~ Kaffe Fassett ~

Last Mother's Day Dana, Angie and I celebrated the occasion with a weekend trip to Mackinac Island and a stay at The Grand Hotel.
A copy of this picture had been in my idea folder forever just because it had so many of my favorite things incorporated into it. Rose printed chintz, pitchers, blue and white, a green background and the fact that they were all beautifully combined, what's not to love. Who created this beauty never really even crossed my mind.

We were enjoying our getaway and a lot of laughs. The girls wanted to have spa treatments so I walked down with them to the spa at The Grand to arrange the appointments. It was then that I spotted a poster with my beloved picture on it announcing a seminar in the Grand Ballroom by the artist.

Off I went to sign up. Well, did I get an unexpected treat. The artist, Kaffe Fassett, is amazing. He is a multi-media artist that creates off the cuff art using paint, needlepoint, ceramic, stone, yarn and a number of other mediums.

His lecture had me spellbound. I couldn't wait to meet up with the girls and fill them in on my new discovery. After sharing the news we headed into the area they had set up to sell some of his wares.

A lovely lady in the yarn shop hooked us up with three skeins of yarn and three sets of knitting needles and a promise to meet us in the parlor after dinner and teach us how to knit. I used to knit a little and got the girls started a bit but by the time the knitting teachers showed up we were ripping up our teaching pieces and starting over the correct way.

The yarn that we were using is yarn created by Kaffe Fassett. It is a variegated color yarn that has flecks of other colors incorporated in it, kind of like a Harris Tweed type thing.

We sat in the parlor of The Grand knitting away that night until our fingers were sore. We knitted and talked about the amazing Kaffe Fassett. As it turned out the hotel was full of Fassett groupies that had assembled from all over the country to hear the Master speak. We just fell into the whole scene and loved every minute of it.

The thing that I took away from Fassett's lecture the most was his decree to just jump in and do it. Kind of like the Nike slogan on steroids. Since hearing him I have picked up my needlepoint projects that have languished in drawers and have started to just do it. They are not perfect but I'm doing it.

I still haven't finished anything and my knitting project with the beautiful yarn has been untouched since last May, but I am inspired.

Dana did finish her knitting project. If you go to her blog you can see pictures of the fruits of her labor snuggling around the sweet little neck of Nolan.

Here is some background from the jacket of Fassett's book "Glorious Interiors":

Kaffe Fassett is world renowned for his knitting and needlepoint. His work is included in many important textile collections and was exhibited in an extraordinarily successful retrospective in l988 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He was born in San Francisco and studied painting at the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston before picking up his first pair of knitting needles on a train trip through rural England. He now lives in London, where he does design and commissioned needlework. He is the author of six books on knitting and needlepoint: Kaffe's Classics, Glorious Knits, Glorious Needlepoint, Kaffe Fasset at the V&A, Family Album and Glorious Inspiration.

Recently Kaffe has branched out into other areas of textile design. After having much success with his collections of upholstery fabrics and wallpapers, he has gone on to design five major tapestries for the Edinburg Tapestry Weavers in Scotland. These tapestries are now being exhibited along with his other work in a worldwide art tour. Kaffe has also begun experimenting with larger projects, such as set and costume design, and he has already completed the work for his first ballet, D'Ensemble, where he has flooded the set and costumes with the vibrant colors that are his hallmark. Kaffe also spends a great deal of time traveling the world, lecturing and giving workshops with his assistant and fellow designer, Brandon Mably.

~

The girls did not get to go to the lecture but as luck would have it, on Sunday morning as we were waiting for the carriage to take us down to the boat Mr. Fassett came strolling out onto the porch and was most gracious with his time. We spent that time taking in his awsome willingness to share of himself and his talents. He was wearing a scarf made out of the very same wool that we had tucked in our bags in hope of one day completing. Kaffe Fassett is a very dear man.

Trying To Get Moving

A few days ago someone asked to see a picture from farther away of this tablescape. I don't take pictures of this area because it backs up to my yellow oak stained staircase that I can't stand. Here is the best shot I could get and it only has a tiny bit of the offending staircase trim in it. The tall green pieces are sitting in white saucers so that they don't scratch the sideboard that they are on, not the best look but it does protect the surface.
Hopefully today I will get some ambition to get busy around here. When we are away for the weekend it takes me at least a full day to recover. Seems like the older I get the more exhausting it is to be away from home for any length of time.

Hope you all have a productive day.

Hugs,
Sue

CMU Homecoming Part ll

We started the day in our friend's Dave and Cindi's home and yard.
Sheryl enjoying a fresh cup of coffee

John overseeing the back yard.



Taylor, Riley and Aidan enjoying their brunch on the porch are dressed for the chilly parade weather.

Carter in the parade going by too fast to get a clear picture.

Tay, Ri, Em & Aid waiting for more candy to be thrown from the floats.

After the parade we headed to the suite's in the stadium to watch CMU win the game by a landslide.

More food.

Pretty Mom dressed for the festivities.

Friends all in smiles.

A good time was had by all.

After a long day of celebration a little Sunday brunch table set up for the family.

Hope you all had a fun fall weekend.

CMU Homecoming

This morning I am packing to head to Mt. Pleasant for Homecoming at Central Michigan University.
Hope you all have a good weekend.
Go, fire up Chips!

