Let's Start At The Very Beginning - 5 Things To Share With You

I've lots of news which I figure I can break down into 5 main areas so where to start? Why at the very beginning of course!

1. I'm A Giveaway Winner

If you're following me on facebook you'll already know that last week Kati @from the blue chair emailed me to say that I was a winner in her giveaway - 10 Pure Elements fat quarters on the way to me courtesy of Julie @The Intrepid Thread - how happy was I and all I did was tell her that my current fave fabric is Robert Kaufman Essex Linen!!!   Well the fat quarters have arrived and they're really pretty gorgeous aren't they?

Thank you Kati and Julie :) 

Oh and if you want to catch up with me via facebook just click here and hit 'like' to get updates sent to your facebook wall :)

2. NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild

 Last Saturday I went over to my NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild meeting and there were lots of great quilts in our 'Show & Tell' if you want to take a look.  We were all given Guild pin badges, which I proudly wore all day - well I actually forgot all about it, wore it to my Film Club meetup and then when I met Flicky for dinner she immediately told me to remove it as we took our seats in the restaurant!

I have a bit of Guild news too - Victoria @VictoriaFindlayWolfeQuilts and Encyclopedia @CocktailsandThread are stepping down as our President and Secretary but we have chosen two fabulous replacements - Lisa @TheRedHeadedMermaid as President and David (I don't think David blogs but I do know he reads my blog so hopefully he'll correct me if I'm wrong!!!) will be our next Secretary.  

So a sad 'bye' to V & E and a big 'hi' to L & D :)

3. Mum's Birthday Apron

Have to tell you all that Mum's Birthday Apron was the biggest success ever.  She's loves it so much and wore it all day but it had to be practically prised off her later in the day when my Aunt and Uncle became concerned that she might even wear it out that evening to go dancing with friends! ;)

Just to clarify that's my daughter, Flicky modelling the apron, not my Mum!!!

4. Etsy Shop

I really need to get to grips with starting my Esty Shop, so many people keep asking me when it's going to be ready and the answer is that I keep getting involved with doing/making other things and not making time to get my business started.  My great friend Wendy has offered to give me a weekly kick up the backside which is just what I need to focus and motivate me.  I've promised her that from this week I'm not going to work on anything else until I've got my internet shop up and running.

So I've started out by sewing my new labels into the pile of quilts I've already made to sell and I've made another baby/lap quilt to add to the pile.  This one's fmq'd with a floral design and I've handtied the centre of each flower.  Here's a sneak peek:

5. Hoboken Walk
Two weeks ago it was snowing and freezing here but this week it's quite a different story with the temperature today up to 29C/84.2F.  I was out and about early this morning taking a walk and thought I'd share some photos with you of where I live on the Hudson River at the Hoboken/Jersey City border.  I've shown you photos of the Jersey City waterfront before and today it's Hoboken's turn.

Pier A Park, Hoboken - the trees were planted as a memorial to 9/11 victims

1907 Hoboken Terminal

View down to 1 WTC

Erie, Lackwanna Ferry Terminal and view down to Jersey City

View over to the bottom of the High Line, the Meatpacking District and the Empire State Building

Inside the Railroad Terminal Building (still under renovation after Hurricane Sandy)

The fabulous Railroad Terminal Building Tiffany Ceiling

Laying the controversial gas pipeline over to Manhattan

Newport to Hoboken Waterfront Walkway

Newport Green Park & Beach, built last year next door to my apartment building

I hope you've enjoyed catching up with all my news and taking a look at my part of the world

 ChrissieD :)

It's Here - It's Available !!!

Lots of bits and pieces to share so did a bit of a debate as to whether it was best to do one long post or a few short ones.  I've settled for one long one but I'll try to do mainly pictures and not talk too much!

Firstly, great news for anyone who saw and fell in love with the paper pieced butterfly that I tested for Juliet of Tartankiwi - the pattern is available now on her blog and for the time being it's free to download.     Update on 14 February 2015, please contact Juliet directly via her blog for information about the purchasing the pattern.

If you do have a go at your own butterfly be sure to let me know how you go on, I'd love to see :)

Updated 12.41 pm, 2 May 2014

I do not receive payment from Juliet @Tartankiwi for testing her patterns, nor do I receive commission on any patterns sold via her Craftsy page or any other sales method.  This post is purely informational and of no direct benefit, monetary or otherwise, to me.

