cherri house, quilter

yesterday i posted about a woman, fred shand, who created quilts with a very organic feel to them. non-traditional.

i thought it would be fun to post about the opposite. cherri house is a well known quilter who has written a variety of books, one of which is city quilts, where she takes her inspiration from the city. sometimes when you are walking in and around and through a city, you can forget to stop and admire just how amazing it can be.

cherri has managed to do that, and then put it in a quilt, go figure.

 

cherri house, city quilts.

indigo blues

the indigo dyeing process is long and relies on a fermentation process which differs from that of other colors. it’s no wonder the end result can be so intense and beautiful. it’s one of the oldest dyes used for textiles and is thought to have started in india, but through trade indigo has made it’s way around the world, and has played an intrinsic part in the history of many cultures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

images with thanks to unknown, hand eye magazine, madeline weinrib, unknown, yuimade, unknown.

deutschland

from copenhagen we headed to berlin, a city that i’ve learned so much about, and yet had no pre-conceived notions about what it would be like.  since it’s only been twenty years since the berlin wall has come down, it felt very much like a relatively young city trying to figure out who it wanted to be, which lent itself to many great neighborhoods to explore.  i must admit that i didn’t expect to like germany as much as i did, but in both berlin and munich, we had such a great time.

here are a few pictures from the east side gallery, the part of the berlin wall that has since been painted by various artists from around the world:

there are memorials found all around the city, some not as obvious as others, as is the case with the used book sale which happens every day, rain or shine, in front of humboldt university… the site of the book burning during world war two.

and then, there’s the hotel where michael jackson held blanket out the window… which of course i had to get a picture of.

we then headed to münchen (munich) in the south, where we set our clocks by the glockenspiel, watched the deutschland world cup game at the chinese beer garden in the park, and ate sausage, saurkraut and pretzels to our hearts delight.

københavn

copenhagen really is where you would imagine hans christian anderson to have written his fairytale classics, by virtue of the fact that copenhagen looks like a muted fairytale.

everything from the color to the architecture of the buildings evokes whimsiness.

and did you know that danishes are danish?  they are pretty dane delicious too.

then there is the matter of tivoli, the oldest and most beautiful amusement park in denmark.  you might ask yourself why i would choose to go to an amusement park while in copenhagen…. and the answer is simply because it is awesome.  located right when you exit the train station,  it is really quite exquisite and well kept.  we had an amazing time not only on the rides, but also watching the dress rehearsal for a ballet, as well as numerous concerts scattered around the park.

baby eends (ducks) + amsterdam

amsterdam is crazy. when you arrive at the central train station you are dropped off into the midst of trams and trains and canals and bicycles.  oh, the bicycles!

it’s a beautiful town to wander around and get lost in, but it was nice at the end of the day to actually leave the craziness for the calm relaxation of the lake right outside of the city where we were staying.

the city and the surrounding area (and pretty much the whole country) is made up of an intricate system of canals, which we enjoyed on a three hour boat tour into and around the city.  here are a few pictures of our adventures in amsterdam.

we also met some of the most interesting and nicest people in amsterdam.  it really is a city that is aware of, and celebrates, their eccentricities… which was very refreshing.

photos from myself and my traveling companion, katie.

matchbox labels from europe past

i always pick up matchboxes and matchbooks when i see them in restaurants.  i like noticing the design on the outside, the color of the matches on the inside… and you never know when you will need to start a fire.

none of the matchbooks i have collected look as great as these from a time in eastern europe when needing a light was a little more common.

see more here.

the french look

if i could describe the french look in a nutshell, i would use these photographs by romina shaw… as she has managed to capture it so well.  it isn’t anything specific, but rather a feeling that is conveyed with the image.

romina shaw.

a little saturday afternoon rugby

today i had scheduled a relaxing, do nothing kind of saturday afternoon. so when my friend céline called inviting me to a paris rugby game, i grabbed my bag and headed to the stade (stadium). now, growing up in california  (and i might even go so far as to say the states in general) rugby isn’t one of the more popular sports… so i really knew very little about it. everything that i did in fact know came from movies or television shows (i know you’ve seen that friends episode). all i really knew was the ‘group huddle’ and that it looked very aggressive. and very painful.

well it was, and i have now come to the conclusion that the intensity and pure raw man-ness of a sport is directly inversely related to the level of girly-ness the uniforms can look… and just leave it to the paris team, stade francaise, to have the darn girliest of them all. the color you ask? hot pink.

oh, and the opposing racing metro 92 team? powder blue stripes.

as it goes with any sports team, the fans wear the color… well they flew their flags too, so whenever a point was won, the whole stadium blew up like bubble gum.

all in all it was a lot of fun.  i‘ll just need to brush up on my rugby knowledge before the next game.

welsh blodwen

while i’m on this uk kick, i should probably mention blodwen, a welsh homewares store that specializes in traditional welsh quality local goods. and.they.are.beautiful.

the new store, started by denise lewis and caryl terlezki, is aimed at preserving the national craftsmanship of rural wales by partnering with the local craftspeople.  with everything from wool blankets and fresh honey to handmade clogs and coracles (the boat pictured).

definitely worth checking out.

shop blodwen

a wee dram o’ edinburgh

i‘ve just returned from two weeks of living out of a suitcase, eating delicious food and exploring both new and familiar cities.  new york was my first destination, allowing me to visit friends and favorite places, but more importantly, watch my friend lacey get married to her wonderful dave! (you can see pictures of her wedding on her blog).

the second part of my trip, of which you will see here, was edinburgh, scotland.  it was so refreshing to be surrounded by mountains and green grass and water…. and cheddar cheese, pints of deuchars and english (well, that last one is questionable).  unfortunately, the weather was a complete change from the warm spring sunshine i found in new york, but i wouldn’t give up having seen the city amongst the mysterious fog for anything.

the trip was full of walking around and seeing the historic castles and bridges… but we did our fair share of more kitschy touristy sites as well, which includes, but is not limited to: the city of the dead ghost tour, the whiskey experience, the scottish tartan factory and wait for it… the 3d loch ness monster experience (a little better in name than in actuality, but we had to).

the best of these tours was bar none the whiskey experience.  it consisted of a barrel ride through the process of making whiskey (which was no less than a disneyland ride), a smell and taste test from the different regions where whiskey is made in scotland and a glimpse of their huge collection of vintage whiskeys:

everywhere you went there was tartan…  i’m amazed i made it home without any of it really, but i did manage to take a few pictures of the looms used to make the famous fabric.  the size and speed at which these machines worked was incredible, much different than the smaller moroccan counterpart.