The Stitch Up

Goodbye 2011

After our quiet Christmas we went out to visit my parents for some fun and some more relaxation.  Mom and Dad live out in the desert.  It's beautiful and serene, and we always have a nice time when we visit.

We played games, walked in the hills and just enjoyed family for a few days.  I brought along a travel project - a cute 2012 tea towel by Curious Doodles and got quite a bit done between the plane rides and time spent around the kitchen table chatting with Mom.

We got home just in time for New Year's Eve which we spent quietly.  We took advantage of the weirdly warm weather by grilling outside.  

After dinner we snuggled on the couch to talk about the past year and what we hope for the new year.

I will of course have resolutions or plans for 2012, but I've enjoyed just feeling the excitement of the start of a new year and all the hope and possibility that it promises.  Happy New Year to everyone!

A Quick Quilt

Last year some friends and I went to Oregon to visit our girlfriend Lianne.  We wanted to see her new home and life in Oregon and celebrate the fact that she and her husband were expecting their first child.

While we were there we had a small baby shower and did one of my favorite shower activities.  Everyone decorated a quilt square with a message to the baby and I collected them together to make a baby quilt.  I finally put everything together and mailed it out to the new mom and baby (Aaron) last week. 

Everyone did a great job on their squares.  I played around with the squares a little to find a nice mix before pinning them together. 

We used blue for the personalized messages as we knew in advance that Lianne was going to have a boy.

I found some yellow gingham to set off the blue squares and a really cute farm animal print for the back as Lianne grew up on a farm and I had a feeling Aaron would have a few farm themed baby things around. 

The quilt came together pretty quickly as it was small and I just did some "stitching in the ditch".  

The final product is cute and I hope for years to come it will bring sweet dreams to Aaron and remind him and his parents how much we love them.

Summer Vacation - Germany

The second leg of our vacation was all about Germany and kicking it with family.  My brother and his family were posted to Germany a few months ago and we'd been looking forward to visiting them there.  They're in the Bavaria region of Germany and were our tour guides to a bunch of cool towns in the area.

The first stop on our whirlwind tour was Amberg

It's a pretty town on the Vils River and it's been around since 1034.  

 
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This square had the cutest fountain:

Pigs.  Too cute!!

On the way back from Amberg we decided to do a quick drive through another town - Kallmünz.

Our quick drive through turned into a full-on exploration however when we saw Kallmünz Castle on the hill and decided to make the trek up the (steep, asthma-inducing, never-ending) stairs that had been cut into the mountain to see it up close:

The Castle itself was beautiful but so was the view from the top of the mountain.

 

Our next outing was to Regensburg.  It's a larger town and had many beautiful churches, Roman ruins and more pretty parks and squares than I could count.

The Stone Bridge was built in 1135 and crosses the Danube.  It was a pretty spot to stop and relax a bit.

The Dom cathedral can be seen from all over Regensburg.  It was built between 1275 - 1634 but has one chapel inside that dates back to the 8th century.  The interior was beautiful:

There was also a lower level where several bishops were buried and that had really early ruins - I'm not sure what period they were from, but they had a Celtic look: 

 

Across from The Dom is a tiny chapel that is dedicated to St. Mary.  It only has about 4 pews:

Also near The Dom was the Cathedral "Zu unserer lieben Frau".  The inside is rococo style and blew me away:

We did a big road trip to Berchtesgaden, Germany to see the Bavarian Alps and tour the Eagles Nest and the Salt Mines.  This area was breath taking - we could have spent a week there hiking and fishing.  But as we were on a tight schedule, we hit the tourist highlights.

The Eagles Nest was interesting.  The location has amazing views of the Alps.  The only downside is that there is not much info about the history of the home and it use by Hitler as it's been completely renovated into a restaurant.

Pretty great background for a pic with My Sister-in-Law and nephews.

The Salt Mines tour on the other hand was very informative and FUN!

They suit you up in miner's coveralls and send you down through the salt mines by train, slide and boat:

 

The area near the salt mine is lovely with an aquamarine river running next to it that I think is a result of salt runoff, but for whatever reason the color is startling.

They sent us on our way with a free sample of salt which I thought was very kind!  They had lots of salt based spa treatments as well as specialty cooking salts for sale in the gift shop but at that point we were nearing packing capacity on the suitcases for gifts.

On our way back to the States we spent half a day in Munich before our flight.  It's a pretty city although I don't think we were really able to appreciate it in such a short amount of time.  

This is the Hofbräuhaus in Germany.  We were there around 3 pm and they were having a "Tea Dance" - which did not appear to involve tea but rather a lot of beer.  I'm assuming "tea" just refers to the time of day.  

Odeonsplatz.

