Friday Featured Art: Love's Melancholy

Here's another painting at the Art Institute that I like. It's an 1866 work titled Love's Melancholy, by Constant Mayer.

Thursday Text: Randolph Caldecott's Picture Books

When I visited the bookstore at the Newberry Library, I thought that this looked like an interesting book. Randolph Caldecott's Picture Books includes nine of the best stories illustrated by Caldecott, after whom the book award is named.

Amy Butler Makeup Bags

I made a couple of little makeup bags using an Amy Butler pattern last week. I really love this squirrel fabric. The inside is a brown, kind of Western-looking star pattern. The blue fabric on the bottom is a sample of Ralph Lauren fabric that I've had forever. The inside of that one has a cowboy fabric, complete with bucking broncos. I'm not sure what I'll use them for yet, but the size is great, and the zippers are handy!

Tupperware Pie Press

We were at a little county fair the other day, and there was a Tupperware lady there. It's fun to see that they still make some of the old classics. I was interested in this little pie press - it would be great for making little pasties!

Bird Embroidery

I just made this little pillow for my husband's grandma. Using a pillow form makes it a cinch! I embroidered the fabric using a mountain bluebird pattern from Martha Stewart and then sewed it into an envelope cover. I just used a backstitch because I cannot figure out the chain stitch - can anyone teach me?

Friday Featured Art: Counterbalanced Candlesticks

I really love looking at decorative arts when I'm at the Art Institute. The last time I was there, I saw these counterbalanced candlesticks designed by William Arthur Smith Benson. They are very beautiful.

Thursday Text: John 3:30

I really like this short verse from John, uttered by John the Baptist in reference to Christ:

He must increase, but I must decrease.

Cricut on sale!

If you don't have a Cricut yet, head to your local JoAnn's - they're on sale for $60! I couldn't pass up such a great deal. Time to get cutting!

A Quilt

Thanks to a lot of help from Sara, I've finally finished a quilt that I started 9 years ago! It's made up of my late husband's golf shirts. Sara helped me with the piecing, and then I quilted and finished it. It was a really fun project - I especially liked showing it to my sisters and having them recognize some of the old shirts. The rows and binding are chambray, and the back is a cute, tiny blue diamond pattern. I'm excited to do more quilting!

Storefronts

Shopping in Chicago was especially fascinating to me because of the great storefronts and window displays that I saw. This is the door to the Anthropologie store on Chicago Ave. The door handles are big and heavy, and the tile in front of the shop is beautiful.

The next three pictures are of the new AllSaints. It's a British shop that's new to Chicago. It's kind of hard to see, but the windows on both sides of the door (pic. 1) and the window above the door (pic. 2) are full of old Singer sewing machines. The third picture is from the inside looking back toward the entry. The whole setup is very industrial, and the store is often described as "edgy." (It's also expensive!)