Home Treasures

Just keeping my hand in.  Treasures from around here, and a project I'm trying out

I have been missing my camera!  It's just been so very busy around here...

In bocca al lupo. m

Today 2/14/15

The sewing room.

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

This Morning 12/20/14

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

This Morning 12/06/14

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

BiondoBags

Another one of the projects I've been up to lately. These are shopping bags, or totes if you will. They are made of laminated cotton, are extremely lightweight, and can fold up and be tucked in a purse or pocket.  Easy to keep in the map pocket of the driver's door in the car.  There is a three inch pleat on each side making them expandable for groceries or several items of new clothes.  They can carry a lot of weight. I've recently toted home two half gallons of milk in glass bottles along with four glass bottles of root beer (brewed locally I might add), in a single bag along with a loaf of bread and a few vegetables.  I happened to only have had one bag with me at the time.  They are washable.  They make nice gift bags too.

I make them in several ocean related prints (the one at top I consider "beach umbrellas").

Each and every one is designed and made by me.  They'll be on sale at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Craft Fair on November 16.

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Diversion

Back to the farmers market.

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Color

I love to use these colorful baskets to store fabric and yarn.  I use small ones for knitting projects and large ones at the farmers' markets.  I love to see the collection of them side by side adding color.

In bocca al lupo.  m & v

Sewing Day

We call it Sewing Day, this day that my friend and I meet every other week, but lately it has been more toward fiber art.  Sometimes it's a garden day and we spend our time checking out the local nurseries.  It is always friendship and sharing of ideas and any new skills either of us has picked up.

More often than not, I'm the one on the learning end.  She comes from an incredibly talented family with four sisters.  Someone is always learning something new and passing it on to the others:  Jewelry, spinning, wood working, sewing, needlework, collage, canning, preserving...

They cause me to miss the sisters I never had.

In bocca al lupo.  m & v

A Day in The City

Yesterday we drove to Golden Gate Park and visited the deYoung Museum.  A favorite get away for us. We were delighted to see a few winter roses hanging on in the rose garden.

Another favorite spot for me is Britex Fabrics between Geary and Maiden Lane just off Union Square. Four stories of bliss. 

Home now with our feet up.

In bocca al lupo.  m & v

Angry Cat and Old Lace

Technical difficulties necessitated returning to the sewing room to salvage some lace.  

A pause in the fish stories.  More on them later. 

 In the meantime, enjoy some lacy pictures.

Battenburg lace freshly washed and gently pressed.  So happy to have that handwash cycle on the machine!

If she weren't 100 years old Agatha would be more severely reprimanded. As it is, "oh Aggie" will suffice.

Needle and Thread

I love to hold a needle and thread in my hands.  I love the whir of the sewing machine and watching the needle punch through fabric with precision, leaving the trail of evenly spaced stitches in its wake.  My grandmother took up needle and thread and supported her family through the last Great Depression and I wish I could do that for my family during this new depression we're experiencing.

She made all of my clothes until I learned to sew in high school.  They were so lovely, of course I never fully appreciated them, though I did realize how beautiful they were, and how unique.  Twice a year we had the fittings. Hot and muggy August evenings before the start of school I had to try on every garment still bristling with pins. I stood patiently on a chair as she measured hems and adjusted armholes and collars, my family surrounding us in the living room of her tiny apartment. The entire tableau repeated mid-winter for my spring wardrobe.  I must admit that I inherited her attention to detail and technique.  Sewing was an exercise in focused attention with no distraction allowed or tolerated. Although I spent nearly every weekend and holiday with my grandmother, I was never with her while my wardrobe was under construction.  I still consider sewing a solitary pursuit.  

Although I don't presently sew my own clothing I still love to make things out of fabric with needle and thread.

In bocca al lupo. m