Did you catch it yet? It’s a total trip that I really dig. The Museum of Fine Art’s Hippie Chic fashion exhibit is a blast from the past.
The fifty-three outfits span the 1960s and 70s and are curated into five themes according to influence. The installation is super, complete with a juke box full of period music. Frequently, you can the view the garments from several angles which I appreciated. The enthusiasm of the time period radiated, as suddenly I loved the shag carpet in neon colors on round go go platforms!
Hippie Chic is on view until November 11, 2013, so there’s still plenty of time to soak it up. Meanwhile, the MFA web site has great features to whet your anticipation. There’s even a fab game (this coming from some one who would rather do just about anything than play games on her computer!) where you create your own album cover.
Did you think I was on the sofa, eating bon bons and watching “Downton Abby“? Mais, non! (Alright, I did spend the last two Sunday evenings with knitting and hot chocolate, watching season 3). Fabric and yarn excitement and shifting priorities made the last three months simply sizzle.
Currently, the waning fireworks are from the Common Cod Fiber Guild’s Ignite Craft and FiberCamp… three days of creative energy, company and the opportunity to share with others. On Friday night, I spoke at Ignite about the wonders of FiberCamp.
All eyes on Guido Stein as we prepare for IgniteCraft Boston 2013.
I offered to facilitate three sessions at the FiberCamp itself:
Fair Isle Knitting (I had no idea there was such trepidation about this topic!)
There was also time to show Sheeri around her new sewing machine, fetch coffee, label rooms, browse the pop up vendors like Dirty Water Dyeworks (a skein from Stephanie is a FiberCamp tradition!), pick up that incredibly crazy “52 Pick Up” pattern from Fallingblox and some teal hand spun from SnowMoon3.
Good thing stash reduction was not a New Year’s resolution.
I treasured the session led by Jen Stark of BlueAlvarez, where she shared the Excel spreadsheet she’d developed to streamline pattern grading for knitwear design. Jen is a creative and thorough designer who has experience, education and “the eye.” Fit, function and statement flow from her designs. Wow! The SAORI Weaving session was at the same time, and I thought perhaps I would follow the “rule of 2 feet” and try to stop by both sessions, but I was totally absorbed with the possibilities and ease for sweater design. What a great session Jen led.
Thank goodness I was able to enjoy Mihoko’s presentation the night before at Ignite Craft… I’ll be sure to share the video when it is posted.
Amy King of Spunky Eclectic led a bunch of sessions on Saturday and I managed to catch a bit of making patterns from existing clothing. I have, on occasion, been burned by mistakes while doing this. Most of these could have been avoided by placing my pattern paper on top of a soft surface (say carpet) and pricking important lines with T pins. Now why hadn’t I ever thought of that? Whatever the session, it was fun to dive in and see what might happen next. I crocheted aliens, overheard tips on thrummed mittens, and just enjoyed the company of the other FiberCampers.
Now it’s back to my regularly programmed life and posting about other fiberlicious projects in my studio.
Many many thanks to the Museum of Fine Arts for bringing the quilt documentary, “Stitched” to Boston this weekend. Can we have more film like this?
Directed by Jenalia Moreno, produced by Nancy Sarnoff and with great camera work by Thomas Gandy, “Stitched” shares the stories of three well known American quilters: Caryl Bryer Fallert, Hollis Chatelain and Randall Cook. The ties between them are stronger than fame: Caryl mentored Hollis who has in turn, encouraged Randall. The International Quilt Festival in Houston as its framework, sharing the story of these three artists’ entries for the 2010 Festival.
For those who aren’t into the quilting, you may not know the lingo or the events. The International Quilt Festival is Houston’s largest convention: last year, more than 60,000 people attended. The film tries to highlight both traditional and contemporary quilting. This film is an excellent peek into the quilting subculture.
As a quilter, I enjoyed their stories, the viewpoints and a peek into their studios. The film editing was great, and musical score carefully chosen. I even discovered my favorite song of the week: Wash away, by Sum of You.
The distressing moment: how empty the venue! The Sunday afternoon showing had perhaps a dozen people in the Alfond Auditorium. Friends who attended on Friday reported even more dismal attendance. Perhaps the MFA, with its might mailing lists and plethora of cultural programming, hasn’t quite connected with the fiber community in Boston? I know some MFA staffers create great knits, quilts and multi media journals. Thank goodness someone did reach out to the Rising Star Quilt Guild‘s event page days before the showing, so I was aware of its presence in town!
It was fantastic to see a documentary with textiles as the subject. Do you have any suggestions?
The Common Cod Fiber Guild hosted their first Ignite Craft in 2011. “Ignite” events feature 5 minute slide shows, each slide on the screen for 15 seconds. You get all kinds of viewpoints on a subject. It was quite the entertaining and inspiring evening… if I do say so myself. I was Secretary of the Guild last year and took the opportunity to share a few of the quilts I’d made. Thanks to Brilliant Video, you can see both the 2011 and 2012 videos!
