Going To England For A Warm

How's the weather where you are?  They tell me the weather here it's about to warm up but I'm sick of waiting and I'm off to England for a warm - and that's not something you hear people say often!

Thought I share a handful of photos I've taken from my living room window over the last few months.

It's been cold and grey and ice flowed down the Hudson.

Sometimes the sun shone but it was bitterly cold...

that's -15C/5F and RealFeel -30C/-22F, brrrrrrrrrrrr

...and the ice on the Hudson continued to grow.

This is how things looked down at street level.

Pretty cold yeah?

I did enjoy this pop of colour as I crossed Target car park one morning on my way back from the dog groomer.

It was a painful walk over there when my eyes watered from the cold wind it turned to icicles on my eyelashes - but look at these freshly groomed cuties, well worth it :D

And this made me giggle just last Friday morning - thoughtful of them to dig those seats out but I'll pass on sitting in them.

Last week I ventured out to Lion Brand Yarn Studio on 15th Street, Manhattan (read more about the store here).

Pics of their latest store window display, I love how they change this and it's always something eye-catching and wonderful.

And the purpose of my visit to the store?

To purchase the yarnit ready for my trip back to England.

I forgot to take pics of the yarnit in use before I left but trust me it's AMAZING, I've no idea how I ever managed without it, even in the home, let alone how fantastic it'll be on the plane.  Take a look at their website for how it works, apols for not showing it off better here, but it's so worthy of a blog post mention I'm doing it anyway.

I fly in a few hours and I'm so excited to see Mum, Flicky and Joe on this trip - we're celebrating English Mother's Day and Mum's 80th birthday while I'm there and we've lots and lots planned.  I've got a few posts scheduled while I'm away so I won't be disappearing altogether.

Here's hoping for much, much warmer weather by the time I return.  See you in a few weeks :D

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Craftivism At Its Best - Helping The Homeless

Whenever I get the chance I join my fellow knitty friends at our Jersey City Crafty Knitters Meetup group and right now we are working with Knitting For Good to assist Jersey City's homeless.

A call was put out by my knitty friend Debora asking people to use their favourite hobby to help someone in need.  Donations of items are to be auctioned off at the local church Bazaar to raise money to help fund the soup kitchen and buy supplies for the homeless folks.  I won't be able to knit an item in time for the auction but I was able to whip up this make-up bag and tissue case on Sunday morning before heading off to our Meetup group in the afternoon.

I decided to use this Folk Art fabric by Timeless Treasures because it's so popular right now with the customers at The City Quilter and I hope that's a good sign that it'll spark a fair bit of interest at the Bazaar auction.

I fussy cut the front and back of the tissue case:

added detail to the zipper ends using the same fabric as the lining;

and quilted/top stitched in Aurifil 40/2 2770 - Very Light Delft

I'm not a 'skull' person myself, far from it, but recently I'm starting to learn more about the Mexican holiday Day Of The Dead and I've just watched the movie Frida about the life of Frida Kahlo and have to admit that I am fascinated by her and would love to see some of her actual work.  

My first introduction was the skeleton fabric that I used to make an apron for my son's partner, Ana, Paseo de los Muertos for the Folklorico Collection for Alexander Henry.  I chose this fabric purely because the skeleton's were dancing flamenco and that reminded me of Ana's fabulous flamenco dresses and Seville's Fair, Feria, and the time I've spent with them in Seville, but now I'm understanding more about it!!!

Are you a fan of skulls, Day Of The Dead and other folklore, what's your favourite legend?

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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 :)

To Catch A Thief

Last night we went over to Loew's Landmark Theatre in Jersey City to watch the Hitchcock movie 'To Catch A Thief' on the big screen.  As always it was a really great screening and the movie, Grace Kelly's last for Hitchcock, was a lot of fun.

It's so incredibly stunning and beautiful (even though it hasn't been fully restored yet) and I took some photos to share with you :)

Loew's Jersey City

  Loew's Jersey City opened in 1929, an original 'Movie Palace'.

Downstairs Lobby

Upstairs Balcony

View from Upstairs Balcony

"Acts from Manhattan’s Capitol Theatre regularly toured the Loew’s Jersey. Most of the stars of the early and mid-1930s “trod the boards” at the Loew’s, legendary performers such as Duke Ellington, Bing Crosby, Jean Harlow, Burns and Allen, Bing Crosby, Bill Robinson, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Cab Calloway, to name just a few."

Inside the Auditorium

"One evening in March 1933, a young and still unknown Frank Sinatra took his date to the Loew’s to see a movie and a live performance by Bing Crosby, who at the time was the nation’s most popular singer. It was there in the Loew’s Jersey’s darkened auditorium watching Crosby on stage -- according to Nancy Sinatra’s biography of her father -- that Frank decided he too could be a singing star."

excerpts are taken from The Landmark Loew's Jersey website 

Upstairs Balcony Areas

'Ladies' Restroom

In 1974 Loew's, Jersey City was turned into a Triplex Cinema with partition walls cutting into the ornate decoration of the auditorium.  In 1986, the Movie Palace closed and was due for demolition in 1987.  The community came together and in 1993 won the battle to save Loew's.  Restoration by volunteers is ongoing,there's still so much to do, and there is a schedule of screenings and events to raise funds for the work.

Loew's Jersey City

We love visiting Loew's and it feels such a privilege to watch classic movies on the big screen and to experience them as intended when they were made.

For details of other fabric, yarn, trim and notion stores that I've visited around the world along with the NYC stores I love, exhibitions and events I've attended and wonderful people I've been lucky to meet click the links below or in my sidebar :D

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