New York, New York

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday, we spent the day with our daughter in NYC.  The day started off kind of foggy and we began our journey in Battery Park.

This was our view of Lady Liberty.  

Dad and daughter in great spirits.

I am trying to smooch with the hubs.

I really couldn't believe my eyes that the flowers were in bloom already and the leaves were budding out.

We walked quite a way and landed in Eataly!  A great Italian marketplace of sorts.  Being Italian, I really appreciated the food and the atmosphere.  The hubs was checking out the cheeses and dried meats... YUM!!

But after seeing all that food, we opted for burgers.  Yup that is right, juicy burgers.  Mine was a green chile cheeseburger.

With a side of yummy sweet potato fries.

Our next stop was the Empire State Building.  We went up to the observation deck and by that time the fog had cleared and it was a perfect day for seeing NYC.

This is looking up at the very tip top of the building.

Here is the view of the Chrysler Building.  As Tina said, great NY Beauties on that building.

A nice lady offered to take this family photo.  I like it!

A view of New Jersey... Victoria can you see your building?? I think I can!!

And of course a stop at Times Square, the crossroads of the world.  Then we hoofed it back to Grand Central Station and home.

All in all we think we walked about 7.5 miles today.  Man, we were pooped!  But what a fun day!

Until Next Time...

New York, New York

NY Beauties

Hello Everyone,

Knowing that many of you have read lots about our retreat over the past few days from all of our blogs, I wanted to do one more post that I know you ALL could appreciate.

We had a bit of a show and tell and I am going to tell you these ladies are just sooooo talented!!

First up, Andrea...

Her beautiful Rose quilt made as a wedding gift! If you are going to the Empire Quilt Guild show in a few weeks, keep your eye out for this one you may just see it there... wink, wink.

Karen had made this quilt as part of an AQS challenge... New Twist from an Old Favorite. She did a fabulous job and even has the piece count on this one!!

Bonnie shared her needle turn mosaic tiles. I was just enamored by them, simply gorgeous.

Oh, and what a treat this was... LeeAnn brought her beautiful Eyelash quilt with her. Let me tell you, it is so much more beautiful in person.

And Victoria's beautifully bright Star Splitter quilt is just one of my all time favorites! I love it! Keep your eye out for this one at the show too!

Helen brought along 3 quilted garments. She layered them on her body and with the help of a little music... they came off one at a time. The first one was a gorgeous Asian inspired vest.

The second was a beautiful reversible batik vest.

The third was a gorgeous crazy quilt vest complete with very meaningful embellishments.

Jessica had this jaw dropping star quilt. It is all English Paper Pieced and done so impeccably. Simply stunning!

Kim was channeling her inner Bard Owl... don't you think? How cute is this? Love it... hoot, hoot.

So there you have it a parade of NY beauties. Come back on Thursday for something extra special!!

Until Next Time...

***Don't forget ALL Art Gallery Fabrics are on sale for $7.15 per yard through March 18. Just click here to see these gorgeous fabrics***

NY Beauties

Fun=NYC+Victoria

Hello Everyone,

I had a fantastic weekend... courtesy of Victoria! A while back she had asked me to come to NYC to stay with her for the weekend. Some sew time, girl time, and shopping. For many of you who don't know me, I am not much of a city girl and I normally wouldn't travel into the city on my own. But with a little coaxing and a lot of courage, I landed in Grand Central Station and met with Victoria.

On Saturday her NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild met in her place. What a fun bunch!! TONS of inspiration to be had.

They were very welcoming!! Love the quilt by David. The suggestion for the backing was Bye, Bye, Bye, bye!

The guild makes group quilts. Everyone submits a block or two. A theme is chosen and a quilt is made. The above is the cheddar quilt.

This one is the circular or curve quilt. Great and how much fun!!

After the guild meeting Victoria and I had some shopping time. More on that in my next post. But we worked on some projects too!

Here Victoria is pondering her African quilt. Of course she was making it King Size. It was whipping up quick. I am sure that she has it complete and quilted by now, right?

I worked on a Judy Niemeyer pattern... Seasonal Table Runner. Love the points and the batiks!!

