Introducing Far Far Away, Part 2!

Ah details. In the day to day management of my own life, they are not my strong suit. In my art, however, they are my obsession.

I am extremely pleased to announce that I have a new collection of fabrics for Kokka/Seven Islands coming out this spring, a second installment of Far Far Away. Same three color palettes (with a little oomphing and tweaking here and there), but with a new cast of characters - each of them bringing along their tiny details. I spent an hour alone on the small pile of bobby pins at the bottom of Repunzels tower. I know, I know.

Its too early to post a complete line, as we are still finalizing everything, but here are a few little scraps.

and here we are in aquas, oranges and greys...

And stay tuned! I have some great news about my older discontinued collections coming soon!

Sugaring Season

note: I have a dear friend who likes to read in the bath, where her laptop is not allowed. She has requested that I offer a printable pdf of my blog posts for her, and that they be "about ten minutes long". request granted here.

Maple sugaring season, in case you did not grow up in the northeast, is only a few weeks long. It occurs in that brief window of time each spring when the days are beginning to warm but the night time temperatures are still below freezing. In the lower part of New England this happens in February, but in the part of northern Vermont that I grew up in it can start as late as April. Sugar Maples realize that its going to be spring soon and start producing a watery sap and sending it up to its branches, where famished little leaves-to-be are waiting. If you drive a hollow metal spout into the tree it will intercept some of this sap, enough to fill a big tin bucket in just a day when things really get going, without harming the tree. And if you boil that big bucket of sap down on the wood-stove, you will get a cup or so of thick maple syrup. Its a staggering amount of work, even today, when much of the process has been simplified by technology.

My uncle Mike, who made syrup off and on during the thirty plus years that he farmed in northern vermont, told me once that the biggest reason that most small farmers threw themselves into the seemingly futile effort of making syrup every spring was to “get the $%** out of the house.” Having lived through a few Vermont winters when months went by without the thermometer registering double digits and with more cats than television channels (the television was black and white anyway, at least until my mother put her foot through it’s screen during one particularly grueling battle with the rabbit ears during an episode of The Waltons, after which it was just black), I could understand that sentiment.

There was also something about that time of year in Vermont, when Spring's imminent arrival was an undeniable certainty, reports of her slow and clearly drunken northward trek heard daily from reliable sources in the south. The hardware stores were by now sold out of plastic sleds but stocked with the bright green hoses and stainless steel spouts and buckets. It was now only a few weeks until bunches of daffodils and litters of unplanned kittens would start nosing out from under the front porch.

A few years ago, maybe a decade after I had left Vermont for mild and cable-served northern california, I visited my uncle at this exact time of year. He was trying to get his sugaring operation going again after a few years of dormancy. I drove my completely un-snow-worthy rental car up the steep and snowy dirt road to his farm and found him at on the road in front of his sugarhouse, towing an enormous and brand new evaporator behind a small tractor. He jumped off to give me a hug. When my arms were around him he felt cold, thin, and tired, not at all what his mood conveyed, and with weeks of work ahead of him, but this was surely the happiest I had seen him in a very long time. His mood was infectious, I had an overwhelming desire to somehow become a part of the process, and offered to help sell or market the syrup once it was ready. Mike’s girlfriend, who had already made a few biting comments about my “fancy” car and my “bright” winter jacket was quick to remind me that those were  “the easiest parts”. I was absolutely wounded by her comments. When had I left their cause and joined the comfortable, ignorant outside world? It was all I thought about on my long drive back home (which, incidentally, involved doing some minor.. ok, major... damage to that rental car), and the very question that led me to (for the record) commit a minor act of corporate espionage in order to convince the huge health food coop in Arcata, CA to buy all of the syrup that Mike could produce for their bulk foods department.

maple syrup over vanilla ice cream with walnuts / from WEEKEND SEWII tracked down the bulk foods buyer and gave him my practiced shpeel. I was a health food store’s ideal supplier, right? I was representing a small farmer who used traditional (if not primitive) methods. He was interested, and gave me much more time and attention than I deserved, but he already had a supplier: Shady Maple Farms. This is where I crossed the line. "Shady Maple?" I said, eyebrows up and voice lowered to convey my corporate horror, "you do know about them, right?" "No, what about them?" he asked. I had nothing. I was just hoping to hit a socially conscious nerve, hoping that there was something wrong with Shady Maple, like the fact that they used Canadian suppliers (gasp) or used non-union or underage sugar maples, some fact that he already felt guilty about but was knowingly  ignoring. He stared back at me, waiting for the bad news about his trusted, long-standing  supplier. "Lets just say they put the shady back in maple", I said, nodding slowly and squinting a little. That did it. I had an order for fourteen massive plastic casks of my uncles maple syrup. That was over four thousand dollars. The fact that they would be buying and selling it in bulk was important, Mike wasn’t equipped to sterilize, fill, seal, and ship small bottles of syrup safely or profitably, so he needed a buyer who would take all of his syrup in these casks instead of fancy little bottles with labels. It took me almost an hour to convince UPS to send a driver up the long dirt road to my uncles place to pick up all that syrup, even though the snow would be light by then. I heard the word NO more than once, but by then my “do the right thing for the small farmer” lobbying skills had gotten pretty advanced and eventually won out.

