Inspiration
Postcards from Florence, Alabama
Dear Ann,
I’m writing to you from your kitchen table, fresh—and refreshed—from our road trip to Florence, Alabama, where we spent last weekend at the former t-shirt factory that is now home to both Alabama Chanin and The School of Making.
Our purpose was to sit and knit for hours and hours, while listening to an incredible roster of speakers at the annual symposium of Project Threadways. Our journey had other goals, too:
—Eat some form of grits every day, usually at Big Bad Breakfast (so as to check off this task in our bullet journals early in the day).
—Pay a visit to the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in Alabama, the Rosenbaum House.
—Get freshly inspired by the world of exquisite handmade beauty that our friend Natalie Chanin has created over the last 20 years. And by “get inspired,” I mean: shop for DIY sewing kits.
Why were we surprised to come home with a DIY sewing kit from The School of Making for each of us—a cropped car jacket for me and a dress for you? Haven’t we fallen down this rabbit hole before? The urge to apply miles of running stitches to hand-stenciled fabric is irresistible. (Note to Ms. Chanin: Naming something “car jacket” is an unfair marketing practice! I love car jackets so much, almost as much as house coats and their glam sisters, bed jackets.)
I was grooving so hard to the weekend’s presentations and goings-on—Gee’s Bend quilt scholarship! TVA quilts! Beach plastic! Protest embroideries! An intimate and stitching-inspired performance by Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal!—that I barely snapped a photo. I’m grateful to our traveling companion Gael Towey for sharing her snapshots, which are in the gallery up top, along with yours and mine.
Also: don’t miss Gael’s newly released short film, which celebrates an extraordinary artists residency, Civitella Ranieri.
It’s all of a piece, somehow: the crisscrossing threads that connect art and craft and community. I came away newly inspired to make things all day long, whether it’s stitching or supper.
And look at the progress I made on my Stepping Stone Throw during those hours of sweet, sweet knitting time:
I’m in the end zone, and getting ready for a blocking party to celebrate, as soon as I get home.
Love,
Kay
Florence Alabama ! Also home to fashion powerhouse Billy Reid
https://www.billyreid.com/
Renowned calligrapher Suzanne Cunningham @Suzcunningham
And next door to Helen Keller’s birthplace!
Thank you for your post and addition to Florence Alabama’s many interests!
I love Alabama Chanin and have to make daily decisions about my stitching time: knit, sew, or needlepoint. I was fortunate to do a class last year at the School of Making. My children gave me a one on one class for my birthday this year! And Florence is so much fun. The Muscle Shoals Sound Studio tour should not be missed!
“Daily decisions about my stitching time”–exactly!
Muscle Shoals! The bathroom where Keith Richards wrote “Wild Horses”!!! And the whole skeevy sixties vibe. It was a flashback to my misspent youth.
Your blanket looks smashing!!!
What a wonderful weekend! And I’m willing to follow you down the rabbit hole of car jackets, but please, for us un-sophisticates in the boonies, what the heck are they? Okay, I’ll Google.
Our moms called them “car coats” when we were growing up…friends my age and I still love the term! Car coats were usually just long enough to cover your derrière.
Just a short jacket/coat with an old-fashioned name that makes me think of my mom!
Of course that was my first question here: is a car jacket the same thing as a car coat? Because I’ve known and loved car coats since earliest childhood. Glad to learn another name for them!
I think it might be because it’s a cropped jacket adapted from the Alabama Chanin car coat. My mom always distinguished between coats and car coats, car coats always sounded sportier, and make me feel like I need to tease the top of my hair a little!
Oh right, a car coat, that’s what my mom called them.
I thought I recognized yall on the bench by Big Bad Breakfast. Right next door was Jim Seales and his new band playing at FloBama. I walked outside to come invite you in for dinner, but yall were no where to be found. Sorry I missed the opportunity but so glad you had a big day at AL Chanin!!! I miss their lunch place❤️Yes I walked away with a shawl kit that needs to be completed too❤️
Oh no, a missed connection! I bet you do miss the AC cafe, I hope it comes back.
So jealous of your time in Florence! (I have such wonderful memories of my workshop days back in 2017 with Vicki Knitorious. Sigh. . . )
That was THE BEST! And the one we fashioned on our own in MI was fun, too! And someday I will finish that Car Jacket!!
It felt kind of wrong to be there and not be taking a stitching workshop!
Just wondering what an MDK + Alabama Chanin collaboration would look like….
please!!!!!
Love car jackets; maybe it’s a growing up in the 60’s thing?
I have to take issue with “eat some form of grits” – I’m a purist. Grits should be served with butter, salt & pepper, and maybe red-eye gravy if it’s available. That’s it! And yes, eat some every day!
I’m bound to make a few mistakes but I know that sugar is a no-no!
I have the Alabama Chanin books and it’s a rabbit hole I long to fall into …
My mom used the phrase “car coat”. Is that the same thing?
That’s the phrase I heard growing up.
Sounds and looks like a wonderful event, thanks for sharing! Your blanket is beautiful!
Thank you everyone @ MDK! Being so limited for the last 2 1/2 years, it is a pleasure to be connected to world through your site. Diane
Civitella Ranieri. What an inspiring place, people and mission in the world. I am so grateful you shared this story. I’m overwhelmed with the gift that they give artists. Just so beautiful. Thank you.
You were surprised to fall down the rabbit hole and get a sewing kit from the School of Making? I’m surprised it was only ONE kit for each of you! The throw looks good so far, but there seems to be someone missing from the picture — Kermit. Did MDK’s official Yarn Tester have the day off?
We were so disciplined!
Car coat! I remember that I had one back when. It had toggle buttons and I think it had a hood (useful for the SF rain). I had pedal pushers too and a long ponytail. Kay, I know that your car coat will, in its own way, be just as memorable.
All of this! But those shots of the FLW house… swoon
I so enjoyed the virtual Project Threadways last year and am currently reading Clare Hunter’s Threads of Life, which I learned of that weekend. As you saw, I’ve been deep in an AC project this month ~ kept me calm at kid’s dance comp!
Bring back the house coat!
And Roseanne Cash into the bargain?!?!?!?
I don’t have words.
Seriously — and in fact, I discovered Alabama Chanin through Roseanne Cash; she wore a stunning AC coat while touring for The River and the Thread (and there’s a mention of Florence and pretty dresses in “A Feather’s Not a Bird”).
Absolutely beautiful! Would love to watch it being assembled!