Eye candy…

I subscribe to Chuck Green’s Design Briefing newsletter. The newsletter itself is full of links to interesting design site. In newsletter #186, the first was the link I clicked on took me to the Gallica, the digital library of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.

The site is (of course!), in French which makes navigating it a bit more of a mystery, but it was fun to click around.

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There are all sorts of images, maps, and much more. I clicked through many of the Fantastic Creatures from maps…

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I have no idea where I might use any of these images, but it is fun to browse because you never know exactly where inspiration might come from. That said, when you visit a site like this, it’s always good to find out how you can use the images. The site says that the non-commercial use of the contents is free of charge, subject to compliance with the current legislation and the inclusion of the source’s statement. The commercial use of the contents is subject to payment and covered by a license.

Chuck Green also linked to Robert Newman, who reviews contemporary magazine covers at Folio blog. He has an impressive design bio. The newsletter link took me here, where Mr. Newman was reviewing the cover of Lucky Peach magazine. It is worth reading because what it true for foodie magazine covers it also true for quilts if you want your quilt to stand out from the crowd.

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As I was writing this post, I went back to Lucky Peach only to find the newest cover and darned if the cover, all by itself, didn’t make me subscribe! I hope I like it :-). If nothing else, I’ll enjoy the covers!

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Where could it be?

I found this image on tumblr. Cool, isn’t it? I would never have thought to turn books backwards on the shelves but the design is so wonderfully graphic… although you would have a really hard time finding the book you want :-).

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This would also be a fun, and easy, idea for a pieced quilt!

An Everyday Best Challenge!

Valerie Prideaux sent me these photos from a friendly quilt challenge that she and some friends took part in. The quilts were recently displayed at Quilts at the Creek 2014, a yearly outdoor quilt show in Toronto, Canada. Aren’t they great! All the quilts were quilted by Sandy Lindal of Scrappy Gal Quilt Co, who was so busy doing the quilting that she never got hers done.

FYI: I’ve loaded the 6 pictures into a slideshow, which is a new feature I’ve found on WordPress. Hover over the picture and you’ll see a pop-up control bar where you can click to go from slide to slide.

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Shirley entitled hers “One Thousand Three Hundred and Sixty pieces of my mind” which cracks me up. I have never taken the time to count the pieces in any quilt I’ve made because, if I knew, I might despair of ever finishing :-).

I do love Valerie’s minimalist interpretation of the design—so very contemporary. Thank you all, for sharing your work!

Barns and farms in Indiana…

I had no idea that there were so many Amish and Mennonite farms in Indiana! Last week I landed in Ft. Wayne and then was driven to Elkhart. It’s about a 1 1/2-2 hour drive through lovely country. If we had stopped the car every time I wanted to take a picture, I’d still be there :-). As it was, I took photos with my iPhone from a moving car. (Side note: my iPhone takes a really good picture!)

In many pictures, you can see a reflection on the windshield that I took the picture through. It adds something to the photos that almost make them more interesting…

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Farm buildings don’t have many windows or doors. Each building is comprised of big, simple shapes. The colors, and the way the colors change in shadow, are mesmerizing.

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There is something, too, about the weathered nature of these buildings that make the so much more interesting. The owner probably wishes that this barn was scraped and painted, but I like looking at it the way it is.

We stopped to take this photo, and the next one. This is a small building off to the side of a much-large farm building complex. I found out that the Amish will often paint the trim around the doors like this one below, or in a similar fashion. I see hearts when two doors meet!

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This is the larger structure…

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You know, I love the look, but I have less-than-zero desire to be a farmer or to live in the country. That said, I am really, really happy that there are those among us who are called to grow the food that we all eat. If that’s you, thank you!

 

Taking a ride on the way-back machine…

You know those emails that you sometimes get? The ones with lots of photos that have been forwarded so many times that you have no idea who actually wrote the first email? Every now and then I get a really good one. This was the subject line: a dose of nostalgia. Thank you, Nancy for sending it :-).

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I made these, by the dozens! Gotta say that they were lousy potholders but they kept me busy. My mom surely loved that part. Below are my grandmothers good highball glasses. Looks like she wasn’t the only one who had them.

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I wonder what happened to my diary? It looked just like this.

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I think Mom’s table and chairs were pink. Or red.

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I hated this vacuum, with a passion. But my mother loved it.

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My first mascara… I don’t miss it one little bit. For those too young to know, you wet the brush and swished it on the dark cake of mascara and then applied to your lashes. What a mess it was!

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I miss the feel of this phone in my hand, and the sound of the dial. The noise was good in both directions. Dial enough and it could make your finger hurt.

Now that I think of it, I miss the experience of talking on an old phone. Talking on the phone was more special then than it is now. We didn’t just call for any little thing—and we for sure didn’t call long distance often. I don’t miss that part—I love being able to call anywhere in the country as if I am calling across town.

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I have Mom’s watch that is similar to this one. I wish it could be made to work.

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I wish I could find these diaper pins now, for Bear who wears cloth diapers now.

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Remember this nasty glue? It dried brown and didn’t work. What’s to love?

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I was a tomboy and played cowboys and Indians with the neighborhood boys when I was 6 or 7. We all had metal cap guns that these strings of caps fit in. I remember the smell of the burning powder and paper! I suspect that is a toy that cannot be found these days.

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Hose, that came in a box, and required a garter belt. I am so thankful that hose are out of fashion.

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Remember the roller rink?

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I still have my bronzed baby shoes! and several leather baby shoes that didn’t quite make it to the bronzer. I don’t know why I love them, but I do.

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How could something be both gross and good at the same time? I actually preferred the cherry Luden’s cough drops, which are still around.

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Oh, if only the penmanship the nuns tried to teach me had stuck. I type much better than I write by hand.

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Anodized aluminum glasses are pretty but they sweat too much and, as I recall, they have a subtle metallic taste. Even so, they are just too pretty! If I had any, I’d use them.

I tried googling ‘a dose of nostalgia’ and did not find the source for these images but there were some interesting pages. If you want to, use ‘the google‘ and see what you find!