Green County Spotlight -- East Side Bags Visits 209 North Main

Green County Spotlight -- East Side Bags Visits 209 North Main

Food and Fiber

The Dining Room (http://www.209main.com/) is a wonderful gourmet restaurant located 30 miles from Madison in Monticello, WI.   The drive to the Dining Room takes you through the beautiful green countryside of Wisconsin, half the fun of the trip!  The food is fantastic (I recommend the sticky toffee pudding for desssert) and thanks to Ruth Knight Sybers and her friend Rhoda Braunschweig, there is always some sort of interesting textile exhibit to entertain the customers.  This summer East Side Bags has been chosen as the textile display.  There is an assortment of handbags and Kanzashi pins on display and all are for sale.  If you are looking for a fun dining experience, head out to Monticello and experience the beauty of Wisconsin, Wed. through Sunday evenings.  I plan to!

I'm Still Obsessed With Kanzashi

As you can see, I'm still obsessed with the Kanzashi flowers.  I'm always looking for handwork to do and these make great projects.  I decided to make a necklace using some of the flowers I had on hand.  Originally I was going to wear it to the If the Shoe Fits benefit, but at the last minute decided it would be overkill:)  I'm still hoping to wear it one of these days, just have to find the perfect thing to wear it with! 

If the Shoe Fits 2010 - "After"

Here's the Kanzashi shoe I made, ready to be auctioned off on May 20th at the Center for Patient Partnerships 6th Annual fund raising event.  Come and check out all the fantastic shoes at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 227 State St. in Madison Wisconsin from 5:30 to 8:30 pm.  It's always a fabulous time!

UPDATE:  The Kanzashi Shoe made $1,500 for the Center!

Gayfeather Fabrics Second Floor Classroom Grand Opening

On Friday May 7th from 5-9 pm, Gayfeather Fabrics, located at 1521 Williamson Street (on the Fashionable East Side of Madison), will feature its first ever garment sale, featuring the work of talented Madison artisans. Come and find one-of-a-kind garments to color your world and keep you fashionably attired. Who knows what treasures you might find.

Gayfeather Fabrics is filled with amazing fabrics, trims and buttons. Madison is so lucky to have a fabric shop of this caliber. Not only does Virginia carry an incredible selection of interesting and unique fabrics but she also has an wealth of sewing knowledge and can help you turn your sewing dreams into reality.

Her shop window this month features a selection of hand crafted prom dresses from the 60's. Stop by for inspiration.

Pat Zastrow Retrospective

Pat Zastrow, a talented fiber artist from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, is having a retrospective showing of her wearable silk art as a benefit for the restoration of the Crosse House in Sun Prairie. The event will be held at the Crosse House at 133 w. Main Street from March 12-31st. Pat will be showing 6 ensembles that she did for the invitational Bernina and Fairfield fashion shows plus other creations.

There will be an opening reception on Friday March 12th from 4-7 pm and on Monday, March 15th there will be an artist talk from 1-4pm. Double click on photos for more detailed information. Don't miss it!!

If the Shoe Fits 2010 - "Before"

One of the most fun projects I do every year is to come up with a shoe for the annual "If the Shoe Fits" benefit. It is sponsored by the Center for Patient Partnerships at UW-Madison and trains advocates to help patients and their families deal with life-threatening diseases (check out

http://www.patientpartnerships.org/).
The shoe gala will take place on Thursday, May 20th this year at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art from 5:30-8:30 pm., at 227 State Street in Madison, Wisconsin.

The hardest part is coming up with the idea - after that it's "relatively easy." I try to stick with an Asian theme so I decided to incorporate the Kanzashi flowers that I have been making into my shoe this year. Here is a photo of the shoe before - a Carlos Santa wedge in what must be a size -4!! After decorating a size 10 shoe my first year, I'm always looking for something smaller!

First I decided to finish off the inside of the shoe. I was able to make use of some beautiful red and gold silk that my niece (Thanks Megan!) sent to me from China where she currently resides.

Next I worked on the wedge heel using some silk brocade and red frogs that I bought at a fabulous fabric market in Shanghai. The fabric market was a sewer's dream.

The components were last. I made the Kanzashi flowers in various sizes, from 2" down to 1"--- lets just say it's nearly impossible to fold 8 tiny one inch squares into a flower, I only made a couple of those. The bigger the square, the easier they are to fold. The buttons are covered with more of the silk fabric that lines the inside of the shoe.

So - check back later to see the completed shoe - like most things I do, the descriptive word I would use to describe it is "overload."