A Weekend in Chicago

Hello folks.

It was Mr Clicky's birthday last week so we decided to have a weekend in Chicago.  As we are an hour or so north west of the city, we took the Metra train and rattled and clanked down. 

Our hotel was near Millennium square one of the many sky scrapers; it is true that when you are in Chicago you look up all the time.   We took the water taxi to save our feet whenever we could but I still managed 10,000 steps before lunchtime. 

Of course, the buildings aren't all glass and steel, if you look you can find the older ones.

We stopped in a cafe in the Pittsfield Building which was built in 1922.  It was shrouded in scaffolding and unassuming from the outside but inside.....

it was breathtaking

Suitably refreshed we walked onto the Art Institute Of Chicago.  We made for the Impressionist Gallery.  I loved this Renoir.

Young Woman Sewing also by Renoir.

Degas.

I always love a Monet and there were quite a few.

Pointillism by Georges Seurat.  A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.  This is large ~ 2m x 3m but there were many people around and I couldn't get a good picture.  It was stunning.

Not everything was large, this illuminated letter O was roughly 10 x 10 cm but so beautiful.

We left the paintings and went to the textiles gallery.

This piece looked printed from a distance.

On closer inspection, I could see it was embroidered.

It was made in strips and then sewn together, wow! what work.

Passing on by I was transfixed by this macrame piece called A Private Affair by Claire Zeisler.

It is made from knotted hemp.

I could have stood and stared at it for ages, but Mr Clicky ushered me onwards.  We decided not to bother with the Warhol collection and came across this.  Now, I didn't take a picture of the information and can't find anything on line, so I don't know who made it but..........the man, whoever he was, took commercially made jumpers or sweaters which proported to be 100% wool and analysed each one.

The results?  Well, a good majority were not 100%.  This Royal Navy 'wooly pully' was only 60% wool.  In fact 60% seemed to be a common theme.  

The samples on the wall varied from light blue to almost black and it certainly made an interesting display, and made me think about the yarn that I use.  How do we know really what is in our yarn?  The next question, of course, but is it art?  It made me question things.  Is that the point of art?  Or is it something to look at?  Discuss!!!!

We headed back to our hotel which was on the Chicago River but with views of Navy Pier and Lake Michigan; had an hour's rest and left for our evening entertainment.

We went to a Drunk Shakespeare performance.  It was a very small venue behind a non-descript door.  We were greeted by the actors as we came in taken to our seats and given a drink.

Our play was to be MacBeth.  The lead male actor then drank five shots of tequila and the show began.  There was lots of audience participation, lots of ad libs and lots of laughs.  It was a testament to the actor's abilities that even under the influence it was still understandable.

After a good night's sleep and a large stack of pancakes for breakfast from nearby Eggy's Diner we checked out and took the water taxi again.  We had a day pass so took full advantage and went from one end to the other and back again.  

Seeing the city from the river is definitely worth it, away from the bustle of the streets.  

At the end of the river taxi route is Chinatown so we popped in to see.  

We didn't stay long but when we turned around we could see the city sky line in the distance, no sky scrapers here.

We boarded the water taxi again and went back into the melee.  Even on a Sunday it is so noisy.

We wandered back to the train station and an hour and a half later were back in our apartment, resting our feet and drinking a nice cup of tea. Aaaaah.

That's me for now, next post, things I have been making. 

Bye for now...........Clicky Needles.

I forgot to add, I did find a yarn shop but resisted all temptation and came out empty handed.

Finished things.

Hello there.

I am pleased to announce that I have finished my little bee embroidery.

I love how it has come out and I have really, really enjoyed stitching him.

I've kept it in the hoop and will be displaying it in our apartment.  I enjoyed it so much that I have already started another.

I have also finished this little tea cosy.  Our teapot maybe a tiny 2 cup affair but I like my tea hot and chucking a tea towel over the pot to keep it warm, wasn't really working.  I found some wonderfully bright fabric in the Hobby Lobby bargain bin for 2 dollars a yard.

I faffed about for sometime with newspaper trying to work out the best pattern, a bit different as the pot is round not oval.

I added two layers of batting and a plain blue lining.  I sewed it on my Singer which coped without a slip.

This weekend Mr Clicky and me went to see Downton Abbey.  We had a bag of salty popcorn and settled down.  The movie did not disappoint.  Master Clicky said that we had basically gone to see a 2 hour episode and I suppose he was right but it was great to be transported back to the Abbey.

