Spring has finally Sprung!

It has taken quite some time, but Spring has finally arrived.  There is color everywhere now!  

It has been a few months now since I have last updated the blog.  I have been doing some stitching, really I have!  Even through the winter, I found some places to go and fun things to do.

I visited the Cloisters in NYC, a museum that is part of the MET that has medieval artifacts.  It was my first visit there and so amazing to see the displays and pieces from centuries ago!  There was also an antique card exhibit on display going back to the 1400s!  Most of them were hand drawn or hand painted.  There were some glorious tapestries to be seen, including the famous unicorn tapestries.  

I always manage to fit music in my life.... I visited Daryl's House twice! 

First, seeing James Maddock, and, then again, for a Johnny Cash tribute on Johnny Cash's birthday! 

Lots of fun!!  

In order to get into Spring fever mode I went to two flower shows!  

First, was to the Macy's annual flower show in Herald Square NYC.  The theme this year was America the Beautiful and the displays were GORGEOUS!  From Lady Liberty's torch to the Golden Gate Bridge and everywhere in between I was amazed at how they transformed the department store into a flower extravaganza!  

From Macy's in the heart of Manhattan I then zipped up to the Bronx to the NY Botanical Garden to see the annual orchid show... Orchidelirium!  

Orchids in every color and shape and bursting in beautiful color!  

Just a few weeks ago I found a Spring quilt show in Southbury CT by the Piecemaker's Guild.  

Such an amazing array of talent and designs to be found..... from cats, to VW beetle van :), to a calendar quilt, even the Kiss by Klimt!  

Just last weekend I went out with family and friends for some weekend fun.  We went to the local German restaurant and enjoyed a beer and good eats.  

The was even a stein locker for the regulars to keep their mugs at the ready!  

And Gigi says Hello! while she is enjoying her cat nip carrot!  :D

And on to the stitching world....  

Our Sampler Years facebook group has been growing and having fun each weekend with Sampler party weekends celebrating different designers or having stitch-ins!  Please join us to be part of all the fun!  

We have also created a dedicated blog, Our Sampler Years blog, for the group where we post featured interviews.   Please take a visit to see our most recent interviews with Margriet of The Essamplaire and Brendon from Linen and Threads in Australia and more!  

And, last but not least at all!  My stitching project!  

This sampler is such a joy to be working on.  It is so colorful, I think the young girl who stitched it almost two centuries ago used her linen and thread as her coloring book!  

I wish you all happy Spring days with lots of pretty blooms and pretty stitches!!  xxxx

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  

 

 

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

Summer Lovin'

Helloooooooo Everyone!  Happy Summer!

Thanks to you all for your comments on my last post.  I know my posts have been less frequent but there was just not enough stitching to show and tell!  There have been a few projects in the works along with some Summertime fun too :)

Here is my Scarlet Letter Mary Gail sampler.  She is really lots of fun!  I am stitching her with dmc threads on 36 ct wren linen from Picture this Plus.  

June and July have flown right by.  In the beginning of June I got to meet a fellow stitcher, Chris from Tot Hill Farm, who happened to be in Connecticut!  We got together for dinner at a Turkish restaurant, which was so delicious!  Yummy dips of hummus, carrot and eggplant...a beautiful colorful palette!  

And here I am with Chris!  For those of you who also read Chris' blog you know she is on the left and I am on the right :)   So much fun finally meeting.  I hope our paths meet again.  

From reading your blogs I know many of you have been gardening and enjoying the Summer season outdoors....  I am not much of a gardener but I LOVE flowers, especially taking pics of them!  At my office, there is a garden on the Town Green called the Parade Path.  Here are some pretty pics from along the walk....

My "vacation" this year was a long weekend away... to Buffalo!  Yes, to Buffalo!  to see the Rolling Stones, of course!  And, of course, it was Fantastic!! :)

And I also spent a day in Niagara Falls!!  I had not been there since I was a teen on vacation with my parents so I was very excited to go back again.  It truly is a breathtaking sight!  Rainbows everywhere!  

Niagara Falls - US and Canada

I drove up the Niagara Parkway in Ontario to a sweet little town on Lake Ontario... Niagara-on-the-Lake.   The flowers are so gorgeous everywhere you go.  The color is a feast for the eyes!  

Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Niagara Floral Clock

Enjoyed a wonderful al fresco Italian lunch before heading back to the Falls to see them all lit up for the fireworks show!  

Fireworks over the American Falls

So it was a whirlwind of fun in just a few days.  I am still enjoying my Summer weekends from home.  I visited my favorite spot by Candlewood Lake......

And spent some time working on stitching my first reproduction sampler.   I have a real admiration now for the ladies who have done countless samplers like this for us to enjoy.  It has been a learning process for me for sure!  I have finally finished the charting process although I can see I have to make some tweaks along the way!  I have finally started putting some stitches to linen and it is exciting to see it start to take shape.  Here are a few sneak peeks of "Lucy"....

So that is what I have been up to lately.  I hope you are enjoying some Summer sun too!  

Til next time.... Happy Stitching and Happy Summer!!  xxxx