Weekly update: basting in progress + a terrific book

 

It's been much warmer than normal for early February but kitesurfing?  Brisk northwest winds kept these guys going at Illinois Beach State Park on Sunday afternoon. 

 I stayed on the trail. 

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I auditioned all the vintage Cranston and Wamsutta prints in my stash in hopes of finding a "period" backing for the nine-patch quilt.  Nothing worked to my satisfaction. Though I'd be happy with a half dozen miscellaneous prints on the back I don't think that variety would be appreciated by the friend who commissioned it.  So I bought five yards of a small floral (white on yellow) (but 40% off!).  Basting in progress. 

(BTW, Stevens is able to negotiate the stairs now so we're in the studio for our TV evenings once again.)
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If you've seen the Fairy Castle at the Museum of Science and Industry (I revisited it last June) you'll like this story.  If you haven't, the book will have you planning a trip to Chicago. (Let me know when you'll be here. <g>)

I first saw the exquisite Fairy Castle at MSI  on a field trip. I was seven or eight.  I've been to the museum many times in the decades since and I've made a point to go down to the lower level to revisit the Castle. I knew it was given to the museum by Colleen Moore and that she was a movie star, but I didn't know much more than that.

I do now thanks to Kathleen Rooney's wonderful new novel.   In the late 1960's Moore provided a narration for the Fairy Castle, explaining the elements in each of the rooms (1:12 scale).  [That recording is still used.]  Each chapter of the book begins with the MSI curator's interview and Moore's reply, which then leads to Moore's reminiscences of her acting career.   [Rooney recast Moore as "Doreen O'Dare," explaining that it's a novel, not a biography.]

Moore was wildly successful in 1920's Hollywood.  She had daringly bobbed hair, an ideal flapper figure, and heterochromia (one blue eye, one brown).  She was cast in westerns and romances.   Though she was friends with Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Marion Davies, and Hollywood journalist Adela Rogers St. Johns, she had strong ties to her family.  Her Chicago-based aunt and uncle gave her the connection that started her career and her beloved Irish grandmother and her parents moved to California with her.   She married a Hollywood studio executive and stuck with him as his alcoholism spiraled out of control.   She made a few talkies but retired from acting after her divorce.   

Photos from my visit last summer

She always collected miniatures and had several dollhouses over the years.   In the mid 1930's, without pressure to work, she planned and commissioned construction  of the Fairy Castle, a tribute to her Irish grandmother.   When it was finished she put it on tour at department stores across the country.  The admission fee was a dime for children and two dimes for adults with all proceeds to charities in each city where the Castle was displayed.  The tour raised thousands of dollars.   The tour ended as WWII began.  By then Moore was married (happily) to a Chicago financier and the Museum of Science and Industry accepted the gift.  

Have I given away the entire story?  Well, it's well worth reading for the story of a Hollywood pioneer who succeeded beyond the silver screen with a legacy that continues to enchant everyone who sees the Fairy Castle.

Linking up with Oh Scrap!   Sew and Tell  Design Wall Monday