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 :)

Is It Possible To Crochet With No Hook On Your Hook?

It's been a good week, lots achieved and a particular highlight has been testing the paper pieced butterfly for Juliet of Tartankiwi and judging by the fantastic response I've had, I think you all love it too!

I've had a big finish as well - My Dad's Memory Quilt is now complete and will very shortly be winging its way across the Atlantic to my Mum.  For now I still can't share photos with you here - I promise I'll do that right after Christmas but you can take a look at it on my Facebook page

There was a wonderful moment this morning when I was going through posts on all the blogs that I follow and started reading a post on The Lazy Quilter that talked about Miss Chrissie and Miss Sarah.  It took me a moment to realise the post was about me and my good friend, Sarah of Quilt Candy as we have become the first followers on Erin's great blog.  Erin lives in Brisbane, Australia, and has been blogging since August but has only just discovered how to add the 'followers' button to the side of her blog, which I'm very glad to know as I couldn't understand for the life of me why no-one else was following her.  Anyway, Erin has a really great voice, funny and quirky, and deserves a few more followers if you'd like to pop over and visit her.

Another great new blog that I've come across in the last week or so is I Taught Myself Patchwork which is brilliantly and humorously written by F (Fleur Bleue), an English quilter now living in rural France and sharing her experiences with us.  I've laughed out loud many times reading her posts and that, for me, is as good a reason as any to keep going back for more. 

I've started crocheting a throw this week using the acrylic/mohair wool I brought back from Rhinebeck in October.  Initially it was going to be a keeper but I've had an idea of someone to give it to and I think they'll appreciate it more than me so we'll see if I think it's worthy of being given away once I finish it.  Another reason to give it away is that Tatty is totally obsessed with it - or so I thought, but turns out it's my bamboo crochet hook that's the real object of her desire.  Tatty had her friend Abi around for a doggie playdate on Thursday afternoon and while I was busy chatting with Abi's mum the inevitable finally happened - has anyone out there had any success crocheting with a hookless crochet hook?  I switched to one of my metal hooks, which was of no interest to Tatty whatsoever but I had to go back to using another bamboo hook (I have a whole mountain of crochet hooks!) as it's so much nicer once it warms to your fingers and takes on the oils from your skin - after a few uses it just glides through the wool.

This morning Tatty and I went for our daily constitutional down to the Colgate Clock looking out to the Statue of Liberty.  It was such a beautiful morning, once you've layered up and you're wearing your ear muffs, hat, scarf, gloves and full length, down filled North Face coat, so I snapped a few photos.

Top left - the Colgate Clock - they're busy replacing all the land that was washed away during Sandy, you can see Ellis Island and Liberty in the background.   Top right - that's my husband Simon's office on the river front and then I've taken the bottom photo from outside his building - that's the Jersey City to Manhattan ferry with 1WTC (previously known as the Freedom Tower) in the background and you can just about see the Empire State Building behind the ferry.

 Top right - I love this building, the Jersey City Powerhouse.  Left - Newport Town Square 9-11 Memorial looking through to where the Twin Towers stood.  Bottom right - I snapped this photo of the ground floor walls of my apartment building being dried out and repaired  after Sandy.  Oh yes, and that's Tatty sitting waiting patiently in her pram!

Well that rounds up my week and it's been such a good one.  I hope you've had a good week too :)

Hurricane Sandy - The Aftermath

 Hi everyone, well we survived and didn't come off badly in the process and judging by what we've seen on the news we've got a whole heap to be grateful for.  

The night passed well, the building swayed a bit but nothing too bad at all.  We lost the internet around 7.55 pm Monday night and got it back late Tuesday afternoon and the electricity went around 8.50 pm but the apartment's generators kicked in immediately which is brilliant and hopefully they'll last through till we get full power again. Tonight out of my window I can see that Hoboken, New Jersey is still without power as is Chelsea, Manhattan.

Our lifts aren't working though so Simon and Flicky have been down to the ground a couple of times

to see what's happening but I'm not doing it - I know I could make it down but I'm not sure I fancy the climb up 23 storeys to get back.

It's a real mess out there but we can see people working really hard to clean everywhere up and get everything working again. We're told our subway to Manhattan won't be working again for 7 to 10 days so I guess Flicky's on the ferry to school in Upper West Side, Manhattan once it opens again.  I know we got off very lightly, playing boardgames and drinking wine and I think it was possibly more worrying for all of our loved ones especially once we lost contact.

Thanks for all your lovely messages, they have been so heartwarming throughout. I'd like to send the same good wishes out to everyone who continues to be affected.  Big hugs to everyone xxx

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