I forgot to tell you about this 

that happened whilst Mr Clicky was back in the UK.  A tornado warning popped up on my phone.   I texted Mr Clicky straight away, he was less than interested as it was 1.30am and he said he wanted to go to sleep.  "You're on your own."  As it turned out, it was downgraded half an hour later and we had a massive thunderstorm with high winds which continued for six hours.  All good.  What a good warning system I thought.

I was then woken up at 5.09am warning me of flash floods.  Hmmm.  I suppose you can't choose when these things will happen.

Well that's me for now let's hope October's weather is quiet.

  

Have fun..............Clicky Needles

Our Little Balcony

Hello Folks!

Our third floor apartment has a small balcony which is only 8 foot by 5 foot.  I spend lots of time sitting out, knitting, reading and sewing so we thought it could do with brightening up.  We did a bit of a makeover last summer when I was here, however, when I came back to the UK last winter's polar vortex unsurprisingly, had a devastating effect on the plants.

I've already mentioned the rag rugs we bought from Walmart to stop me showering sewing things on the apartment below, they also mean that I can't see down which is a Good Thing.  I am not very good with looking through piers or boardwalks and seeing water/things underneath.  The rugs give me peace of mind.  We have added some solar fairy lights across the railings too.

We bought two large pots and planted them with ~ as it turns out ~ the same variety of pennisetum that we bought last year.

Last year's pot ~ as well as the pennisetum we also had a hibiscus and a thyme.

We saved some seed pods from the hibiscus, planted them and two plants grew which are covered in (15 and counting) fat flower pods.  I'm hoping they will come out before the weather gets too cold; I will be taking it indoors if necessary. 

Mr Clicky spotted some cacti whilst we were in Walmart the other day so I planted them ~ carefully ~ in a wooden box.

We still need to find some gravel to topdress it.

We've had visitors to our little bit of outside space as well.  A pair of swallows nested on our sprinkler nozzle (don't tell the leasing company) back in April.

Three chicks fledged and although they were adult sized regularly came back to the nest and the ledge next to us.  It was a real treat watching their aerial display so close up.  We've not seen them for a couple of weeks now, so I think they have gone on their way.

 My little bee embroidery continues on.  It really is little, only 5 inches across.

The flowers took quite a long time and I got a bit Meh! about it but I am so enjoying it again.  My bee's wings are getting an outline now and then it will be filling in the body and wings.

Well that's me for now, despite me thinking pool days were over, I've got some in this week and today is looking nice too so I'm off.

Have a good weekend.............Clicky Needles.

A Few Finished Things

Hello there!

It seems to be a while since I posted finished projects, but I am pleased to report that I actually have some, so here goes.

This is Climb Every Mountain by Heidi Kirrmaier.  Made in Drops Delight ~ blue stripes and Drops Alpaca ~ grey.  Light, but cosy warm. 

It's a baggy, poncho-y, pop over the top sort of thing.  

It is a top down pattern, the shaping given by yarn over increases, and increases at the sides.  After the splitting for the sleeves, the sides are decreased giving the curved shape.  The pattern finishes off with an i-cord bind off, which I did, but as it was rolling an awful lot and I didn't think blocking was going to sort it, I took it off and knit a 1x1 rib instead.

I can see this having lots of wear.

I crocheted a bathroom basket out of twine, to stop all those toiletries being scattered every time you try a pick something up.  Not particularly exciting but useful all the same.

Mr Clicky and me popped into our local Joanns and I bought four fat quarters so I could have a play with my new machine.  I have learnt so much from this project, how to properly press seams ~ which I haven't on this piece, strip piecing 

and maybe most importantly, how to get the corners square, something I am rubbish at.  Turns out the answer (for me) is to use pins.  Who knew?  No more random hoping they'll line up.

I'm not sure what to do with this piece, it is about cot sized but Baby Needles has two quilts already.  She is growing so much; three months now and we have regular WhatsApp video calls and get her smiling at us through the ether.

My Craftpod embroidery is coming along too.  I do it first thing in the morning with a cup of tea before I have put my contact lenses in.  I was a bit meh about it, but now I'm on the greenery it seems to be moving on.  It'll never make The Royal College of Needlework standard but I'm happy enough.

That's me for now.  Mr Clicky has gone back to the UK for a week on business, so I am having a 'quilting retreat' in our apartment. 

 My itinerary is as follows; embroidery, breakfast, if the weather is good - pool time, if the weather is bad - sewing time.  Watch Pinterest for tips, hints and inspiration.  Evening meal, box set binge with crochet in hand.  By the end of the week you will have produced a quilt to take home with you.

