Project 1

Bought some plasticine for model-making.

Began a project tonight:

Ebe is not interested.

Fanny and Alexander Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Eddie Curtis and Margaret Curtis

Really enjoying this ceramics lately of

Eddie Curtis and Margaret Curtis

 The top piece is by Eddie Curtis and the bottom is by Margaret Curtis.

They are currently showing New Forms, New Textures at the

Contemporary Ceramics Centre in London.

Exhibit 

 

A visit with Marjie

A coffee shop in Clifton that had poster of the Obama's at the White House.

Here is a close up:

 There is a garden between the white house and the Obama's.  

The poster was promoting everyone had a right to a garden 

or something like that.  Pretty high concept...

Notice the pictured taped up to the right of the poster.

These are chairs that resemble fertility statues.

These chairs were in the North Carolina State University

library.  They also had mysterious stains on them.

Then at the beginning of my senior year, 

the school had them reupholstered.

The Taft's carpets + vintage Christmas ornaments

The Taft Museum's Carpet... I told you they were nice.

Other nice articles from the Taft.  May have shown these before.

The Taft had an antique Christmas Ornament Show

on display while we were there.  A lot of nice texture.

Monday

Happy Sunday

DIY window curtains

Our new apartment didn't come with any blinds or anything.  We already had enough curtains for our bedroom/studio, but not enough for the living room.  We both wanted floor length light airy curtains.  Some weeks ago we went to JoAnn's and picked out a neutral linen.  I had already measured each curtain so I knew how much fabric to buy.  Measuring out the entire project and drawing a diagram for the construction made the actual project much easier when I started sewing.  Typically I don't like to plan, which never works out with sewing projects.  I wanted the curtains to have texture, so I referred to my Reader's Guide Complete Guide to Sewing.

 I didn't end up using any technique in the book, but there are so many techniques in the book it is helpful for generating ideas.  This book also have very instructive illustrations.  Another neat thing about this book is it has a section on how to sew curtains. 

I started by washing and drying all the fabric.  Then I ironed it.  The hardest part of this project was the ironing.  I have a small ironing board that I have to use on the floor.  Each window curtain was over 100 inches in length and to properly measure and cut the curtains I had to iron a lot of fabric.  I took up the entire floor ironing.  I cut each curtain and machine stitched all hems, sides first and then end hems all about 8-10 SPI and 3/4" wide hems.  Be sure to iron the hems down before you sew them.  When I was new to sewing I would try and not iron so much, but the finished results will always look bad.  Iron everything all the time.  I ironed the hems down, pinned them, then sewed them.

Be sure to think about how the curtains will attach to the window.  I bought a suspension wire and metal clips, so the curtain didn't have to have any way of attaching, it was just clipped up.  

After I finished the machine work I started the hand work.  I tacked the bottom of the curtains in a diamond pattern.  To do this I put the curtain down over a cutting mat.  Then I measured out each tuck and marked it with a sewing marker.  After the design was marked out on the fabric, I gathered the fabric at each point and tacked it on the back of the curtain, which created an overall quilted effect.

 Below are the completed curtains.  Floor length, light and airy with texture.  I like them because they let in a lot of soft light during the day, but they also block out street lamps at night.  I was worried I would have to back them or add another layer, but in the end I didn't have to.

 

Saturday

Quilt!

Ceramics, Metal and Glass

More from the Cincinnati Art Museum.

 Both of the above pieces are from Iran.  I saw many blue lions in the Iran Art section.

Lions represented royalty and strength and are oftentimes depicted with the sun.

I am still researching the blue lion to see what significance the color plays, if any.

 The two above images are Chinese glass bowls.  I was drawn to the

creamy colors.  They also reminded me of FireKing ceramics

and 1960's Tupperware (see below).

 FireKing

Tupperware

This contemporary ceramic piece is my current favorite.

Symphony with Jace

For my birthday Jace and I went to the Symphony.  

More of the Cincinnati Art Musuem

One room of the Cincinnati Art Musuem has paneled wooden walls with 

faces at the top.  One is old and one s young, but they look like

the same person.  It was strange seeing them side by side.

Somehow, seeing them smiling above you in a wood

paneled room seamed so "twin peaks" to me.

 Here is Saint Anthony.  Nice posture and

turn of the head.

Patron saint of lost articles.

He died of Edema.