of the window.  The white baskets under the table are filled with fabrics and trims.  So many details, so hard to photograph!

Another view of the rooftop garden.  The lights and 'mexican' flags are from my real White Garden.  We hung the white lights for Gypsygirl's Buen Viaje party, and the flags are perennial fixtures in the garden.  Kari built a White Garden:  she made a styrax tree, daffodils and lilies, there is an azalea, some asclepia, some white balloon flowers and some alliums.  Just as in my real garden.  The arbor and gates are identical to the entrance to the veggie garden (out of picture, at the bottom).

The pictures don't come near to telling the story of the Enchanted Houseboat.  The real story is in the details:  all the little things only friends notice and remember as important.   The Bigass Frog, a bowl of popcorn, the loofa in the outside shower, the thermometer on the porch, Zentangled doors, a box with seven PFDs (personal flotation device), one for each of the Six Sistahs and Stuart, lights and gourds above the kitchen cabinets, a map of the world, with pins to stick in it for places we've been, Roy and Lerlene, Julie and the fart machine, Kari's iced tea glass, and so much more.  Julie and Kari put so much love, and labor, in this Enchanted Houseboat.  Thank you, Sistahs.  All of you.

Now, the danged karenfest is reaalllllllly over!

The Enchanted Houseboat

Enchanted.  Really.  Julie and Kari built this houseboat with great skill, imagination and love.  More pics in another post, when I can see clearly enough to take more pics! 

t-skirts and more

   As I said before, I have a new obsession:  making clothes, by hand, with previously loved clothes.  So, This is how I started...

On the Alabama Chanin website, http://alabamachanin.com/, I saw a blue, embellished and beaded shirt that caught my eye,and prompted me to chase this style of clothing and construction.  Cotton knit, raw edges, visible stitching and lots or little embellishments are all details I love.  I made this green shirt, inspired by the photo on the AC website, using an old favorite Stretch and Sew pattern, not the AC pattern...for stitch experimentation purposes I used pearl cotton, 6 strands of DMC floss and Cotty thread, and various stitches. The fabric is cotton double knit, from my stash.  I later dyed it with indigo and clear yellow (I think!) fiber reactive dye.  I made this before I bought the book, so was working from the seat-of-my-pants.  Turns out years of sewing has lead to good instinct!

detail of the stitch experiments....6 strands of DMC on the armhole binding, and one strand Cotty on the neck binding.  I like the way the neck binding has 'fluffed' a little after several washings.  I'll use 3-4 strands in the future, and I like the Cotty, a 12 weight, mercerized cotton thread for more delicate stitches.

So, the top turned out OK, and I learned which thread and stitches I liked.  The book, Alabama Studio Sewing + Design arrived, patterns included.  I devoured the book the same day!  She has already invented the wheel, so why should I work for the best stitches/threads/ methods?

This is the four-gore skirt, which I cut from 2 previously-loved t-shirts.  T-shirt knit is a single knit, but handles the same as a double knit, with the exception of the Roll Factor.  You know:  a single knit rolls to the right side, a double knit doesn't roll.  I went to several thrift shops in town, and while GFC has, by far, the biggest inventory, the new Salvation Army shop on Floral Parkway has the best prices:  $1 for men's t-shirts.  My fav shop is Vintage Values for everything else.  I need two XL's for a skirt.  After a short online search, I didn't find the fold-over elastic recommended in the AC book, so I used some 3/4" sew-through elastic from my stash.  Perfect!  OK, I cut the elastic too long, but I'll adjust that on the next skirt...

Detail of skirt construction....Also learned that stitching the pieces together by machine, and hand-felling the seams works very nicely.  I like the Cotty thread, and I have lots of colors in my stash!  12 weight.  This cretan stitch is good for the elastic application.  Now, I've made three skirts, all of which fit great!

OK, on to another idea.  This jacket is from an old Calvin Klein pattern, I made in another century.  Really.  It got shortened, and I cut circles, inspired by the June's Spring stencil in the AC book (copies on their website for free downloading, enlarged at Staples).  This is linen, and I cut circles from linen.  The scary thought is that I still had the linen remnants in my stash!  The circles are getting stitched on, by hand with a running stitch and beading thread, and I'll crust the edges with beads.  A long-term project, for sure.

A tank top (my style), cut from a polo-style shirt (NOT my style!) and bound with strips from another t-shirt, bought at Vintage Values.  Again, I used the S&S pattern, which doesn't fit as nicely as the AC pattern.  Don't skip the stay-stitch-the-neck-edge step.  It WILL stretch.

The bolero is cut from the AC pattern.  I never thought I'd like a bolero, but surely had to try it before discarding the idea.  I'm not fond of clothes that I have to tug and adjust because they feel like they're falling off or getting in the way.  Well, I love the bolero!  Just the right amount of warmth, with a tank top.  Even better:  2 XL t-shirts will yeild one skirt and one bolero, if I cut carefully.  The sleeves are the sleeves from the t-shirt, hem included.

Time to check out the AC tank top pattern now.  I cut it from 2 XL blue t-shirts...in my head, I can cut a tank top from one shirt, but it doesn't happen like that.  I don't worry about the two t-shirts being exactly the same blue.  The difference is part of the charm of this style.  The center front/back seams really make the top fit nicely, and it's not as low as it appears on the model in the book.  Thankgoodness!  I reallyreally like this tank top pattern. 

Now, I have three more tank tops cut out, from used shirts.  The stash of left-overs is growing, and will be used for bindings.  The next step is to use one of the AC stencils, now that I have worked out the fit and stitch questions.  This is going to be a great project for the Oaxaca trip!