Finish, new starts, and NYC!

I finished my Crown Sampler!

1837 Crown Sampler by Plum Street Antiques
50/62ct unevenweave vintage lt. examplar line by Lakeside
Tudor Silk conversion from the Attic

This one was a pleasure to stitch.

I did change a couple of colors on the flower pots at the bottom, the two farthest out.  I needed some more color, so I used the bright red and blue instead of what was called for in the flowers.

I was a week behind on the new Fussy Cut Fridays from Temecula Quilt Company, so I made two stars to catch up (one star a week).  English Paper Piecing is so much fun!  (I used Liberty Tana Lawn fabrics from my stash for these two.)

And thanks to Deb of the Threadgatherer blog, I had the yarns to start the Wiggle Wrap!

I have a feeling this one will be about my speed.  Although I've heard it's been called the endless wrap.

Sunday, we got a surprise call from a certain girl we know.

And the next thing we knew, we were off to New York City!

We went to Brooklyn for a chocolate fix.

And ended up at a consignment shop down the street that had great bargains with great designer names.  (The boys went to a toy shop down the other direction so the boy child could pick up a Lego set on sale with his Christmas money.)

Bored boys waiting for the girls.

My haul -- an Eileen Fisher felted wool vest for $16!!  Sleeveless blouse $14, sneakers $18.  Love my color palette.  :D

Then we headed off for a tour of the famous work place.

Lego cafe, complete with Lego to play with.

Ladder for employees only, plus more Lego in the background.

The father type in his Noogler cap.  Which of course, he no longer is.

Then we headed off to Bareburger to have dinner.  So yummy!

Love that chandelier!

Then it was time to head home and say goodbye to the girl child.  We were tired but happy and full.

And a certain furry someone was very very happy to have us home again!

She and the boy child stayed in this position for a record amount of time.  lolol!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week!

(Aussie Open!!!!  Hooray!!!!)

progress and framing

Here is my Crown Sampler progress.  My border met.  Yay!

I also picked up some framing from my LNS -- my framer did a great job as usual.

This is Yuletide Welcome by Plum Street Samplers.  Sorry I didn't take a close up of the frame -- I love it!

And here's Margaret W. Brown by Milady's Needle.  Love this frame too!  I believe I used Soie Surfine on this one, and 45ct linen.  I think.

Last week on New Year's Day, we made our usual homemade Chinese dumplings.  The girl child didn't make it home but the three of us did fine without her help.

So yummy!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week!

Christmas -- finally!

Well, I don't know how else to do it.  I think I'm going to have to post two posts.  In one week.  There's a lot to post.  Stitching first.  Here is my Crown Sampler as of now.

I'm loving stitching this one.  It's such a pretty piece.

Now for the reason why I wasn't ready for Christmas last week.  Over Sunday and Monday, the 22nd and 23rd, the father type and I had to go up to Boston to move the boy child from his old apartment to a new one.  Luckily, we had Sunday afternoon and Monday morning to do it in.  Monday it rained, but it got done!  Here are a few pictures from the whole move.

The new apartment

moving in the rain

Goodbye, old apartment

We got home Monday evening and the girl child arrived soon after.  So the Christmas celebrations could begin!

Girl child arriving

making Christmas cookies

Father type with his new computer gadget

Father and son

And girl child

Christmas dinner minus the roasted brussels sprouts

Mia in her new Kaffe Fassett fabric collar

The girl child had to leave late on Christmas as she had work the next day.  But it was a wonderful Christmas nonetheless!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I will be posting the year in review in a day or two.

Just keep swimming...

Seems like many of us are feeling like we are behind in our Christmas preparations.  I am definitely one of those people.  But slowly we are getting there!  And I think I'm finally starting to feel in the Christmas mood.

Still some stitching going on amidst the prep.  Here's my Crown Sampler.

I've finished the top section and have dived into stitching the words.  If you see the needle on my cute little cat needleminder, that gives you an idea of the size on 50/62 count linen -- that is a size 28 petite needle.

This is just such a pretty piece!

This past week, there was a Christmas party for the NYC Google employees.  The theme was Dr. Who and you had to dress as someone from the 2380's, the 1980's, the 1880's, or the 1780's.  The father type took the girl child with him to the party.  Guess what era they were from.

They are looking confused because they are standing in a room that is for the wrong era.  lol!  There was a room for each era, very impressive!  Sounds like they had a great time.  Those Googlers know how to throw a party!

All during this cold winter that has finally become actual winter, Mia has refused to sleep in her winter bed that I bought her last year.  She loved it last year so much, so I was very surprised at her refusal.  She would sleep on the heating duct vent, or make her way under the covers on the bed and sleep there instead.  Today I finally decided to try lining the inside of her winter bed with bubble wrap, one of her favorite surfaces to crouch on.  And here is the result.

Yup.  She loves her winter bed once again.  lolol!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.  Happy Christmas!!