I have a Hobby Lobby within 5 minutes walking distance so if I run out of fabric........I hope to show the fruits of my labours soon.

Have fun, see you soon............Clicky Needles

So What Did I Do?

Hello folks!

So, did I go for new or vintage sewing machine to use whilst I am in Chicagoland?  Vintage, of course!  Actually I got 2.  They were both on Facebook Marketplace, there is a good selection in this area it seems.  I saw one, sent a message and while I was waiting for a reply another one in really good condition came up and I messaged about that too. Hehe.

The one in good condition was about an hour and quarter north of here, just into Wisconsin.  The lady I picked her up from sews quilts for her church; but she decided that as she wasn't using three of her vintage machines they should go.   

Well here she is.  I have named her Bertie and she is a 1927  Singer 99 a 3/4 version of a Singer 66.  She runs by that new fangled electricity stuff and comes with a knee lever instead of a foot pedal.  She is lovely and shiny and of course, sews beautifully.  

The knee lever sticks out of the front of the case.  I have never come across this before.

When it's not in use it fits neatly into the bentwood case.

Incidentally you'll notice rag rugs on our balcony, they are there so I don't shower the apartments below with pins, knitting needles and what I was most concerned about, my phone.

She came with an assortment of feet which I'm trying soon, happily they'll fit both machines.

The second machine was only 40 minutes west of us.  I was lucky to get this one as she had been in a garage sale the week before but no-one had taken her.  She is a Singer 66, the full size version of Bertie, made in 1915 she would have been a treadle when she started off in life.  At some point she was put into a different cabinet and a motor and a knee lever was added.  The motor was made between 1913 and 1929 by the Electric Motor Corporation in Wisconsin, so I guess it was added around those dates.   

She has Red Eye Decals and I have named her Rosie.  She needs quite a lot of work to get her going again.  Although the seller plugged her in to show me she was working, it didn't take a genius to know that it was dangerous.  As Mr Clicky is an electrical engineer we're doing the re-wire ourselves.

We've rewired the knee lever and at the moment are trying to sort the wires going to the motor.  The screws into it are at a funny angle and won't move.  It might be a new motor.

I have cleaned her with sewing machine oil and removed 104 years of accumulated dirt, lint and oil. 

It was particularly nasty around the bobbin case and I found some rusty pins behind the face plate.
























I have shined up the faceplate with some chrome cleaner.  It was really nice that neither of the machines had any rust unlike my hand cranks.

Here she is after I cleaned her up minus the motor on the back.

Rosie is definitely a project but I can't wait to use her, not least because she is a 66 just like my Mum's treadle below, the machine I learnt to sew on.  Mum is still using her now, it was her Mum's before her, and I think I am right in saying my Mum has never used an electric machine.   This one dates to 1930 when my grandmother, Joyce bought it new, with a payment plan.  Mum can remember seeing the payment book but that has long gone now.  I used to love sitting, treadling away in my teens.

I've had Bertie set up on our balcony and I've been playing with a 2 1/2" jelly roll.  I am not used to working in inches but centimetre cutting mats and quilting rulers are rarer than hen's teeth this side of the pond so I am embracing the inches.

I've decided to go for 6 1/2" 3 x3 blocks.  Mistake #1, I cut the strips to 7 1/2" thinking I would need seam allowances along the length.   You live and learn.  Anyhoo, I laid the blocks along the kitchen bar to check I didn't repeat any patterns.

And had a very pleasant afternoon sewing them up on the balcony.  How lovely also to be able to sew with a Singer seam guide, those magnetic ones don't work that well for me.

Thanks for your lovely comments on my last post, with them we discovered that both Teresa and Gracie have Singer Featherweights, you lucky girls,  Meredith has her mother's toy machine in the back of a cupboard somewhere although I'm sure she's more concerned about Dorian right now, stay safe Meredith, Christine is 'thinking' that she might like a vintage machine, or might even nab her Mum's 1960s Jones machine, don't think Christine, do! Jo has a treadle which I am sure, is crying out for some love but she's lacking in time, VeggieMummy's machine is called Genevieve and Gill is a little concerned on how I am getting these machines home.   The answer to that is Mr Clicky's company will ship anything we want to bring back to the UK so that's ok.

I think I have waffled on enough for now, but if you do have a vintage sewing machine lurking at the back of a cupboard somewhere, get it out, oil it up, use it and show me!

Bye for now................Clicky Needles.