I love LA – Page 17 – No Idle hands here

LA Blogger-Sewing Meetup

First of all, thank you Erin, Laurie, Jill, Kathy for doing such an amazing job putting this event together. Sewers, costumers, crafters from all over SoCal came to the event. From the central coast to San Diego and many of us in between.With, Lorin, Kathy, Amy and Jo. I only brought my little camera and shot a few pictures, I got too busy talking with people and neglected the camera after a while.I don’t know any of the names, 40 people is a large group, I didn’t get a chance to meet everyone.Stephanie, Lorin and Laurie, one of the intrepid organizers who came up from San Diego.Then it was over to the Fabric store, I had intended to take pictures of us inside, but I got involved in the swap instead.Today was my winning day, my name was drawn for the Moneta Dress, already owning that pattern I threw my name back in the hat. I then won Mabel, a simple skirt pattern. Pam asked to trade for this, I was more than happy to make the trade. Have to look closely to see if I actually make this.
As if I don’t have enough patterns, I picked these up from the swap.Also from the swap, lace and knit as well as this funky 50’s looking knit, both will make easy summer dresses or tops.

I have never had fabric from Australia – it really has a different vibe. Don’t know if it will become a garment or part of a quilt. The two other fabrics are destined for the quilting fabric stash for sure.

On a final note, it was Knit in public day, so before I met all the sewers, I spent an hour with my knitting buddies, we had a much larger group than a normal Saturday at the Farmers Market. Thank you Ellen for having the picture taken on your phone. Also, I love your photoshop skills.

Leah

Walking LA

Nobody walks in LA – well that is the cliche at any rate. Thanks to a number of good books, many of us venture far from our neighborhood and explore on foot.

I have slowly been making my way through Secret Stairs, this past weekend I revisited walk #38, Universal City- Happy Trails. Only one set of Stairs up and another down. I would consider this the very eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, but residents prefer to think of this as West Hollywood Hills. Either way, there were interesting things to see.Jewish star on a Spanish style house? Well that is the way I see it.I don’t think this house would get building permits today. Looks like there is a small front door at street level as well as a very steep staircase up to the main level of the house. Not sure what style this is, European miss-mash?There is an inscription over the garage door, ‘Huset Karl Bygget Dorthea’ Which many mean House Charles has built for Dorothy – in Norwegian. Which also may explain the look of the house.Other wonderful details, are these trolls or elves holding up the small window box balcony? Nordic either way.

Further on we come across this.Yes, even in the nicest parts of town you will find houses that have fallen so far into disrepair that they are derelict empty shells. And now we come to something I love – a whole house covered in mosaic. The life long work of George Ehling. Started in 1927 and still being worked on today. I know this because a few years ago when I first took this walk, I met a young man who rented a room in the house. He told me that George asked for rent in cash so he could buy more materials (he is working on the interior now) and for some physical labor as well. Since George is no longer young. I guess the house was built in 1927, but George didn’t start the mosaics until latter.I think some of the work was done by workmen when the house was build, the bands around this tour look like they were installed with the building, but many other features, like the window sill were added latter.

And now, for something completely different.These strange looking homes, surround the end of a canyon. There are probably about 20 of them along the rim, being supported by massive girders to the hillside. I’d be scared to live in one of these. Yes they have survived many an earthquake. But I still remember the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. A similar house on stilts on another canyon off Beverly Glen Blvd, fell off those kind of foundations and landed on a house underneath it – killing a 5 year old girl.

Ok, enough of the morbid talkWho doesn’t like unicorns, I for one would be happy to see one crossing by.

The same house has a very successful hanging succulent garden. Those are not easy to maintain. Often it is easier to simply replant every few months.I love this, remnants of another long gone house, but the look of this is more like the entrance to a secret garden out on some country road. Not in the middle of Los Angeles – practically overlooking the very busy 101 freeway.

To top it off, we stopped into an open house. Being looky-loos in 2 million dollars homes in Los Angeles is always fun. No, I didn’t take any pictures, but this was a lovely old 1930’s home that was renovated and brought up to the standards of a more modern home. It had a lot of character. I’m happy to say, I love my house, but it is always fun to peek into other peoples homes.

