Be*mused

Signs of the season

I'm really enjoying fall this year.  I've driven down to Amish country twice in the last few weeks.  Outside of Vermont, I think it's the most picturesque place to enjoy autumn.  I got our pumpkins there. 

And our mums.  The trees in our neighborhood are actually just a little past peak color now.  A lot of leaves came down in some windy rain a few days ago.  Today was gorgeous, though, sunny and 70°.  I relish every day before the eventual arrival of you-know-what.


BH&G American Patchwork & Quilting, October 2012 issue

For some reason, this year the seasonal magazine articles and projects are really grabbing my attention.  American Patchwork & Quilting has a wonderful article featuring Betsy Chutchian and her Halloween decorating with quilts.  There are so many great little pieces in the photos accompanying the article, I bought the issue and have studies it numerous times.


Quiltmania No. 91, Sept/Oct 2012, cover photo

I love this Jo Morton quilt, named Baby Emma, which is featured on the cover of the current issue of Quiltmania.  I entertained the possibility of making one, but I'm not much of a pattern person and I'm already neck deep in the Lollipop project. (Among others.)

Those magazines were like an itch that needed to be scratched, however, and on the weekend I pulled a bunch of seasonally colored prints, just for the fun of it.  Hmmm.

Once I started making little baskets, with no plan in mind, I veered a bit from the Halloween-y colors, assembling one after another in blacks, grays and cheddars.  And now I'm running in to prep a bunch of handles to appliqué during the debate tonight. 

That is, if my hands are not immersed in a big bowl of buttered popcorn.  Let the show begin!

Blue Nankeen

Several of you have asked if I had any fabric adventures while in China.  I did!  Since it was a family visit, I expected that most of my fiber encounters would result from chance sightings while on excursions around the city.  Our daughter-in-law, however, went above and beyond in planning daily outings while K was working.  She was a wonderful tour guide around the city, showing us many interesting sides of Shanghai while considering our interests ~ construction and fabric!

For the first few days of our visit, H wisely kept us within walking distance of their place, as we acclimated to the new time zone and recovered from that long flight.  One morning we took a short stroll over to the French Concession area of Shanghai, a charming section that still reflects its reputation in the 1920s as 'the Paris of Asia'.  We stopped at a number of interesting little shops along the way, but there was an eventual destination.

If you weren't looking for it, you might miss the sign ~ Chinese Hand Painted Blue Nankeen Gallery.

We crossed the street and headed down the alley-like lane, the ubiquitous Chinese laundry hanging overhead.

Off the lane, to the right and left, were traditonal longtang neighborhoods.

After several twists and turns in the walkway, we ended up at a little courtyard strung with lengths of cloth drying in the sun.  This looks like the place!

From several scary shots of myself that were taken that day, I can only conclude that my lack of photos here was due to the fog of jetlag.  In any case, the gallery consisted of a ground floor shop which featured a wide variety of clothing and home goods made from the indigo-dyed fabric as well as a small exhibit on the second floor, tracing the history of blue nankeen.  It was opened by a Japanese woman in 1990, in an effort to revive the appreciation for this beautiful, traditional Chinese handcraft.

Somewhat similar to Japanese indigo prints, blue nankeen immediately struck me as being more like Indonesian batiks and the historical exhibit supported my impression.  A thick paste is applied to fabric through cut screens before dyeing.  The resulting fabric does have the slightly stiff feel of new batik, although it softens nicely with use.

Table mat, 15"

The traditional patterns are graphic and striking.

Upon my return home, I was surprised to read that many Chinese have no memory of this traditional cloth and that most of the visitors to the shop and gallery are foreigners.  I think you would find this post I came across most interesting!

The modest cost of handcrafted yardage, around $7.00 a meter, took me by surprise and I couldn't resist bringing home a small selection of prints.  All in the interest of preserving history, of course.  *ahem*

Buzzin' around

I didn't mean to drop off the map like that.  The last few weeks have been unexpectedly busy, with lots of buzzing around.  But between the trips near and far, I've been chipping away at block #3 of my lollipops quilt.  That's the nice thing about projects like this, progress can be made in small snatches of available time.  I have several other projects vying for attention though, so I'm going to have to reduce the workspace footprint of this one somehow.  The mess is growing disproportionately to the block size!

As much fun as I've had the last few weeks ~ several trips to Amish country, a day spent exploring a quiltshop-rich area not too far from my home and a week of gallivanting on the east coast with Molly, who was in the states on a business trip ~ I'm happy to say that the calendar is pretty blank for the next month or so.  A bit of a relief!

I have a few posts in the queue.  Back soon.