Studio Tour - Dagmar

Yes, yes, I know, I actually wrote in this blog that I'd be doing weekly studio tours....wow, was I ambitious!  Life indeed got in the way of that!

However, Dagmar and I finally managed to connect - slowly, via email - and I have another tour for you!  Dagmar left last week for Germany - she goes every summer with her beautiful children, for about 3 weeks, to visiting her home.  Thank goodness she graciously sent back answers to my 'interview' questions before she left!

Dagmar and I met a few years back at Trader Joe's....which we laugh about, because we both have made some great friends there.  She spotted a tote bag I had made and was carrying - it was bright orange and pink, which coincidentally are colors that she's drawn to and look fabulous on her.  We struck up a conversation and have been friends since!

She's primarily a knitter - as well as dyeing, spinning, felting wool.  As far as other crafts?  Well, it's more like what DOESN'T she do?!  Here's our interview:

ME:  Do you listen to anything while you work? 

when i knit/crochet i do audiobooks, mysteries, favorite: the prey series by john sandford.

ME: What's your favorite tool, whether it be for knitting, spinning, sewing, cardmaking - anything - what do you love to use?
 

knitting needles, for the lonely island - i'd spin coconutfibers and be a happy knitter...

ME: At what age did you start your artistic creating?  What's the 1st thing you made?

i made a super ugly floppy doll, long and skinny - and loved the thing to no end, always had to have him for sleeping. i was probably 8?! today he means nothing to me... strange...

ME: Do you go through "seasons" of creating?  Ever need time off?  if so, what brings you back?

i am like a butterfly, i nibble here and nibble there, switch crafts, but knit the most. when i don't have at least 2 active projects (not counting older unfinished objects in the closet) i get nervous.

it is usually an up and down with other crafts, like scrapbooking, crochet, bookbinding, marbling, papermaking, rughooking, felting....

And now pictures from her beautiful studio....how can one NOT be inspired to create in a space like this? 

Here are dyed woolens drying on the line.....to become strips for rughooking......a spinning wheel in the foreground, and a rughooking piece on the sofa in the background:

Wool being spun......and one wall of the studio - such vibrant color!

Various tools stored in sheep-themed holders.  Dagmar's business is called "Sheep on a Spring."  What I think I love most about her space is how her children's creativity is scattered about, also - displayed on the walls, a project in the making here and there.  She encourages them to create, also, and when I'm with them, I love to chat and just hang out with them - the little artists they are!

Sale!

Tomorrow and Saturday, (May 14/15), all Anna Maria Horner fabrics and patterns are 20% off at Hip Stitch!  A great time to stock up on her groovy patterns and that luscious voile!  We also have a selection of her home decorator cottons.

9 hours left......

At the risk of totally embarrassing Portia (some of you know her.....customer, friend and teacher at Hip Stitch), she's entered a gorgeous top in a Spring Top contest on this blog: http://www.made-by-rae.com/.  

Now, I'm sorry if you're embarrassed, Portia, but as you all know, I love our local artists, and feel VERY STRONGLY about supporting/promoting them.  So if you're reading this, and it's before 6 a.m. Tuesday morning, VOTE for Portia's top!

And to take Portia out of the limelight for a moment, I'm throwing Ann into it.  Ann makes the Re-use it bags that we sell at the store.  You know the ones - velcro closure, lined w/a safe non-PVC waterproof, washable vinyl.....well, they've been flying out the door of Hip Stitch - I think the word is finally catching that we can stop buying ziplock baggies and throwing them away!  She's making them as fast as she can.....uses?  sandwiches, snacks, pacifiers, to name just a few!

Check out her blog.....wallets and lunch bags are also her specialty!

Need some opinions

Alright, those of you that have known me for a while and/or read this blog for a while know that I occasionally digress from sewing posts.  Here's one - either read on or go to your next blog!

In the last post, you heard my saga about my van - in the shop, taken in while on my way to a studio tour, yada yada yada....

