A patchwork of pleasures
My occasional trips to my old home town, Toronto always have a pieced-together quality. I commune with longtime friends, squeeze in a few business appointments, stop by several shops I miss, and grab a few minutes to take in the changing cityscape from the streetcar.
How apt then, that this patchwork of persons and memories led me to the first day of an extraordinary show of contemporary quilts at the Textile Museum of Canada, "Colour Improvisations 2", curated by the renowned quilter and fibre artist Nancy Crow. Well worth a trip (no matter where you live) from now till September 23, to stand before these magnificent compositions.
Shown, "Vibrant Colour Bars" by Ruth Bosshart-Rohrbach, Swizterland.
The curator acknowledges the attributes of the makers:
I also spent time with Kay and Gwen, the founders of the estimable perfumeniche.com, the online decant store, who support another art form—perfumery—with style and verve. What a pleasure to meet them!
A cocktail and packet of divine decants later, I reluctantly left them to catch the train. So, though the Passage will shutter on June 28 for the habitual July-August vacation, expect more of their deep knowledge here in the fall.
And, I bought a dress! Finding dresses (which I only wear in summer, here) is absolute hell for me, as most are too short, and I don't want a maxi that drags up the métro stairs, either.
Just before meeting Kay and Gwen, I dropped into a local boutique, Damzels (full name, Damzels in This Dress), which embraces a rockabilly/retro vibe, but hey, worth a look. And in ten minutes, I walked out with this dress (minus the belt), which I'll wear to celebrate my birthday in July: a family dinner capped by a sortie to the tiki bar, Snowbird. Aloooooha!
The trip unrolled delightfully until the taxi home from the train station, when the twenty-something driver and I got gridlocked by a massive street closure due to a bike event. What is usually an under 20-minute ride took an hour and a quarter.
At one point, we were locked into the Plateau neighbourhood, because it was also The Night, that magical first warm evening when the city explodes in a spontaneous, raucous party, and that area is packed with bistros and bars. I suggested we park and join the festivities till the bottleneck broke up.
A Kazakhstani cabbie and a grandmother walk into a bar... sounds like the setup to a joke, but I was wearing my new decant of "Bella Freud" and figured hey, he is probably praying for no more fares like this; it it just might work. But he duly got me home.
This ends a burst of travel; now we'll welcome many summer visitors. The Passage stays open a few more weeks, though, so keep strolling through.
How apt then, that this patchwork of persons and memories led me to the first day of an extraordinary show of contemporary quilts at the Textile Museum of Canada, "Colour Improvisations 2", curated by the renowned quilter and fibre artist Nancy Crow. Well worth a trip (no matter where you live) from now till September 23, to stand before these magnificent compositions.
Shown, "Vibrant Colour Bars" by Ruth Bosshart-Rohrbach, Swizterland.
The curator acknowledges the attributes of the makers:
I also spent time with Kay and Gwen, the founders of the estimable perfumeniche.com, the online decant store, who support another art form—perfumery—with style and verve. What a pleasure to meet them!
A cocktail and packet of divine decants later, I reluctantly left them to catch the train. So, though the Passage will shutter on June 28 for the habitual July-August vacation, expect more of their deep knowledge here in the fall.
And, I bought a dress! Finding dresses (which I only wear in summer, here) is absolute hell for me, as most are too short, and I don't want a maxi that drags up the métro stairs, either.
Just before meeting Kay and Gwen, I dropped into a local boutique, Damzels (full name, Damzels in This Dress), which embraces a rockabilly/retro vibe, but hey, worth a look. And in ten minutes, I walked out with this dress (minus the belt), which I'll wear to celebrate my birthday in July: a family dinner capped by a sortie to the tiki bar, Snowbird. Aloooooha!
The trip unrolled delightfully until the taxi home from the train station, when the twenty-something driver and I got gridlocked by a massive street closure due to a bike event. What is usually an under 20-minute ride took an hour and a quarter.
At one point, we were locked into the Plateau neighbourhood, because it was also The Night, that magical first warm evening when the city explodes in a spontaneous, raucous party, and that area is packed with bistros and bars. I suggested we park and join the festivities till the bottleneck broke up.
A Kazakhstani cabbie and a grandmother walk into a bar... sounds like the setup to a joke, but I was wearing my new decant of "Bella Freud" and figured hey, he is probably praying for no more fares like this; it it just might work. But he duly got me home.
This ends a burst of travel; now we'll welcome many summer visitors. The Passage stays open a few more weeks, though, so keep strolling through.
Comments
https://www.laurieswim.com/
We got a beautiful photo of Montréal coming alive, mais pourquoi pas la ligne orange?
Bon été!
LauraH: I can spend nearly all winter in darks but when summer comes, I do a 360! That show is a must; I suggest going for oening when it is not crowded.
Laura Jantek: Thank you so much for the link; yes the NS quilters have a fine reputation.
Mardel: I placed an order; if I got into their studio, or whatever they call their lode, I'd go crazy.
Hope you have a wonderful holiday...please report back on the scents after you return.
I experienced that in GERMANY of all places, in a summer of odd heatwaves in the Netherlands and Germany.
It is true that unlike the daytime Tour de l'île, there was relatively little media info about the Tour de nuit. I know the organisers and will inform them of that.
Thank you for the tip about the Textile Museum - hand't heard anything about this exhibit! I will also let my stepmom know as she is an avid quilter.
lagatta: Street after street closed to vehicles! Though I do not own a car, and am pro-bike, I asked myself if they would let an ambulance through... probably? Scary to think about.
Amelia: There is sometimes dancing :)
Margie from Toronto: I find anything there worth seeing and it's only $10 for seniors! Go in morning before crowded as it is a small museum.
We had a friend who very narrowly squeaked through a heart attack here last winter. The EMTs said that if there had been delays they would not have been able to save him.