A WORLD THROUGH THE HANDS
August 10, 2010
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BOTTEGA FAVORITA
August 9, 2010
Plan your road trip and join Alabama Chanin, along with Frank and Pardis Stitt, on the 28th of August, 2010 for our annual One Day Workshop/Retreat at the award winning Bottega Restaurant and Cafe in Birmingham, Alabama.
Delight in a special menu from James Beard award winning chefs and restaurateurs Frank and Pardis Stitt, sit, sew, laugh and breathe …
Limited seats available - phone: +1-256-760-1090
And get ready for your day with Bottega Favorita – one of my all-time favorite cookbooks.
*Photos from Frank Stitt’s Bottega Favorita: A Southern Chef’s Love Affair with Italian Food
ALABAMA LEMONADE
August 4, 2010
I have been remiss in posting this last week. In all honesty, this heat has made me a little slow.
The interview with Roman (see post below) is coming; please be patient with me.
To this extreme heat, add the fact that my (baby) Maggie starts school tomorrow. It seems hard to believe that time passes so quickly – even when you savor every moment, it flies. Seems like just yesterday…
Well, my mind has been elsewhere this week.
A DECADE
July 27, 2010
This year marks a decade on my journey to Alabama Chanin.
Looking at where we started, where we have been and where we are headed has been an amazing and beautiful process. What a time of laughter, tears, exploration, and, well, growing up.
To celebrate our growing up, we will be launching several exciting collaborations over the next months, planning celebrations, looking back and, of course, looking forward.
The first of these collaborations – with our friends at Commune Design – has resulted in a set of new logos for Alabama Chanin and Alabama Studio Style.
Here today we present our new Alabama Chanin logo…
Look for the new logo to be integrated into our couture clothing, our site and the Alabama Chanin world over the next months. Come back tomorrow for a chat with Roman Alonso, from Commune, about design, his trip to Alabama, a bit of history and the humor behind our new and improved label.
Thanks to everyone for sticking with us this past decade… looking forward to the next.
CONSUMING PASSIONS
July 23, 2010
I am headed to the mountains of Chattanooga today for a weekend of stitching, cooking and playing with high school girlfriends. Maggie has her bags packed with loads of books for the trip and I have my sewing kit and a book ready for a girls (and kids) sewing weekend with wine, food, reading and relaxing. Sigh. The thick smell of trees and mountain air…
A book arrived on my desk not too long ago and, unfortunately, I don’t know who sent it. In a moment of needing a break from new collections, writing the new book, working on a website update, being a mom, and keeping the garden, I landed on my couch the other night with Consuming Passions by Michael Lee West.
ALABAMA IN THE BRONX
July 20, 2010
From Father Andrew @ Goods of Conscience:
“Do you notice the corn growing next to the garage? We have chickens up here too. I am loving the indigo flag waving Alabama in our midst.”
Read more about Father Andrew & Alabama Denim **Photo courtesy of Father Andrew
MAP OBSESSION
July 19, 2010
I have been obsessed by maps recently. Perhaps I am searching for something?
Princeton Architectural Press has found another little treasure (map) with Kris Harzinski and the Hand Drawn Map Association:
From Here to There: A Curious Collection from the Hand Drawn Map Association
And get lost here: Hand Drawn Map Association
TOMATO SANDWICH DIET
July 16, 2010
It is (finally) the time of year to begin the Tomato Sandwich Diet.
THE BREAKFAST, LUNCH, AND DINNER TOMATO SANDWICH
Wheat bread
Homemade mayonnaise (see below)
Heirloom tomato slices – patted dry
Salt & pepper to taste
HOMEMADE MAYONAISE
- from a recipe by Scott Peacock
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature (very important)
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3/4 cup olive
1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Blend with whisk attachment on a low speed the yolk, mustard, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until smooth. Add 1/4 cup oil drop by drop, blending constantly until mixture begins to thicken. Blend in vinegar and lemon juice, and add remaining 1/2 cup oil very slowly in a thin stream, blending constantly until well incorporated. If at any time it appears that oil is not being incorporated, stop adding oil and whisk mixture vigorously until smooth, then continue adding oil. Blend in salt to taste and white pepper.
Mayonnaise keeps, covered and chilled, for 2 days.
INDIGO STAR – QUILT OF THE MONTH #2
July 15, 2010
I have always loved quilt tops and have collected them for many years from thrift stores and yard sales. The problem with these beautiful hand-sewn tops is that it is impossible to use them until they have been quilted as the delicate woven fabrics fall apart when washed. Not so with our 100% organic cotton jersey, Alabama Indigo and Faded Leaves Jersey fabrics.
Our quilt this month is inspired by one of my favorite antique quilt tops and sewn to be the perfect lightweight cover. Made with our cotton-jersey in a single layer and a range of our Indigo, the quilt is sewn with our floating seams – described in both Alabama Stitch Book and Alabama Studio Style which give the effect those antique quilt tops. However, this technique eliminates the need to finish raw edges which will roll beautifully with the first washing.
The back of the is also very beautiful with the clean finished edges:
THE MAP AS ART
July 9, 2010
Just as I am designing the new collection, a treasure of a book arrives on my desk from Princeton Architectural Press.
I have always been a fan of You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination.
And now Katharine Harmon has compiled the most beautiful collection of images and ideas in her newest book The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography.
Quilts, installations, illustrations, photography… sitting with this book is like traveling while sitting at my studio table.
Katharine Harmon: The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography