Holiday Fun and Happy New Year!

Here we are at the end of the year.  I usually love this time to go back through my blog to see how many finishes I had for the year.  Well......  ummmmm....  I am so very sad to see that I had not a one!  Nope!  Nada! 

BUT, I did have a very fun year!  One of the best I have had in probably ten years, so for that I am thankful.  And I did have quite a lot of starts this year (or near-starts!).  So that will be my focus going into 2016.....

OK, big breath!  Jenny Bean, Red House Sampler, Mary Gail, new repro Lucy, Hannah Pepper, Rachel Hyde, Ann Grimshaw, Ann Tarbox, Sarah Harris, and Heaven and Nature Sing! 

 

 PLENTY to work on in the New Year!  

In the past month, I did get back to the MET again, to see the sampler exhibit and the beautiful Angel Tree!  

 

I even took a stroll from the museum past Central Park.... which was still in autumn color....

 

All the way to the BIG TREE!  I had not been to Rockefeller Center in many years so I was ecstatic to see the Angels and Tree and all the shop windows!  

 

And St. Patrick's Cathedral too!  

 

It really is amazing how quickly the holidays come and go, all the hustle and bustle and family fun time.  I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday too.  

Bergdorf Goodman's window was rocking in style! 

It is New Year's Eve and I will spend a quiet time at home enjoying Ryan Seacrest's Rockin' New Year's Eve and putting some stitches in one of my near-starts from above.   I wish you All a wonderful New Year filled with happiness and love and lots of fun stitches!  xxxx  

 

 

The Met Exhibit and Lots of Fall Fun!

Hello! 

Back again.... I have been having some trouble with my tennis elbow so not much stitching has happened in the last two weeks.  However, I did get to SEE some stitching and TALK about stitching, and that is the next best thing! 

A few weeks back I headed into NYC on my birthday.  I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the first time in about 20 years!  There is a FANTASTIC! exhibit going on right now, called Fashion and Virtue, about textiles through the centuries.  Some amazing pieces of clothing and, surprisingly, some needlework and samplers!!  Including a very special visitor from the UK, the Jane Bostocke sampler (top right)!! 

 The exhibit is running through the beginning of January so if you have the opportunity to get there I say "Go, Go, Go!!"  There is so much to see and explore ....

It was a beautiful day that day so I also spent some time walking through Central Park, a first for me!  The Autumn colors were gorgeous!

 

 

 

I also found Strawberry Fields.... dedicated to John Lennon.........

 It was a fun-filled day for sure, and I hope to return during the holidays to see the exhibit again and the BIG TREE :)  

As we usually do during this time of year, my family had our annual soup contest!  Here I am in my chef's hat again with my soup... We had a theme this year and each had to pick a soup from a different country.  I made Portuguese Kale and Sausage soup but, sadly, did not bring home the trophy this year... that honor went to Brazil!  Always lots of fun! 

And what is more perfect this time of year than a jack-o-lantern?!  Thousands of them!  :)

I went to the Great Pumpkin Blaze! at the Van Cortlandt Manor in NY.   Thousands and thousands of pumpkins carved and ablaze, it was such an amazing sight!  

And just yesterday I got to see Chris from Tot Hill Farms!  Always great fun when we have the chance to get together and catch up and talk stitching and so much more!!  

 

So even though not much stitching there have been lots of fun times along the way.  

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is only days away now.  I want to wish you all a wonderful holiday with friends and family.  Count your blessings (and your stitches!), each and every one!  xxxxx

 

Stitching and Festival Fun!

Hello again!  Yes, here I am, 2 posts in one month, it is a wonder!

I have been diligently doing my exercises for the tennis elbow problem and happy to report I was able to do a bit of stitching this weekend!

The Heaven and Nature Sing SAL started on the 15th and I was determined to put thread to linen.  I did a bit each day since and here is what I have to show for it....  I absolutely love it so far!

I am so happy to have gotten in the groove and accomplished so much.  

Even though it has been only a few weeks since I last wrote it has been a busy and fun time.  

I did get to see Bernard Fowler one last time.  I was fortunate to see him in Bridgeport CT, in a small club.  He really puts on a rockin' show!  

