dinner/lunch

last night i should have been studying for the gre
but it was the debate!
and the project runway finale!
so i didn't, and instead i made another soup
tomatillo/leek/roasted apple/pear soup with shredded chicken
sounds and looks not so tasty
but it's so so tasty.

soup

i love to cook
and one of my favorite things to make is soup
i've been experimenting a lot lately
and this one is my favorite.
it's pureed butternut squash, beets, fennel, and mint
and i put in lots of cayenne pepper and a tiny bit of honey
and wasabi powder
a little of everything, and it actually in the end tastes amazing!
it's this wonderful deep red color* and is very spicy but also sweet.
the best thing about it is that it's so healthy.
there's no butter or oil, and very little salt, just wonderful veggies.
my boyfriend tasted it and he loves it too,
but what he said about it is part of what makes me love him.
he said:
"you know, the reason i love beets is because when i eat them, it's what i imagine grass would taste like when i smell it."
i think he's right!

*please pardon the terrible photo, it looks a lot better in person

a sneak preview

of my new project

my new and wonderful things

so, as i said, i went to the 25th street flea market
and it was awesome
and here are the great little goodies that i picked up

this lamp will soon be transformed...

this little stool will not be transformed, because i like it exactly as it is

i love this

this one says "thou shalt not commit adultery"

a little antique victorian button with a tiny raven
i think i might make this in to something for my hair

some more wonderful victorian buttons

little golden duck buttons

these are these weird ermine tassles!
i don't know what i'll do with them but i love them.

a lovely little spoon

an ugly necklace with some nice beads and a pretty charm

matching cameo necklaces
these charms will be great in my project

i think i might go back to the 25th st market this weekend,
potentially with a. king?
she's really excited about all the furs for sale.

petal

silk rose petals for weddings come in a great range of colors
i ordered the colors above, except for the black, but i'm thinking i might need the black too
i can't wait to start my new project...

tinsel trading

vintage thread variety box

metal sequins

handmade glitter paper

vintage metal thread

vintage metal thread

sequins

glass glitter

vintage bouillon angel hair

i have got to go to tinsel trading.
my dad's girlfriend mary told me about it when she showed me her textiles, now i'm convinced i have to go, but worried about spending a week's paycheck on metal sequins.
i love metal sequins.

a cloud

i made this little cloud for annette to take to niger
i used mary's silk ribbon to embroider the mouth
i threaded gold sequins through it and it looked really nice
i also used mary's silk thread to sew the guy together
i wanted annette to have something sparkly and a little glamorous out there in the desert

mary mckay

i posted a while back about my dad's ladyfriend, mary, and her wonderful collection of chinese and japanese silk ribbons.
she's so great, i can't stand it.
i'm going to declare again how much fun it was to be in austin and to sit with her and have arts and crafts time and eat chocolate.
well, here are her gorgeous textiles.
she wove them by hand on a loom in her sunroom, using the ribbons and thin, dull metallic thread that she got from tinsel trading in new york.
the thread is made from real gold and silver, and a spool of it, seen at top in a bed of silk flowers, is pleasantly heavy.

silk ribbons

i went home to austin this weekend
it was really, really wonderful.
i met my dad's ladyfriend, mary, and she's incredible.
she used to make these gorgeous woven textiles out of silk ribbons, and sometimes using metallic thread with real gold and silver woven in.
they are unreal.
but it was even better because she and my dad and i obviously all love making things, so she brought me to her house and we took out all her boxes of leftover silk ribbons that she had imported from china and japan.
they were packaged so beautifully - as disks with a lovely paper center.
we spent the morning respooling them and thinking about all the different things you could make with so many ribbons.
she let me take two huge bags home with me to new york
i think i want to mummify a wooden chair or a lamp base in silk ribbons.
i think i'm also going to use some of the ribbons as embroidery on my quilt.

she also had a box of silk flowers
i want to make a rug out of them.

silk ribbons from china

real gold braided thread

our morning's work

monsters quilt

i'm back at work at the monster's quilt
and i'm making a crab.

monsters

more on the monsters quilt.
i finally gave him a pair of eyes. i'm not sure i like them just yet, but we'll see.

the start of the newest one.

another thing that i made

the light over my bed.
it's a green paper lantern that i paper mache-d with white tissue paper
and then i covered it in fake flower petals.

it's really nice to read by.

update to monsters quilt post

says my boyfriend:
"i see that you are now using your blog to spread rumors / lies / conspiracies. let the record show, i do not hate the faceless monster. i just wish he had some eyes, or an eye."

monsters quilt

all my friends know i'm a granny, and it's really hard to get me to put down my arts and crafts to do anything else - but i just love making things.
especially sewing things.

so, here they are. the first two monsters on my monsters quilt.
it's a follow up to the hexapus project.
on the back side is inky blue velvet. this side is white flannel printed with a white pattern of butterflies and flowers - it's totally subtle and a great backdrop for my parade of monsters, and so so cuddly.

the pictures didn't come out so well here because my camera is pretty old, but they're made up of tiny tiny stitches, using lots of different colors of thread to get the right effect.
if you click on the pictures you can see the detail much more clearly.

this guy with the green head was the first one. i'm really proud of his scales, in person they look amazing.
by boyfriend hates this monster though and can't wait until i give him eyes.

i'm so bummed out that the scales look like that. they're made up of five different colors of thread, and one of them is holographic - so it sparkles really beautifully.
the face, hands and feet are of holographic green thread.

this is the second monster i made.
i love him.
i especially love his feathers, which took forever and ever, and his feet, which are completely embroidered in silver thread, and his drool.

i love monsters!
i have some good ideas for the next monsters to come.
this quilt is going to be the most wonderful thing i've ever made i think once it's finished, although i really do love the hexapus(es)(i)