getting crafty

On Friday, we Metro-ed into the city for the 22nd annual Washington Craft Show, a juried exhibition and sale of contemporary fine craft. The show featured 195 artists, and we visited every booth, ooohing and aaahing so many times I lost count!

I especially loved the quilts by Brooklyn-based textile artist Erin Wilson:

Erin dyes her own fabrics, then makes the small squares one at a time, adding strips of fabric as she goes (without any preset plan) to form each perfectly composed block.

I also fell head-over-heels for Connie Verrusio's jewelry, all made from or inspired by pieces she's found in antique shops and hardware stores. My favorite was a silver cuff bracelet engraved to resemble a dressmaker's tape--a slightly more elegant version of the ring below:

I wonder if wearing it would improve my sewing abilities. With my current project, I need all the help I can get!

home comforts

Happiness is a pair of the coziest felt slippers, new Amy Butler Lounge Pants,

and an old friend:

The comforts of home.

dash to haberdashery

Last week, Rachel and I traveled into London to meet my design-and-sewing guru Amy Butler. Liberty itself was looking fab, with an entire wall swathed in Betsy fabric as part of its Prints Charming exhibition:

As soon as we reached Haberdashery, we spotted Amy, who's just as beautiful in person as she is online and in her books. Here's one from her website, as my own pictures were terribly yellow (which does make you wonder about the lighting in the fabric department):

When I'm nervous, I tend to witter terribly and say the most embarrassing things. But luckily Amy wasn't fazed by comments like 'Wow, you're really tall!'

She's so incredibly friendly and down-to-earth. We had the loveliest long chat, and she signed both my books...

even after my silly (and now infamous) tall comment!