An Autumn Tablescape

The mellow tones of Autumn inspired this tablescape. Our mallard and drake Italian soup tureen takes center stage. During the spring and summer it rests in storage but come fall and cooler weather it becomes the centerpiece of our table.

I retrieved my amber goblets from a box in the basement, they came from a junktique shop years ago. The modern majolica asparagus and artichoke are Fitz and Floyd Classics.
The place mat, napkin and solid green plate are from Pier 1. The salad plate is by Mottahedeh and is a reproduction of an English plate circa 1765, in the collection of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Here is a closer look at the amber goblets. I like these heavy thumbprint goblets that you can still find in amber, cobalt blue and red. We have the cobalt blue tumblers and juice glasses that we use everyday but I would like to find some red ones for Christmas. My Mother and Dana have some of the red ones, we all seem to gravitate to many of the same things.

These majolica pieces were designed as cream and sugar vessels but they get use more often around here for holding little bunches of flowers or serving jam. The little artichoke has a ceramic spoon that is handy for spreading the jam on a nice warm piece of toast.

Even though this tureen seldom serves its original purpose of holding hot soup, because it is really to big to be functional, it brings back fond, warm memories of fall when the children were small and enjoyed seeing the ducks back for the season.

A lovingly set table is such a welcoming sight to see for family and friends when they come in from a hard days work or after a busy week of meeting the needs of others. What a pleasant tradition that Susan at Between Naps on the Porch has brought back into focus here in the blog world. Thank you Susan for all your effort that goes into providing this venue for us bloggers to help keep the tradition of setting pretty tables for our loved ones alive. Her invitation to join in or just view others creations is a Thursday treat that you might want to take advantage of by clicking over to:

Between Naps On The Porch

Natural Elements

This summer during my travels I acquired these natural looking pieces for the side table in the great room. I'm kind of liking the way it turned out so I thought I would share it with y'all.

The fall winds are really whistling here this morning. The umbrella that covers our Tiki Bar in the back yard is about to land in the pool. Hopefully the winds will calm down before it takes flight and rips up the pool cover. The whole thing is too big for one person to fix or I would try to take care of it myself.

It is good to be back blogging and visiting with all of you. For some reason blogger is not allowing me to moderate comments since last night so if you don't see your comment posted it is because of blogger not me, hee hee. I love hearing from all of you and am slowly getting back around to visiting you.

Baby It's Cold Outside

There is a chill in the air so it is time to get out the fall clothes.
Sweaters, turtlenecks and jackets are ready to go.

Keep warm my friends if you are in the northern part of the country.

Welcome Home

Good morning ladies. Hope you all had a good weekend and are ready to start this new week refreshed and ready to go.

The oldest of our clan his wife and four children moved into their lovely new home a couple of weeks ago. They had been living in Denver but have wanted to get back to Michigan and close to family for a while now. When the opportunity arose this last summer they took it. Things moved faster than any of us anticipated. With in a matter of weeks a new job became available, they sold their house in Denver and headed east.

The first of August, with all their belonging in storage, they moved in with us. Their search for a place to live began immediately and the house above is the fruit of their effort. Six weeks after they landed in Michigan the moving van arrived and they began settling in their new digs and we are again empty nester's.

We are so glad to have them back! Welcome home Bernie, Cathy and the kids.

Spooky House Tablescape

Welcome to tablescape Thursday.
I set up a little simple tablescape for lunch.

The centerpiece will stay here throughout the fall.


Not traditional fall colors, but the MacKenzie-Child's stemware & Honeymoon plates in different colors seems to work with my spooky house.

Fuzzy picture with a big ol' box in the background, but you can get a peak at the back of the spooky house just the same ;)

Ditto, this side shot.

I tried to make it look like a house on a hill.

To see more Tablescape Thursday go to Susan's at Between Naps On The Porch. Thanks for stopping by, it is good to be back.

Hugs,

Sue

Happy Fall

Happy fall y'all!
I have been around reading and enjoying some of your blogs but haven't taken the time to blog myself. A lot of reasons for it but I won't boar you with them. Anyway, I'm back, decorated for fall and ready to blog away.

When I decorate seasonally there are only a few spots that I focus on. First are the centerpieces for the kitchen and dining room tables. Next come the kitchen counter tops and surrounding areas. The mantle, the space on the entertainment center, a couple of tables in the great room, and the buffet in the dining room get some fluff. A wreath on the front door and that is pretty much it.

In some of my older posts people have asked about where we store all these decorations. Each season our holidays trimmings, other than Christmas, are kept in no more than two storage bins per event. Some bins like fall are bigger than, say, the 4th of July. The bins go on the deep shelves John built in the basement when we first moved in here. There is only so much space so if I add something I have to then get rid of something else to make more room.

The collection of seasonal decorative accessories that we have are the result of years of gathering them and are pretty much edited down to the things that adorn a specific spot. Most of them have some kind of meaning to me and our family. Some are chosen for their height or shape to fill out a display. All are a delight to revisit with the changing of the seasons.

Enjoy this day that the Lord has made.

Stop by Rhoda's today at Southern Hospitality to see more fall decor at her "It's Fall Y'all" party.

Hugs,

Sue