carson converse & her amazing quilts

fact: westchester county, new york, and fairfield county, connecticut are wealthy enclaves, but are not exactly really hot spots for the young and creative. source: i live here (in fairfield).
seriously, folks in their 20s and 30s are thin on the ground here. i often feel like a freak here, both because i'm more than a little off aesthetically and economically and because i'm slightly younger than the typical demographic of this general area. and one has to drive (ugh!) quite far to find good sources for yarn and fabric and whatnot. stuff is out there here and there but frankly it's not as good as one might find in the city. *grumble, grumble*.
...but, i digress. :)
anyway, i was super happy to read about carson converse on the etsy blog yesterday; she was the featured seller, and omg, she's from westchester! reading that factoid made my heart happy. cool people doing cool stuff, around HERE?! yay! so happy to be proven wrong (somewhat) about this neck o' the woods. (hahaha!)
i really love the simple, spare look of her quilts, her use of mostly/only solids (i'm increasingly loving this idea as far as developing my own quilts goes). her work has a really modern, but really classic feel. her art background really comes through in her work.
bravo, carson. your work, and you being from here, give me hope.

moma(day)

when we woke up yesterday, poppy asked to go "walk in the city". so, despite the frigid temps in NYC (hovering around freezing), we obliged. of course! because it's something all three of us absolutely love to do, as often as we can...
we went to the folk art museum to see the quilt exhibit (not recommended, it was kind of weak, imo), and after that, went to the moma for several hours, which was really great. we all had a lot of fun. so much inspiration to be had there, and i love seeing all the familiar big works by all the big names, makes me feel that my art history degree was worth something. :) btw, there's a particularly interesting modern kitchen design exhibition on right now...
afterwards we went to cafe katja in the LES with good friends. drank slightly too much spaten optimator, but now it's a new day, and all is well. :)

iris apfel, an icon in motion

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzf_WPqsmTM&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

a great video featuring my favorite trendsetting octogenarian, iris apfel. it's basically a little bio on her, her tastes, her influences, her textile business. it's chock-full of great old photos of her from "back in the day" and lots of sage, style/life advice.
i've been a big fan of hers since seeing the 2005-2006 MET costume institute show, rara avis, that featured selections from her fun, bold wardrobe.
seeing her free and bold use of color, shape, motif, and texture was incredibly inspiring to me. it's still inspiring to me! she's a woman unafraid to experiment and try new things when it comes to fashion, and at the same time, she knows who she is and curates her style accordingly.
love these quotes from her in the video:
"i just mix and put things to together the way the spirit moves me"
"the fun of getting dressed is that it's a creative experience, sometimes it's better than another time"
"freedom of expression, of expressing yourself is the most important thing; if you don't you're all bottled up and choking."
"[be] free, free"
"you only have one trip [life], you might as well enjoy it"
...basically, i think she's saying:
if enjoying [style] means wearing what you like, the way you want to wear it, when you want to wear it, then... GO FOR IT. and make no apologies.
wise words! iris, you are wonderful!
(via advanced style)