I've been busy buying lots of fabric and here's a quick peep at what I'll be working with over the next few months.

Remember a few weeks ago I was busy making place mats to take along to a 'finished edges' course at The City Quilter?  Well I finally finished the place mats and they're already being well used at our dinner table, thought to snap these photos today while they're still looking fairly new and lovely!!!

It was my first time sewing binding on completely by machine and I can now see the attraction - it's soooooo fast.  I still prefer hand stitching binding on my quilts but there's a lot to be said for whipping around a binding in minutes rather than hours!!!

In the same class, we also covered the 'no-bind' binding technique that I shared with you in my 'no-bind' pram/stroller tutorial.  This time, I made a small Christmas themed pot holder and it's already on its way to a new home just in time for Christmas.

Unfortunately, I was ill and couldn't make the second class but my friend, W and I are meeting up with our tutor, Christine Janove, over Christmas for a seasonal drink and to catch up on the bits we missed.

 

 A few weeks ago I told you about a throw I was attempting to crochet but I was having a bit of trouble as Tatty had eaten my bamboo crochet hook - well in the end she ate two of them and, given half a chance, she'd see her way through a full set.  Now my friend, V, who runs Tatty's Doggie Daycare at Fuzzybutz, Hoboken has told me that she's having a bamboo floor laid in her apartment - as Tatty goes to stay at V's when we go away I suggested this might not be a good idea!!!

Anyway back to the crocheted throw - well it's finished and it too has gone to a new home for Christmas.

Tatty loved it so much that I had to promise that I'll make her another one!

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

Related Posts:

Not So Finished Edges, Yet! 

Posting A Very Special Package

Yesterday I ventured to the Post Office in Hoboken - it was my first visit since I've lived here and I was posting a very special package to my Mum - my Dad's Memory Quilt.

I spent ages wrapping the quilt

and then wrapping the postage box in beautiful Martha Stewart Xmas postal paper

but the guy in the Post Office didn't like the way I'd wrapped it - he cut off my string, told me my tape (which I had carefully placed over every seam on the parcel) wasn't good enough and then he covered pretty much the whole box in white, red and blue United States Postal Service tape.  Next he added a smattering of stickers and stamps and then an enormous customs form - pretty much the size of half the box.

I'm so glad I took these photos so my Mum can see just how I'd intended her pressie to look when she received it because I can assure you it no longer resembles this in any way - but I guess if it's going to arrive safely and in one piece I shouldn't complain!

I understand it'll take around 10 business days to get to her so I'm holding my breath until she's got it and it's under her tree waiting for Christmas Day.

Today is Thanksgiving and, although we're not American, we are, of course, celebrating.  Flicky has gone over to Macy's to watch the Thanksgiving Parade with our house guest, Claire, and I've been cooking Cauliflower Cheese and Banoffee Pie to take over to Thanksgiving Dinner at Ivete's (Rose Smoke) later this afternoon.

and

Tatty, being an all American puppy has asked me to pass on a very special message to you all :)

Hurricane Sandy

View from my window at 11.00 am, Monday, 29 October 2012 - the Hudson River is already level with the walkways

 Hi everyone, thanks so much for all your messages and good wishes, it means a lot to me and my family :) 

Regular followers will know that I live in Jersey City on the Hudson River by Hoboken station and next door to the Holland Tunnel ventilation tower.  It's currently low tide and the water is already up level with the Hudson River walkways outside my apartment block. They tell us that the hurricane will reach us this evening at the same time as a full moon high tide and possibly along with a cold front coming down from Canada - they're calling it Frankenstorm. We're already at the sea levels of Hurricane Irene last year and expecting water to rise by up to another 11 feet by tonight.

The lower floors of my building have had mandatory evacuation but we're on the 23rd so we didn't have to leave. We've cleared our balcony and moved furniture away from our windows which are tight shut and our blinds are closed.  We're going to sleep in our hall tonight as there's no windows there and it's closer to the centre of the building. We've got food and water and we've filled the baths so we can flush toilets and wash should we lose water to the building.

As long as the electricity holds I'll keep posting on Facebook. x

A Weekend Update

To round up my week, in one of my last posts I told you I was going to spend the day sewing - and I did. I made a baby quilt but, having machine sewn the binding to the front I've decided not to hand bind the back until I've got myself some labels professionally made - I've been meaning to do this for so long and it's time to get myself sorted.  Set about it on Friday but it turned out to be a much bigger task than I'd anticipated so this quilt may not be bound for a while yet!