Leah

El Dorado Apartments, formally the Hotel Stowell

At my son’s wedding I had the pleasure of meeting a lovely young couple who live downtown. They were very gracious and invited me to come see their apartment in a wonderful old building on Spring St. Here is an image from the 1980s’ before the building was renovated. There used to be a blade sign in the middle of the building which is now gone.

Here is the renovated exterior, the fire escape was removed, and the platforms became balconies. On the south side of the building, they broke through, added windows and balconies as well.This building was built in 1913, named for the developer. The beautiful design elements on the exterior are Art Nouveaux, a style seen more in Europe than in the US. Charlie Chaplin lived there as he was starting his career here in LA.The wonderful designs are molded concrete. The Green is colored bricks. A few years later Gladding McBean would start manufacturing wonderful glazed terra cotta tiles. It’s nice to see what predated that.Last year, the building got this designation.

A resident found this sign and it is now in the lobby. Notice the misspelling of the name, I think they ran out of room for the second L. Fireproof was a big selling point in those days, fires were the biggest hazard to buildings in the early 20th century. Those prices are what one would expect for a nice hotel in those days.

One of the things that made this hotel famous was the lobby. Here is an old image of the lobby. Below the lobby in the basement there was a cafe as well, a very necessary service to offer guests a place to eat. Both made extensive use of Batchelder Tiles. To my delight and amazement, there are plans underfoot to turn this into a restaurant. We were able to go take a look.Apparently they are working in conjunction with historians to maintain the correct colors. You can see two of the pillars are being painted black, they do have some leeway with their design choices. They are building a bar (right side of the photo) and are covering up some of the tiles.It appears that they are removing the white paint from the bannister, interesting, since in the old photo it looked white. Maybe that is why they are choosing black for the pillars, to match the dark bannisters.Also, cleaning up the woodwork, which I think will be a great improvement.Here are examples of the tiles, both plain and decorative. Batchelder is known for unglazed tiles and often uses these wonderful animals, both real (bird) and mythical (griffin).The top image shows how they have covered all but the decorative tile. It’s covered with drywall – so no tiles are being destroyed.

Examples of the floor. Not all the original floor remains but what does is beautiful.

As for the apartment. It is lovely. My hosts asked it I was surprised that it doesn’t have any historical elements. Not at all. The exterior and the lobby of many buildings are beautiful and made to impress. Once you go into the office areas or hotel rooms – they are standard and pedestrian. The need to impress is only in the public areas. I can say that the apartment was light airy and had storage! The modern developer did a great job but to be fair, had nothing historic to work with.

Leah

Downtown LA, Saturday afternoon.

I was asked to give a tour for a private group on Saturday afternoon. It’s amazing how many more people are out and about compared to the mornings. This also means that we can’t getting into the Edison building but there are always trade-offs.

Like seeing this in the main rotunda area of the Central Library.Yes, I have my little camera on my, I stopped in the middle of the tour and said – excuse me, I have to get a picture of this bride and groom. (tour goers also took pictures, but they are expected to do so). Another large wedding party walked in at the same time, my picture was so blurry, I’m not sharing it. I love the whole Art Deco look of this bride.

We ended our tour as we always do in Grand Central Market. The market has been going through major changes in the last year, many of the old run down vendors have not had their leases renewed and many new, young hip places have replace them. I know people who dislike the change, me, I feel change can be a good thing. They still have many of the old vendors. Vegetable, meat and fish stalls. The ‘dollar’ store in the basement is still there. They are simply mixing it up with new and improved food options.

One of them is Wexler’s Deli, I’ve known Micah Wexler since he was a kid. Been family friends for years. And I’m proud to say he is doing a great job.This is a very small space and yet they manage to smoke meat, fish and brine pickles in house.Love the design on the wall.Here is the man himself behind the counter.Love the star on the door and the neon sign, which unfortunately didn’t photograph well.

Oh and the food? AMAZING! I bought a corned beef sandwich, a pastrami sandwich (yes Langer’s , you have real competition now in the Pastrami dept.) The pickles, potato salad and and coleslaw were also – perfection. I restrained myself and didn’t buy a black and white cookie. Next time.

The section, of the market that this stall is in, is the old Homer Laughlin building, designed by none other than my favorite LA architect, John Parkinson.

I for one am really enjoying watching Downtown LA change and develop.

