This weekend I met elinor peace bailey at the San Mateo Sew & Quilt Show. Wow, she is even more of a hoot in person than I ever imagined! Very nice lady, one who isn't afraid to show her true colors. She put on a fashion show of all of her colorful coats and had ladies from the audience model them for us. Her philosophy is to use just one pattern and then embellish it to her heart's desire. Many of these coats were her mother-of-the-bride/groom outfits for her many children (she has ten!) ... the last one was just recently wed. There's a lot of patchwork, quilting, applique and lots of 3-D dolls sewn to them. Each one tells a story for the world to see, visual reminders of a life fully lived. That's incredible and very inspiring. (Pardon the picture quality, I forgot my camera and had to use my phone's camera instead.)
Barbara Willis, Sally Lampi and Betts Vidal were also there with a booth selling their patterns and little odds and ends. I bought a couple patterns and these delightful vintage buttons that Betts had collected over the years. I loved how she displayed them all on different little mat board cards - each decorated according to the button type.
There was a great booth with many old suitcases open with all sorts of goodies spilling from them. These were pieces of beaded/fringed scarves and some french jacquard ribbon. All very delightful pieces, good for dolls. And then the best booth of all, the one that I really came to see ... Pamela Armas' Treasures of the Gypsy. Oh, this is truly a booth that you could spend hours just gazing at all of the gorgeous fabrics and trims. Pamela travels to India and other exotic parts of the world to special order and design these fabrics. She sponsors a doll challenge every year (here's a link to 2003's doll winners) where you must use her fabrics and trims to create some type of gypsy. The results are spectacular and amazing. I chose these fabrics and trims and think that they would be perfect for a Renaissance attired doll. There is a little piece of a vintage sari, genuine silver threads, and another piece of a fringed scarf. The only thing really missing is some fine off-white linen for a chemise. I also envision some beadwork and embroidery to go with the dress. Ah, and I really like masquerades, so I think this should be a Venetian lady at Carnivale time, strolling the Piazza San Marco.
Finally, here's a picture of our new climbing rose ... it's called Joseph's Coat because it starts out yellow, then becomes coral and finally ends as a deep pink shade. Yes, this does mean that our backyard is finally complete after just six months of starting, stopping, waiting over and over again. I'll post pictures next week after I get a really good sunny day to take the best pics.