I know what you’re thinking. Obviously, it was wrong of me to imply that Shady Maple is anything but a decent company, and I am sorry about that. As long as I'm coming clean, I should also say that if you
visited a swimming hole near Montgomery, Vermont, underneath a covered bridge on a sweltering day in the summer of 1978 and a small unwashed girl told you that the water was infested with bloodsucking leaches
and asked if you “had a lighter with you in case you needed to burn one of ‘em off” and you got right back into your car and drove all the way back to Montreal without even getting your feet wet, then I also
owe you an apology. There weren't any leaches. If I remember right you were a newscaster. Or maybe I just thought you looked like someone from television because you had short hair and were clean-shaven. It was 1978 and it was vermont. You looked about fortyish to me. Which maybe means you were twenty five. I’m really sorry. You were sort of in my back yard and I had some territory issues and no bathing suit. Still, it wasn’t the right thing to do.

Back to the syrup. The sell price would have to be raised, and the store’s customer would want to know why, so a logo and company description would be needed for the store’s big wooden bulk container. I called Mike with the news, and offered to make a logo. "OK, you can make a logo, but don't give me that cutesy moose and cow crap", Mike had said, “I want something real, something that shows what Vermont is REALLY like." Mike's Vermont was an especially harsh one, and not a lifestyle that could or should be depicted on a bulk foods bin, so I went for humor instead, and drew the image above. He loved it. He told me that when he first saw it that he laughed and laughed and laughed. My mother loved it too. I consider this - making two rather cynical and wood-stove dependent Vermonters laugh in what must have been February, to be a great personal artistic achievement.

Thanks in part to the lucky timing of a fad diet known as the maple syrup cleanse sweeping through California at about this time, Mikes syrup sold out very quickly. It also did well because it was, in every way, superior maple syrup. I kept a half gallon of it for myself, and found two beautiful old vintage brown glass Mrs. Butterworths bottles to keep it in, corking them with pour spouts. These bottles have lived with me since, refilled as necessary. I even used them in a recipe photo for Weekend Sewing.

The Food Coop was thrilled with the experience, and the following year we tried it again but Mike was not well, and the year after that we lost him. We all miss him a great deal. I have a few old jars of Mikes syrup, but can’t bring myself to use it except on special occasions. Most of the syrup I buy now is from a producer that comes down to our Greenmarket here in the city from northern Vermont, from a place not far from where I grew up. I buy it just once a year, as much as I can afford in big rectangular tin containers, just a few days after it was made. Its not a freshness thing, syrup doesn’t get stale or even go bad. Its just that I like that for a short moment I have that sense of being a part of the process, even if it’s the last part. Even if its the easiest part.

Last winter the first bit of syrup started showing up at our Greenmarket in February. I don’t expect to see my guy in town until April, which means I have about a quart of syrup to last until then. When I was at Greenmarket last week I noticed that my favorite farm raised pork supplier has lovely cuts of meat at the moment, and the apple cider from another local farm still tastes exceedingly fresh and this year’s squash is still everywhere, so I’m planning to make a roast this weekend using this recipe. I made this last year, for Thanksgiving for my in-laws, its crazy good and surprisingly healthy, and so very easy.

So please, as the season approaches, buy some maple syrup directly from a small producer. Its worth every penny. And if you run out before next maple syrup season, I highly recommend the stuff from that wonderful and socially conscious upstanding company, Shady Maple Farms.