So here's a quick peek at where I'm up to

I'm also trialling a larger font for my posts.  I was reading a post by Julie of Jolie Maxtin and she asked for feedback on her blog - everyone was incredibly positive about her great blog but one comment was that the text was a bit small, and I did rather agree.  Quickly checked my own blog and realised my text is the same size, hence my experiment in larger text. Let me know what you think: should I keep it this size or go back to my original format; does it make my posts seem way too long; and any other comments please?


I'm still trying to catch up with Plum & June's Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop - having joined late I've still got 6 blogs left to visit to get me on track.

This week I've visited the following blogs and can recommend you take a look at them too:

Book Cover tutorial by Taryn of From Pixels to Patchwork

Novelty print charm square patchwork ruffle skirt by Em from Sewing by Moonlight

Little Artist Backpack by Svetlana of Sotak Handmade

School Rules Mini Quilt Tutorial by Beth of Plum and June (and our fab host on this blog hop :) )

A Quick and Easy Placemat by Julie from Jolie Maxtin

Pot Holder and Oven Mitt Tutorial by Lori from Adventures in Fabric

Yesterday my daughter, F, and I spent the afternoon over at Toni & Guy in Hoboken.  When we moved over to the States we were worried about who we'd get to do our hair having had the same fab hairdresser back in England for many years and realising that it just wasn't practical to contemplate flying him over every six weeks, even if he had become my best friend (I'm sure all you ladies know just what we must have been feeling).  Anyway, we needn't have worried - we headed up to Toni & Guy (as it's such a known English brand we hoped we couldn't go too wrong) and it's the best thing we did since we arrived in the US (alongside from me learning to quilt and getting Tatty, our dog) .  F's hair is coloured by Jess then Peter cuts it and my hair is cut by Whitney.  The salon is fabulous, ultra modern and spotlessly clean and the staff are amazing and friendly and look after you brilliantly - on top of which the haircuts are fantastic.

F modelled for them at their recent Freedom collection promotion - and we had a great night out at the event.

F, centre stage with Zak Mascolo, Creative Director, T&G USA who cut her hair

F, looking fab :)

In the audience, two proud parents :)

So this time, F, decided to go for a really short cut, I've wanted her to do it for a few years now - she had her hair in a pixie cut when she was very small and looked great so I thought it would really suit her.  Jess put some great platinium blonde through her hair and Peter gave her the most WOW haircut, what do you think?!

I know she's my daughter but I think she's stunning x

I keep going back to my Dad's shirts - it's taking me so long to cut them back to flat, usable fabric - I think this bit will take longer than actually making the quilt, anyway it makes sure I'm never idle!

 

Is That A Dog In A Pram???!!!!!!

View out to the Empire State

I just have to share today's news with you all.  Since last November, I have been walking miles each day to improve my health.  I had an idea that it would be nice to have a dog to walk with me and hence the arrival of Thatcher, known as Tatty to her friends.  Unfortunately Tatty isn't quite so keen on the idea of walking as I am.  By the time we've trotted to the lift, gone down 23 floors and crossed the lobby of our apartment building Tatty's tired and ready to go home.

View down to 1 World Trade Centre

It's been such a disappointment for me, she's at home and I'm still out walking alone but I had an idea - let's get a dog pram.  Hubby, S, took quite some convincing, it's not something that you'd want to be seen with in England - you'd be laughed at in the street, but we'll be walking around Manhattan, Hoboken and Jersey City and here, anything goes.
 
So the pram, a top of the range Pet Gear AT3 Generation 2 All-Terrain Pet Stroller arrived today and we were straight out of the door to enjoy the lovely weather and do a bit of shopping in Hoboken.  Tatty took turns at walking and then riding in the pram when she was tired and best of all she loved it.  A few people did do a double take, a woman in a car was heard saying "did you see that dog in a carriage?".  Meeting up with us on her way home from school, our daughter, F, completely disowned us but I don't care, we'll be out again in the morning doing a good 5 miles, Tatty and me, the two of us together.  Lovely x

Updated at 14 May 2014

I'm very pleased to be able to report that Tatty graduated from her pram later in 2012 and has been happily walking on all four legs ever since!!! :D