Monthly Archives: October 2011

Little white houses

Posted in Boston, Recycled materials, Things to see by

I’m not sure how best to describe these: whitewashed Monopoly houses scattered on an oversized board game? Typewritten pages folded into paper houses? Stencilled with bits of poems from Emily Dickinson and tossed about the village of Deerfield, Massachusetts, the houses are the creation of Peter Krasznekewicz, who is currently a junior at Deerfield Academy. (You can see a slideshow of the project here.)

If you live near Boston, it’s worth the field trip to visit and wander around. But if you don’t catch the installation this fall, the Little White House Project will move to the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Mass. in the spring, and maybe to the Boston Children’s Museum. After that, the houses will have a second life: the artist plans to “up-cycle” the structures as material to be used in the construction of a Habitat for Humanity house.

Fireworks Pillow

Posted in Sewing, Stuff to make by

Is there a support group for people with a pillow problem? I made more. I confess. But I couldn’t help it. Inspired by Brigit’s post about Jessica Jones’s Outside Oslo fabric line, I ordered a couple of yards (but I chose her Amusement Park line instead).  You can buy the fabric at JCaroline Home. Or, better yet, you can order a chair cover made of Jessica Jones fabric that fits the IKEA Poang chair. Which seriously tempts me. Even though I’ve sworn off IKEA after its insidious circular floor plan left me on the brink of psychological breakdown. So no Poang for me! Even with the nifty chair cover.

The Glass House

Posted in Boston, Brooklyn, Things to see by

This past weekend, we visited the glass house–as in Philip Johnson’s 1949 little gem, not Billy Joel’s album circa sixth grade. Johnson lived to be nearly 100 (he died in 2005) and the house and its grounds have just been opened to tours this year by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Located in New Canaan, CT, it’s a great architectural field trip from New York, or if you happen to be heading that way.

Johnson’s other building experiments on the property aren’t as impressive–but he was a friend of Frank Stella, and so am I (figuratively, in my case).

Although the McMansions of the super rich have mostly devoured the town, there are still about 90 modern houses sprinkled about. Visit the Irwin Pool House (designed in 1960 by Landis Gores) in lovely Irwin Park for a complete survey of the modern homes in the area.

The Harvard Five in New Canaan: Midcentury Modern Houses by Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, John Johansen, Philip Johnson, Eliot Noyes, and Others

Pink and green quilt

Posted in Stuff to make by

I’ve been working away at decorating my daughter’s new bedroom. It’s slow going, but so far we’ve managed to paint her walls green (Limonata!) and I made her this pink and green quilt.

I was inspired by these APC quilts, which are based on traditional Amish patterns.  I liked how the APC quilts used delicate patterns within the bold geometric shapes. I ordered the fabric online, and I missed testing the fabrics against one another other person. I was a little worried that the brown wasn’t quite right, but I think it works. Check out the gorgeous green (Kona Apple Green) on the back. I just love that green!

Quilt show at the Dudley Farm

Posted in Gainesville, Sewing, Stuff to make, Things to see by

The Dudley Farm, a historic Florida homestead and working farm, hosted a quilt show this weekend. Ladies in period costume–prairie bonnets!–showed off some antique quilts. There were some quilts for sale and “quilted apparel”–questionable at best. Still, these quilts looked so pretty hanging on the line, and we had a good time visiting the animals, pumping water, and playing catch with horse chestnuts.