The Library Skirt

Yesterday was the "Modern Women of Sewing" event at the new York Public Library, held as a part of the Crafternoon series, and for those of you that missed it, heres a bit of a re-cap. The idea behind the event was to bring attention to all of the amazing rare books that the NYPL has in its cavernous, multi-level archives (known also  as "the stacks"), specifically the books that an artist or craftsperson would find especially inspiring. Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S, Denyse Schmidt, and myself were all asked to present our favorites from among the vast collection. Considering the selection, this was almost an overwhelming task. In the end, we all gravitated towards very different types of books, but browsed with great interest each-others selections. I showed illustrated (and refutable) proof that a mermaid was once captured off the coast of a place called Ambon, Liesl showed us the vintage fashion and kids books that were the earliest inspiration for Oliver + S and re-introduced us to a few fantastic children's book illustrators, and Denyse showed examples of the works of the modern artists that inspired her to become the artist and quilter that she is today. Then the three of us and about 150 guests sat in one of the loveliest, grandest rooms in the Library, surrounded by the most amazing tapestries and a hundred or so very rare books, and did a little crafting. Afterwards, over a late lunch at the Oyster Bar at (the equally grand) Grand Central Station, we all agreed that it was the most fun we had had in a long while.

In honor of this vast and inspiring collection of books and images and of this grand old building I designed this skirt. The artwork (above, in its original form, and left, printed on fabric and made into a skirt) is from the library's immense digital collection, which is available (and catalogued perfectly, try searching for anything via keyword) to all of us right here. I purchased the rights to use the image and received a password that allowed me to download a high resolution copy, which I then sent to my brilliant friends over at Spoonflower. The sateen is just one of their lovely fabrics available to print on, and was the perfect choice for this skirt pattern, which requires a fabric with a bit of "body" to achieve its festive fullness.

If you have a copy of Weekend Sewing, then you already have the pattern for this skirt. You will need to download these instructions (its a pdf file), which show you how to revise the skirt pattern piece for the Saturday Night Silk Jersey Set to make this skirt, which is 19" long and has a side zipper.

It was tough to choose which artwork to use, but in the end I knew this was the perfect piece. The drawing is of a cross section of the library's underground stacks, showing in great detail how an enormous collection of books could be stored, organized, and made easily accessed by all. It even shows the pulley system that was used to carry the books from deep underground, and up into the hands of a patron waiting in the library's beautiful "reading room". When I took a moment to look at it carefully I realized that our modern data storage systems (such as our computers and the internet) isn't as much of a replacement of the library's system but more an evolution of the same. We may have found a way to compact our data into tiny binary coded bits, but we still organize it in the same way: by guessing what we will be looking for at some now-unimaginable point in the future.

There are at least a zillion beautiful fabric prints waiting for you over at the NYPL's online digital collection, from beautiful paintings of birds, butterflies and flowers to the handwritten (and hand-edited) poetry of Walt Whitman. The hard part is choosing. Once you have fallen in love with something, you can purchase a high resolution copy to download, and, if you like, send it over to Spoonflower. For this skirt you will need about two yards of fabric.

Please be respectful in using the work of other artists and of using the library's digital collection. The images are meant for your personal use and enjoyment, but there are rules and regulations about using them commercially. Take the time to ask questions and be forthright about what you intentions for use are, because even though we have all become accustomed to this wonderful world of free online access, we all need to be respectful of this privilege and of our responsibility to help maintain and protect this wonderful and extremely rare collection of books and images that is our own history.

Comfort and Joy

Absolutely nobody asked me for a design-centric guest-bloggers "Gift List" this year. Nobody. No matter, (this being the beauty of a blog), you are going to hear all about it anyway. Next week....

Todays post isn't so much a gift list as it is a holiday survival list. I can personally vouch for the effectiveness of each and every product here, without these items I would not be heading into the high hectic holiday season with such a brave face. In fact, I am wearing two of these things as I type this. Three, if you count the under-eye concealer. Four if you count the new bit of tummy that has arrived since finishing off the dark chocolate covered peppermint yoyos. Wow. How about that.

From top left:

It's just so important to eat seasonally. Trader Joes has these amazing dark chocolate covered peppermint JoeJoes (like Oreos, but I suspect with slightly more opiates) for a very limited time. Buy more than one box. Just do it. You can freeze them, if they even make it home with you. The ever diligent Candy Blog has even reviewed these as they compare to the Oreo competitor (please.) for you here.

Hitachino Nest Beer, made with rice instead of wheat, is adorable and tasty. Its nice and light and looks lovely on the table, and leaves you slightly less puffy in the morning for some reason. Especially good with spicy foods, dresses up take-out beautifully.

Lovely Glimmering Super Long Thigh Highs Because its only December 9th and I'm already sick of pulling up my $%#! tights. You can pull these on under your nightie in the morning and delay the putting on of pants by at least one additional blissful hour.

The DROID that TC bought me because even he was relieved when I finally lost (rather than just misplacing it underneath the cat) my cheap little phone that turned itself off for no good reason. Now I am QUITE up to date. Of course, if I haven't called you in a week and a half its because I don't have your phone number anymore. But I intend to be up and running and using more than the alarm clock app very soon. I love this thing, even though I am hardly a tech savvy girl. For example my main goal this week is to record my cat snoring and set it as my ring tone. Now where did I put that rebate form...

