ASG Conference: Insiders' Tour of Santa Fe

I'm a little hesitant to make yet another blog post showing "stuff" that I got. Yes, I'm feeling a bit guilty because I did go off the deep end during the Conference. On the other hand, I can afford it, it brings me joy, and I will use these things in the furtherance of my sewing skills. I expect that things will even out, and I will step away from the credit card machine for a while.

At any rate, shopping isn't all I did on this tour.

There were things to see and do as well. After taking the buses from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, the first item on our agenda was a tour of the Santa Fe Opera, with our docent David. Even if you're not into opera, it's a cool place to see. It was founded in the 1950s with the goal of giving American opera singers an opportunity to learn and perform new roles in a setting that allowed ample time to rehearse and prepare each production. The Santa Fe Opera is a highly regarded opera festival that takes place in July and August of each year. Its mission is to present productions meeting the highest artistic standards in a repertory of new, rarely performed, and standard works.

In addition to the theater, we got to see the scenery, prop and costume shops. And the piece de resistance: costume storage! Up until that point, we were unable to take pictures because people were busy working on the next opening but the costume meister gave us a special opportunity to touch and photograph the costumes. Apparently this is not something that normally happens on the tour. Here are some pictures from that portion of our visit:



The smiling redhead in the green shirt is the costume meister. Thank you!!


We also had lunch there. The opera is located on the site of a former dude ranch and some of the original buildings are still there, near the cafe where we ate. Here are some photos of the pool area and plants around the cafe.



I wish I could make my xeriscape look so good!

Next, our bus went to Fred Bloebaum's home for a Trunk Show. Fred is the creative force behind the La Fred pattern line. Somehow we managed to get an entire busload of sewing ladies into the house for some shopping (after my preamble you knew there'd be shopping, right?).


In addition to her pattern line and some fabrics, there were vintage buttons by Sarah Lee Chavez and jewelry by Terry Wrobel. Here's what I got:


Our next stop was the Museum of International Folk Art. Our docent was the delightful Toby, a tiny little lady who was able to express much knowlege and delight throughout our tour. We visited two galleries: the first had the textiles of SW China's minority people and second had the shadow puppet theaters of Indonesia. I previously visited the museum in the fall, and it's one of my favorite activities in Santa Fe.

Our last stop was Santa Fe Plaza for more shopping. By this time I was about done in, and we didn't have a lot of time. I did get a very inexpensive tiered black skirt at a little "hole in the wall" Guatemalan shop. It cost all of $20. It needs a little work to remove a dopey ruffle at the bottom, but it'll be a fun piece for the summer. It has unruffled tiers of bias cotton, the edge of each tier left raw. I didn't take a picture of this; it's black and the details don't show well.

I also got a little sewing inpiration from Fred. After almost of week of wearing only her own line, she wanted to wear something different. So she sewed up an interesting green linen skirt that was based on one owned by a friend. LJ Designs has a very similar pattern, the Asymmetrical Skirt, which I hope I still own. It will look great in a solid; all of the previous ones I've made were in prints.