And this has been the PERFECT time for leaf peeping here in the New England area!  This past weekend I took a ride to Rhinebeck NY to the Dutchess County Fairgrounds.....

There was the NY State Sheep and Wool Festival.... what a fantastic festival!

It was definitely a feast for the eyes with color and inspiration at every turn.....from knitting to felting to rug hooking.......

 

and yarn EVERYWHERE in EVERY color and texture imaginable!  lol 

Also lots of great accessory items like baskets and shaker boxes.....

And, of course, all the sweet babies that give us the wool to make the yarn!  Baaaaaaaa!

It was a wonderful day, clear and blustery, and full of color.....

These were my festival finds...  some gorgeous alpaca yarn in a variegated black walnut, soooo soft!  And also a new cookbook by Nancy Fuller.  It was so nice to meet Nancy and have her sign my book.  I love her cooking show and how it really celebrates the Hudson Valley area.  

 Since my last post, I had seen a new post on the Sarah Harris SAL blog.... out of the blue!  So it inspired me to pull out all my supplies for her.   She is quite a colorful sampler and will be a compliment to Lucy with the pinks and purples.  To see more about her, the dedicated blog is here!

I hope you have had a great stitchy weekend too!  Here are my impatiens which I am so surprised to see thriving despite the sudden cold snap we have had......   

Have a wonderful new week!  I hope to see you again soon!  xxxxx

  

Autumn Project Planning!

Hi there!  Yes, I am still here even though my posts have been not so frequent.  Sometimes the days seem to go by so swiftly and then other times I just don't feel I have enough stitching to show and tell.

It seems we have jumped right into Autumn, my favorite season of all!

My office had an employee arts show so I finally pulled my Mary Wigham sampler out of the closet and framed her up.....  She is set loosely in the frame so as to protect her but now I think she will go right up on my wall as is!  It was wonderful to see how creative all of my coworkers are in all sorts of mediums!

So there has been a bit of stitching happening, although wish it was more!  I am suffering from tennis elbow and hoping for relief ASAP!

Over the past couple of months I have been up to some fun things along with planning out some future stitching projects.

Have had some German-style celebrating......

Been to NYC!  Here is a small forest growing right next to the MET!  

Everytime I see the MET it makes me think of the movie Moonstruck!  :)

The NYPL had a very special Frank Sinatra exhibit.  I was so happy to finally get there to see it before it closed down.  There was so many extraordinary things to see...many personal artifacts of Sinatras' from before he was famous to all through his career.  Below is one of his bow ties, letters from fans and photos from Herman Leonard.  

And here is a jukebox chock full of Sinatra!  I could play this all day long!

There have been so many pretty sunflowers this season... these I came upon at the Bridgeport Ferry!

Another favorite thing I do every Labor Day is go to the annual library book sale!  Here are a few of my finds this year.   So many people have recommended JoJo Moyes to me so can't wait to read her book.  Just started The Girl on the Train but too soon to give my thoughts on it yet!  

And my fun time would not be complete without some live music in my world!  And while the Stones are no longer in town, Bernard Fowler, backup singer with the Stones, has been and I have gotten to a few of his shows over the past month.  He puts on a super rockin' show!  

And for my stitching there has been some planning....  Kathy Barrick's Heaven and Nature Sing is soooo very sweet.  There is a facebook SAL set up for Oct 15 and looking forward to starting this one!  I went with linen and threads right from my own stash....

And here is another sneak peek of Lucy!  She is the reproduction sampler I have been working on.. I wish I was further ahead but this tennis elbow problem has caused a real crimp in my stitching time!  

And over at Our Scarlet Letter Years blog we are planning some New Year stitching already!!  Take a peek here!  Remember waaaaaaay back when I had been planning out Ann Grimshaw?  Well now is the time to go full steam ahead for 2016.  There will more incentive with others to stitch along with!!  But, still, I need to pick a color!!!  LOL!  

I hope to get some more stitching done this weekend if my elbow will cooperate!  

Gigi and I wish you a wonderful Columbus Day weekend!  Enjoy all the beautiful colors Mother Nature is bringing us!  Happy Stitching!  xxxxxx