Leah

Spur of the moment Theater

It’s a week before the wedding, so this weekend is low key and relaxing, or so we thought. Not wanting to go see Godzilla, I looked up the local plays in the area. Living 5 minutes from the NoHo Theater district means that for the price of a movie ticket we often get to see wonderful small live theater instead.

So when I saw A Big Gay North Hollywood Wedding I immediately snagged two tickets. The Theater is in a Church, for this production at any rate. Five minutes after arriving I of course bump into friends, the gay crowd is out to have a fun night at the theater.As you can see the quality of pictures isn’t great, but it was so fun. Here the brother and mother arrive.Aunt Rosie arrives from New Jersey. Kyle Lewis – the long ago boyfriend who can’t let go.It was so much fun actually having this part of the play in the Church. Throughout the performance the cast was interacting with the guests – as if we were guests at the wedding. I was having so much fun playing the part, at one point we got up and danced. Hey, got to prepare for next weeks real event.Where else are you going to see a Chuppah in a Church, with a rainbow no less.We then moved to the social hall. What was brilliant was that the theater group sold refreshments at this point. And here we have the grand entrance of the grooms.Sharing Challah, which is part of a Jewish wedding.Cutting the cake, and to top it off, they brought out cake for all of us to share!

We laughed the whole time, thoroughly enjoying being part of the spectacle. Of course there was a lot of drama and all the familiar tropes of what can go wrong with a wedding, especially one like this. Next week I am looking forward to our own Big Gay wedding, which should be as my DIL says ‘Classic, refined and full of joy.’

Leah

Why I love the Fabric district in DTLA

Recently a friend came to visit. We met on Facebook but only met in person on this trip. It felt like we had known each other forever – which in a way, we had. Having only a few hours we rushed downtown. This was our first stop.For over 30 years this store has been offering everything for the Sewist in downtown LA. They have a separate Home Decorating store. A garment fabric store – which includes yarn, findings and a lot of notions. The loft – where they get remnants from local jobbers and sell everything for $2 a pound. Which btw, adds up very quickly.Here we are, of course we made some purchases. this just gives you an idea of how large the place is.

Then we just hit the streets and walked around looking at all the other wonderful stores in the area. According to Karen, this is a much larger fabric district that New York, could be, our garment industry is quite large. These are the fake animal prints out on the side walk. From cow, to leopard to pink tiger.More fur, I think these might go indoors soon. Interesting how they are chained. Is that so they don’t fall down or so no one walks off with a bolt?Party fabrics!Beads and sparkle.

The really good quality fabrics are all inside and yes, one can find some very expensive quality fabrics here.

This is the first post of many. I love this part of town, started coming here 22 years ago when I first moved to LA. It is amazing to me how the district has grown and changed. I will have to share some of the bead stores as well. Oh and don’t get me started on the party stores, or actually do, that is a subject for a different post.

Leah

The Gerry Building

These days I try and take my camera with me when I am about town. Even when I am somewhere I go often, like the garment district downtown. I don’t know how many times I’ve walked by this building, of course I think the color changed recently.Sorry about the quality of the picture, I cleaned my lens when I got home.

First of all, this style is a little unusual in the garment district, and this building was built for for garment show rooms, unlike other Beaux Arts buildings in the area that served other purposes. This is Streamline Moderne, late Art Deco. One of these posts will be about architectural styles in LA, right now, I’ll just mention that at the end of the Art Deco period (1930s’), money was tight , no more major decorative elements and a very strong horizontal feeling. Think big steamer ships. The color picture is mine, but you can see, in 1947, the only difference is the color and the cars. This building was built in 1947, which is really after Art Deco ended (WWII put an end to most building for a good 5 years). Maybe the design was already approved, so once the war was over and the economy was coming back the developers just went with what they had and built the building.

Today it is once again used for fashion showrooms. Although it seems that someone wants to turn this into apartments. I wish they would leave some of the buildings downtown for business – this isn’t suburbia after all.LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the lettering, the only decoration on the building. It just screams Art Deco! I have no idea who Gerry was, I’m guessing it’s the name of the developers. And I also love the bright orange color. I know it’s not original to the period, but it’s ok if some buildings take on a more modern look. I’m not a purist when it comes to restoring buildings.

Leah

Quilt and Dress being shown at the Modern Quilt Guild meeting

I sort of cringe when I see myself in these photos. I figure, if I’m sharing all this on the blog, I better get over my self-consciousness!