I had a call from the mechanic today.  I began writing down his dictation of the list of repairs that need done, then finally gave up - the list was just too long.  We have a 1999 Dodge Caravan with 151,000 miles.  It's ready to be put down.  We knew this was coming someday.....just not TWO WEEKS after my husband's 1991 Toyota truck died and we purchased an economical used car for him.  Karma?  Fate?  Unlucky coincidence?  And irony on top of irony - as I rode my bicycle into the parking lot of Hip Stitch today, my BIKE started making a clackity-clack noise.....my BIKE. (easy repair, I'm sure)

So here's my marital debate:  I came home today and proposed to my husband that we see if we can get by with one car.  His response: NO.  I came back with:  reducing our carbon footprint, saving on insurance and gas and car bills and getting into better physical shape with walking and bike riding, and planning our shopping trips more carefully, and.....and.....and.....  His response:  We need 2 cars!  Let me explain us a bit.  I know, I've always been the one with rose-colored glasses.  I come to him with grandiose ideas - let's move across the world for a year!  Let's take the kids out of school and travel the country for a year!.  Let's add on to our house and have my mom move in with us and we'll all save money!  Dan is, well, realistic.  And that's a good balance, I think.  I love him dearly and he's the best guy around.  I'm NOT complaining about him - let me make that clear!  Those daisies that have been on the counter at Hip Stitch since Easter?  from Dan.  An occasional bowl of chocolate on the store counter?  usually from Dan.  He's the guy who will bring over things to the store that I've forgotten from home - an iron, an extra sewing machine, a spool of thread.

So what are your opinions?  Do I need to take the rose-colored glasses off?  Yes, there are times where we need to be in 2 separate places that both aren't within walking distance.  But aren't there ways of working around it?  Give it to me - the cold, hard truth.

And the next studio tour?  Well, I'm working on doing a virtual one....stay tuned.

Argh!

So I was on my way to my Studio Tour #2 this morning - had arranged it with the very talented gal, had my camera and questions and anticipation, and as I'm driving, I feel clunks and shudders and noises coming from my van that, in my gut, didn't sound right......so instead of my outing, I drove to the mechanic, called my mom to pick me up and take me to the store, and said goodbye to my van for a few days.  We knew this was coming - car repair, that is.  Crossing my fingers it's not a transmission issue.

In the meantime, I'll be bicycling and walking around my little part of town - though I just heard on the news that more wind is on it's way - ugh.

And the studio tour?  Will wait for a few more days - a patient lady - a beautiful space awaits my camera!

2010 Hip Kids' Summer Classes

Studio Tour debut

Week 1 - I visited Kathy Albright in her home.  What a wonderful afternoon I spent with her.....and getting such inspiration from her!

My 1st memory of meeting Kathy, at Hip Stitch, was when she brought in some things she had made from the Softies Kit.   I remember being awed at the detail of her hand stitching - it was just simply perfect. 

As she shopped at our store more often, she'd share quilts she'd made with our fabrics, and our friendship just evolved into her teaching quilting classes - every quilt you see hanging at the store is made by Kathy!

As I toured her sewing space, I found myself seeing her 20+ years ago - an owner of a store here in town called "The Dancing Needle", which sold fabrics, notions, patterns, wool felt and more, and offered classes, too (sounds familiar, huh?)  She was featured regularly in magazines such as Crafts 'n Things, and Country Handcrafts.  Her handwork was exquisite (still is) and I got to pour through things she made then, and still has - small purses, sewing kits, shadow applique.

Her sewing room - separate from where her machine is - was filled with treasures.  Here are just a few:

an antique thread holder, which I found just fascinating

a treasured little dollhouse, with all the teddy bears, and furniture, handcrafted from kits that were sold at her store:

Her fabric, all stored neatly in pull out drawers in the closet....

or bundled together as scraps leftover from quilts, organized by color/coordinates:

The ribbon and the thread - oh just look at them!




And her machine - a Singer featherweight.   So dainty, so quiet, so lovely:

I asked her what she likes to listen to while she sews.  She says either movies on the Turner Classic Movie station, or music from the 50s and 60s.  Favorite sewing tool?  The Chalkoner. (we're trying to see if we can carry it at the store)  

Here's a sneak preview of what she's working on for fat quarter classes she'll be teaching this summer at Hip Stitch:

I realize tonight that I didn't take one picture of Kathy herself!  Well, if you don't already know her, you will if you shop at the store - especially on Saturdays, when she's likely to be found teaching a class.
I must admit, I feel a special connection to Kathy - she has 2 daughters, I have 2 daughters.  She was a teacher, I was a teacher.  Her passion is sewing, my passion is sewing.  (We also share a political party affiliation, but I won't go into that here....!)  She's made sewing a timeless craft, and I appreciate that.  Styles come and go, so will colors and themes, but the art of handstitching, of making something that will last a lifetime, never will.