Meanwhile, at Chez Two Hippos...

There has been a little redecorating afoot at Chez Two Hippos. Namely, the hanging of pictures and the making of new pillow covers in the living room (which also functions as my sewing space -- see back left corner). This has been a long time coming, or at least 9 months coming. There used to be cranberry trim (including all the windows) in this room. Cranberry trim is a terrible idea. Perhaps you want some deep red in your room? I highly recommend a wall.

After three years of muttering obscenities about said cranberry trim, it was time to do something about the horribleness. So, much like a Soviet dissident in the days of yore, it got disappeared last fall (I've been reading crime fiction set in mid-20th century Eastern Europe...). White trim is quite lovely. At the same time, the walls received some paint love (Olympic Park Loop, if I recall correctly) and I took the plunge and acquired (rather inexpensively, thanks to a super sale and $1 shipping) a fun area rug. A few months later, I bought a map. It looked good in the room, even if it sat on the floor waiting to be hung for another 5 or so months. The cranberry pillows, however, remained.

Until I returned from research this summer and couldn't stand them any more. At which point, I had to change them. Immediately.  And there commenced about 16 hours of furious design and sewing, after which three new pillow covers made everything better. As I don't do matchy-matchy very well (or at all), I opted for different designs in three shades of the same palette -- bright (above), muted (below), and dark (below) -- all of which coordinate with my gold couch. Sidenote: the couch belonged to my grandparents' and it is the world's most comfortable couch. Back to making things...the design above was inspired by Rebecca's pillow. I think if I were making it again, I'd use a solid white instead of the Echo print, since it's a little busy for my taste, but it works. And since I used scraps of some of my favorite prints, I get to see some of my favorite prints all the time. Win.

Originally I planned to make the HST pillow (on right) with solids, but when I laid out the solids, they weren't speaking to me. Or they were, and they were saying "don't use me." Which was great because I got to dig into some stashed favorites, including the orange Heirloom Tile and the yellow and gray prints from Dena Designs' Taza collection.  The improv pillow (left) is definitely my favorite: solids + negative space + circle quilting = awesome. I admire those who circle-quilt much larger pieces because, damn it takes a lot of time and focus.

There's something about this picture line-up of pillow backs that makes me chuckle. They're all envelope closures, though a touch different at the overlap point (broad band of contrasting fabric, no contrast, and thin band of binding). Here too, I dipped into some stash favorites (for the fabric followers -- Nicey Jane + Park Slope (L), Central Park (M), and Max & Whiskers (R)). So there you have it: a much-aesthetically-improved living room.

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Aleph-Bet Art

I just learned about these posters.

They're artistic representations of the Hebrew alphabet (aleph-bet). You'll note that in this one, the first (aleph), middle (mem), and last (taf) letters are shaded. In addition to marking the beginning, midpoint, and end of the alphabet, they also spell out emet (truth). The font used is a variation of a classic and standard printed Hebrew font.

In this image, a single aleph stands in the center, and each layer of the circle adds a new letter of the alphabet. The artist, Tsilli Pines, explains the story behind these posters here.

The combination of the font and the graphics remind me of the lettering one finds on posters from mandate Palestine and the early years of the state of Israel. The font is still in use and you can see how it has a certain sans-serif-y modern edge to it.

In addition to cool posters, Tsilli Pines also designs ketubot (wedding contracts) and offers DIY ketubah kits with suggestions for ways to customize them.

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WPA Art

Image borrowed from here.

It's amazing what I find trolling the internet while I should be working. I love the aesthetic of much of the art produced by the New Deal Works Progress Administration (WPA). In fact, I have a framed collection of many of the National Park drawings from the period. For example,

Image borrowed from here.

Designed by Alexander Dux, this See America poster promoted domestic tourism to National Parks in the 1930s. It turns out that many of these images are available online, through the Library of Congress' website, courtesy the prints & photographs division. Most of the posters were made during the late 1930s through the Federal Art Project; many, if not all, of the National Parks still sell postcard and poster-sized reproduction.

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Pretty Things

Without a sewing machine and my stash, I'm hard-pressed to make things. But this doesn't stop me from finding beautiful things. I've been on a bird kick lately (see Joel Dewberry fabric from earlier!), which makes these bird prints from Beethings stand out (hat tip, Design*Sponge).

Orioles (and I'm not even a Baltimore fan, sorry B'more friends, but my brother might have an issue with that one):

Robin:

Another recent D*S find -- no birds, but luscious, rich city and alphabet prints from JHill Design. It looks like Bostonians can see the prints in person at the South End Open Market.

It's nice when the R is something other than a rat or a rabbit:


So many cool city prints; I've never been to Papeete, but this image makes me want to hop on a plane and go.


How often is Prairie City, Iowa pictured? And is it ever as evocative as this?


Finally, Andalucia beckons in via cards in several colors.

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