Denyse Schmidt's String Theory

One of my favorite museums is the Museum of Contemporary Craft, here in Portland Oregon. I have to check out their website every on a fairly regular basis to see what is going on, seminars, podcasts etc. Today I checked out the podcast available on Denyse Schmidt, quilter extraordinaire.
It is interesting to hear her progression and process in both the individual quilt and how she got to where she is. I am very inspired personally by her move to the industrial warehouse and the business she has created there.

Denyse also makes fabrics for FreeSpirit and has some books out by Chronicle Books.
My favorite title is What a Bunch of Squares but her Quilts
book is full of tips, patterns and projects for the modern quilter.

Of course she is an American
Craft super star, I tend to glamorize those who make it to the pages of American Craft. My friend Michael Fields, exhibit designer of the San Diego Naural History Museum and maker with his son of Bagriculture Bags ( I absolutly love these bags and am a proud owner of one myself), was on the cover for one of his baskets. I have tried to find it with no luck, so if anyone has an older stash of these mags I'd love a scanned copy. My friend Cyan Bott was also splashed into a recent ( Dec./ Jan. 2008) article called Port to Port that looks at the two big craft meccas Portland Oregon and Portland Maine. I bask in their glory.



The podcast is here: http://www.museumofcontemporarycraft.org/media/2009_07_17_Denyse_Schmidt.mp3

Bringin' Spats Back

These are incredible, I encourage you to check out the details. The maker is Emma Greenwood, an Australian trained in leatherwork and custom made footwear.

Her blog is Aprons and Hammers and you can see some of the steps in making these gorgeous shoe/spat combo as well as other creations. She also has a pair of trainers called NYC Kicks that make me a bit tingly. The detail is what strikes you first, even the thread on the shoes themselves are multicolor mirroring the embroidery itself. The pure technique is beautiful, they are so well made. I love spats anyway but this pair is over the top cool.