YSL Touche Eclat Radiant Touch: overpriced and worth every penny. Will conceal late nights, early mornings, snoring cats, husbands who have suddenly and inexplicably learned to sleep with their pointy little elbows sticking out, long nights wrapping gifts followed by early mornings full of candid photos, too much beer, too much eggnog, too much take-out, and not enough money. Really, all of it.

Ojon Rub Out Dry Cleanser, because its not that I'm too lazy to wash my hair more than once a week, its that the instant that the heaters go on in NYC, I become a chia pet. This stuff instantly fixes the greasy bits up top, the frizzy bits at the end, and the dullness in between. And don't tell that woman with the perfect skin at New London Pharmacy who sold it to me, but I also tried it on my sheepskin rugs, which are such a lot of work to shampoo. Worked pretty well.

JCrew Cashmere Turtleneck Sweater JCrew is really working for me lately. It might be because they let me shop in my neighborhood store with Lobo, but I think they are doing a lot right these days. This year they made their cashmere turtleneck sweater a few inches longer than its been in past seasons, just in time for Dark chocolate covered peppermint JoeJoe season. Now it is simple cozy perfection.

Headphones The kind that stick so far into your ear that you are hoping not to bump into anything important. Really tuning out is the only way I can get any work done this time of year. I'm pretty sure I am becoming that person who sings along without knowing it, just based on the way the cat has been running out of the room suddenly.

Sweatpants I know, JCrew again. But honestly, I can't say enough about this pair of sweatpants. I'm going to buy another pair tomorrow. Really. All these years wearing those overly revealing if not somewhat humiliating tight stretchy yoga pants to the gym, trying to avoid catching a glimpse of my rear self in the mirror. What was i thinking? All along I could have been in these loose-fitting wonders, with the legs pulled up on my calves just so, looking sporty circa 1985, before MC Hammer came along and ruined everything soft and baggy.

My new favorite shoes. I tried them on at one of my favorite little stores in Soho and almost bought them there even thought they were a size too small. It took me a week to find them elsewhere, a day of agonizing over the cost, and then a husband and a birthday all intervened and there they were. I can't even bring myself to get rid of the box they came in. I know, extremely expensive. Also extremely comfortable, made for dancing, soft stretchy leather, a bit of a platform for extra height. I admit, I didn't really get the ankle boot thing at first, but when it got too cold to leave the house in ballet flats and facing another winter in tall black boots just made me feel sad: I understood.

There you have it: a bit of comfort and joy, and also some very good chocolate.

Happy Holidays,

Heather

Cloudy Collection: Repeat Repeat

I have long been a fan of the beautiful Illustration blog Drawn, which is on my daily-visit list. It was through them that I was introduced to the work of David Huyck, which is funny and beautiful and feels as though it comes straight from the imagination of an eight year old boy. I was especially entranced by his tiny little derby cars, one of which depicted a frozen ice man. I also really love his paper airplane series, and I am certain that I can hear a small boy making airplane sound effects when I look at them.

David is also responsible for the very exciting Cloudy Collection, an ongoing project that issues a group of limited edition letterpress images quarterly. David contacts artists whose work he likes and gives them a theme, plus two colors. The colors are important because all of the artists works are grouped together and printed (on a big old traditional letterpress) simultaneously, then cut apart.The end result is six images, all related, all by different artists. David then offers them for sale, as a collection, for a very good price! As you can imagine, Cloudy Collection has become quite popular, with past editions often selling out before new ones emerge.

A few weeks ago David contacted me about being a contributor for his latest Cloudy Collection. The theme was to be "repeat repeat" (he had us pattern designers in mind, and also included the incomparable Julia Rothman in this series) and the colors were blue and green. As any third grader worth her box of 64 crayons knows, those are the colors of water and sky. I was tempted to draw seagulls (because white would be a color, too, right?) but then I remembered the postcard of some lady waterskiers I had sent during a trip to Florida last year, and decided that their time had come. Pardon the tangent here, but who here thinks that a kids book about jobs that look really really fun (to kids) like being a lady acrobat waterskier or a lion tamer complete with ample warning about dangers (water up nose, getting eaten) would be pretty great? Ok, tangent over.

The newest Cloudy Collection (including my ladies) in its entirety is revealed today, and will be on sale until it's gone. I think I'm going to get a set for my dear friend Stephen The Bachelor (who never reads my blog, so I'm free to talk about him and give him titles) to artsy up his little mannish apartment.... oh, and a portion of proceeds go to the Nature Conservancy!