The street party, Sunday afternoon, was lovely. The sun shone (not that it has done much else this summer) and the neighbours came. Some came on foot, some came by stroller and some came by bike.
Our street is a crescent with a shorter portion (called "The Court") cutting across it, so that the top of the crescent becomes a big "D" shape. The children decorated their bikes, and were asked to ride slowly around the D in a parade of bikes. Somehow, it turned into the "Tour de France" with the big kids doing about 10 laps as the little ones on trikes valiantly tried to make it around once. We stood and cheered.
I finished my second sunhat, in time for that party. (see the first one here) It was actually finished 2 days early! No sense in rushing these things. The hats became part of the prize selection, with prizes awarded throughout the party. I expect that I will see the hats around the neighbourhood, shortly.
Here is sunhat #2, in the classic Dino look, popular with most children under 5.
Sort of a French Foreign Legion look, very vintage!
And the back view:
As well as a view of how dry it is in my backyard. If you have any extra rain, could you send it my way?
Some of the young families on our street have decided to have a street party, with all the neighbours. The organizers were asking if I knew any artisans on the street that might donate prizes. It took me a minute before I realized "Hey, I'm an artisan" and then I heard myself offering to make a couple of sunhats.
I have made dozens of sunhats for children. They are quick and easy, and with bright fabrics, the kids even like to wear them. I pulled out some kid fabric from my stash and found a couple of large scraps that looked like they would work.
One of the fabrics was by Catfish Calhoun, a Canadian designer from the nineties who was famous for wild prints, used in boarding shorts. I looked online to see if the company was still around. I was shocked to discover the same fabric I was using, listed on Etsy as "vintage fabric". I think they meant "old".
I was somewhat offended by the idea. However, I looked up the meaning of the word and found this: Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic.
Okay, I think that might describe this fabric. What do you think?
I think that lime green, hot pink and orange can't be called anything other than classic.
Now for the hat.
It is also a classic, the floppy brimmed sunhat.
And I have learned a lot from the discipline of quilting. When I used to make these, I would put a cloth covered button on the top, to disguise the fact that the seams didn't meet. On this hat though:
Tada...they meet perfectly! I think the party organizers will be quite happy with it, even if it is "vintage".
Now for the kitten fans:
I was asked if kittens were going to be part of my blog, and I said only if they were involved in something crafty. So, for Karen and Cheryl and the other kitten fans:
Blanche is wearing her new frilly collar. It actually covers the irritated spot on her neck, to keep her and her siblings from making it worse. I thought she looked sweet, so I took her picture. Her sister Phyllis can be seen in the background.