Leah

Random DTLA (downtown LA)

My introduction to downtown was in the early 90s’. We had recently moved to LA from Israel, for Joel it was moving back, for me it was a whole new world. Our first year here I started taking classes at LA Valley college, a wonderful local community college. I then enrolled at FIDM and set out studying textile design. That is a subject for a different post.

FIDM had just completed their lovely new building, so I found myself going downtown a few days a week. I stayed very close to the campus. I would venture to the Fashion District and even got a part time job there. But in those days, downtown was still very sketchy. So I never ventured far.

How things have changed, today I am a downtown docent with The LA Conservancy and I love exploring on my own, which is what I did the other day. I’m sharing some pictures without much information. I know I should get better at both taking the pictures and gathering information. Meanwhile, just enjoy some wonderful architectural details, Los Angeles can boast as much as NY or Chicago – we have real beauty here which I am happy to share.The exterior of this building is on my Downtown Renaissance tour, since I am doing all the talking I don’t take pictures. I had the opportunity today to enter the lobby. Today this is a low income building, but as you can see, the owner Izek Shomof takes very good care of his buildings regardless of how much rent is being paid.

I love the detail on the railing. Hotel Hayward was originally a hotel for traveling salesmen, very close to the PE Trolly station. Even then the cost for rooms was reasonable, but the lobby was very well appointed.
This building is further south on Spring st, someone was filming there. I just love the details. How about these wonderful eagles? I think the address of this building is 801 Spring st. Spring st and Main st. meet just beyond this location. I was capturing the exterior when a young man with a camera exited and he just let me in.As you can see, the building straddles two streets. Today this is a residential building, the lobby is beautiful and well cared for. The details on the ceiling are lovely, someone cleaned and possibly repainted them.There are three elevators, only one still has the original doors, I don’t know if the car was replaced. As you can it, it used to have one of those dials that let you know what floor the elevator was on. I did see that the other two are modern doors, no I didn’t take pictures of them.

That is it for today, I promise many more in the future.

Leah

John Parkinson

I am on a mission, to introduce and make the name John Parkinson a household name in Los Angeles. About 5 years ago I went on my first downtown tour with the LA Conservancy, The name John Parkinson kept coming up, it seemed like he, along with his son Donald built many of the wonderful buildings downtown.

I became a docent and soon I was showing off a few of his many amazing buildings. I didn’t know a lot about him, just that he came from England and was a stair builder before he became and architect. Lucky for us, Stephen Gee, another Brit who moved to LA, had also taken a conservancy tour. He got very interested in this fellow compatriot and started researching. Before you know it he wrote and published this book Iconic Vision, Stephen Gee, I know, it’s a hard cover book and the cost reflects that, but I read it like a novel.

John Parkinson designed our most important buildings in LA, city hall, the coliseum, a large part of the campus of USC, Union station…. I could go on and I will in other posts. He was largely forgotten, most people don’t know his name. Due to this book an possibly because his time has come, the city of Los Angeles is setting out to honor him and to make him more of a household name here.

Last year this plaque was put up on the Crocker bank building on the NW corner of Sixth and Spring st.Can you tell its not easy to see this plaque? That is because it is blocked by a Ficus tree. Normally I’m thrilled to see trees downtown, but really, they had to block this plaque?!

So yesterday the city named the intersection of Sixth and Spring st. John Parkinson Square. All four buildings on the corners of this intersection were designed by him. I went to the ceremony in the Palm Court of the Alexandria hotel. The room has been spruced up.This was a fancy restaurant in the early 20th c.There are two identical skylights as well as the third that is the header for this post.Great-grandaughters and one husband, great-greatgrandson along with city council-members Tom LaBonge and Jose Huizar awarding the certificate. The great-greatgrandson is studying architecture. Most of the family no longer lives in LA, although one has promised to return, this just feels like home.Stephen Gee, who really got the ball rolling discussing the man and his book.Proud family, proud councilman, and for those us of attending, a very proud happy moment.I will be sharing more of his actual work in later posts. Of course I would love it if you came on one of our LA Conservancy walking tours. I do one a month, so if you want to follow me, make sure to ask me personally. Of course the other docents are wonderful as well, we all share a real deep love for this city.

Leah