Victoria planning her border for her African quilt. It is going to be a beauty!

All in all a great weekend! Thank you Victoria for the invite! I look forward to doing this again in the future. Yes, you heard it right... again!!

Stay tuned to see our haul from our NYC shopping!

Until Next Time...

***20% off my entire online store through 2/11. Use the code party20 at checkout for your discount***

Fun=NYC+Victoria

Quilting in NYC, Part 3 .... The Fabric

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the final chapter in my NYC adventure. Of course there was a little fabric shopping involved. I am sure that many of you are saying "What could Jackie possibly need when it comes to fabric, she owns her own shop?" There is always some fabric out there that a girl just has to have, right??

I have always loved silk dupioni and started a very small collection a few years ago. My trip to NYC gave me the chance to add. Just take a look at these jewels.

Gorgeous bright and iridescent colors sitting atop a black dupioni. Victoria took us through the garment district and let me tell you, you can get silk dupioni at wonderful prices. So I took advantage.

A closer look at these juicy colors. Victoria's perfect description for these.

Another view.

One thing you must know about silks, really any kind, is that they tend to ravel and fray quite a bit. So what I recommend is backing them with a very lightweight fusible interfacing before cutting into them and handling them over and over for piecing. This should eliminate some of the fraying.

However, my buddy Karen decided on the ride down that she was going to start a collection of all her stray threads. So on the way home, on the train, she took her scissors out and gave my silks a haircut and put them in her handy dandy zipper bag to add to her collection.

Of course, I had to add to my black and white stash too.

Speaking of adding to the stash, today is Wonderful Wednesday!! And as promised, for today only, you may take 15% off ALL Westminster Fabrics in my online shop. Just enter the discount code westminster15 at checkout. Click here to start shopping now.

There were 54 NEW Westminster Fabrics added to the shop yesterday!!!

Until Next Time...

Quilting in NYC, Part 3 .... The Fabric

Quilting in NYC, Part 2... The Sweets

Hello Everyone,

So here is the story... I have two types of radar, one is for fabric, the other is for sweets. As Karen and I were walking to Victoria's home in NYC, my sweets radar went off BIG time.

I spied this little shop that was not really in plain site. But I saw the window sign saying Crumbs Bake Shop. So, naturally, I veered off course and told Karen we had to go in. All I can say is WOW!! What a treat. Thelma, this post is for you and it is a definite thumbs up! Here is the virtual calorie tour.

One of the yummy displays of their sweet confections. Beautiful and mouth watering.

Victoria's Daughter received one of these lovely cupcakes with the purple flower on top.

Another yummy display.

So this is the biggest cupcake they make, the Colossal. And Colossal in every way, price, size and calorie count!

This photo I took for size comparison to their medium cupcake. Big isn't it?

Cupcakes weren't the only thing on the menu, they had brownies my personal favorite. So I had to have one. I debated a little bit between the fudge brownie on the right or the cookies and cream brownie right next to it. Guess which one I picked?? Yep, the cookies and cream. And with all the walking I did that day, I did not feel one iota of guilt, not one!!

This one we picked up to bring to Victoria. Turn your head away Victoria, don't look at the calorie count. I have to say, having that calorie count front and center is a real killjoy. I think that all eating establishments in NYC are required to have them upfront and personal. Dampens the mood a little.

Took one of these babies home for the teenage son.

These were just too pretty not to take a photo.

Here is the personal four pack my family ended up with... from top left is the Squiggle (that was mine and oh so divine!!) cream filling inside. Next to that was an apple cinnamon for the hubs. It was filled with real apple filling, just like an apple pie. Next was the cookie dough for teenage daughter.... all gone. And the cookies and cream also finished!!

A piece of advice if you want these, definitely cut them in half or quarters so you can enjoy them slowly with a nice cup of tea or coffee. And don't worry about what your thighs might look like afterwards, just enjoy!

By the way, they deliver! Just click here to go to their website.

Stay tuned for Part 3, NYC the ending. In the meantime, be sure to browse my shop, lots of new items arriving daily.

Until Next Time...

Quilting in NYC, Part 2... The Sweets