We might have to give Munich more of a chance on the next trip.  Bavaria is a beautiful region and we clearly only saw a small portion, but the whole trip was made that much more fun because of the time we got to spend with family.

Seasons Greetings

Due to crazy work hours this holiday season is kind of getting away from me.  I DID have a great Thanksgiving with my folks and my brother and his family in Arizona.  It reminded me of growing up in California where the holidays involve putting lights on palm trees and having the doors and windows wide open on Thanksgiving day because it is just too hot in the house otherwise.

 I've really come to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas on the east coast, the snow and cold mark the change in season and make if feel special.  But there is still a lot to be said for being able to wear shorts in December!

Despite being distracted by work, the weather here is getting me in the mood for Christmas.  I did a little decorating, had some friends from my book club over for a Christmas cocktail party, and am now wrapping up gift buying and stocking up on egg nog for the big day.

So despite lots of work I have found time for some Christmas play.  My one regret is I have not had time this year for any Christmas crafting.  I did buy Alicia Paulson's felt ornament patterns and I plan to make a few of these over Christmas weekend, when I finally have some time off.  I figure I won't be late for this year, but rather a year EARLY in preparing for next Christmas.

Sadly, I'm off to the office now - Merry Christmas all!

 

The Textile Museum

I've had a little more time for fun and crafting this last week and I used part of that time for an outing to The Textile Museum in DC with Kate.  The museum had an exhibition entitled "Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain" that Kate had read about and it was really fabulous.

It displayed fabric by designers Lucienne Day, Jacqueline Groag and Marian Mahler.  

 

The Textile Museum is small, but has a nice permanent collection and schedules really interesting temporary exhibitions.  Kate and I read about exhibitions through 2011 that we'd like to go back and see.

I couldn't take many photos inside the exhibition - there was no photography inside the gallery.  I did snap this shot at the entrance:

It gives an idea of the very cool fabric we had a chance to see.  Kate and I were mentally sewing up all of the fabrics into drapes, chairs, dresses, shirts - it was inspiring stuff.  And they did sell some of the fabric in the gift store.  But as it ran over $200.00 (OMG!!!!!) we decided against a purchase.

I remembered while we were strolling through the museum that I had bought a set of pattern books, one of which covered textile patterns from the 50s. It contains some of the fabric we saw in the exhibition by Day, Mahler and Groag.  V&A pattern books, series one is a set.  It contains four pattern books.  In addition to the Fifties patterns, there are pattern books covering William Morris, Indian Florals and Digital Pioneers. They all contain cd's with jpg images of the patterns that you can use for non-commercial purposes.  Here are just a few of the VERY cool images in the pattern book that we also saw at the Textile Museum:

Marian Mahler

Lucienne Day

Jaqueline Groag

It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.  Looking at beautiful and inspiring textiles and catching up with a good friend who appreciates (or obsessively LOVES) fabric like me!   

 

Happy Mother's Day

Just a quick note to say Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there, including my own.  She is the very best.

 

Well Portland Oregon and Sloe Gin fizz...

if that ain't love then tell me what is...

I'm back from a trip to Portland to visit my friend Lianne and her husband Ed - and it was awesome! They moved there a couple years ago and this was my first chance to check out their digs.  It was also a great opportunity for a little girls reunion and our friends Lorinda, Marie and Teresa made the trip too! We've known each other for years (in the case of Marie and I it's 33 years and counting...) and have shared some of the most important moments of our lives with each other.  But with my move to DC and Lianne's move to Portland we don't get to see each other as often as we would like.  Which is why this trip meant so much! The tea towels I posted about last time were all for these girls and the baby things were for Lianne as she is expecting a little one soon!

As we only had a few days to see the sights, Lianne took us on a whirlwind tour of all of Portland's hot spots.  First we checked out the Gorge, its pretty landscapes and beautiful falls:

My ladies at the Falls:

   

 

 

There are a bunch of other falls along the gorge, with names I don't remember but they were all beautiful:

 

(Teresa and I are trying to get our act together here while Lianne gets the shot of the waterfall!)

One of the highlights of the pretty drive around the Gorge is the spectacular view from the Crown Point Vista House.  It was built in 1916 and it's pretty amazing to imagine people making the trek up to this spot back then:

 

 

 

As our first day of sight-seeing was fairly outdoorsy and wholesome, we planned our second day to be all about shopping and eating.  Woot!  Luckily our plans corresponded with Portland's Saturday Market:

 

 

we shopped and snacked at the market - we had to keep our energy up -

   

 

 

I thought downtown Portland was really cool:

 

 

 

After the Saturday Market we shopped around the Pearl District and hit some of the hot spots there including Powell's Books:

 

And we ate our weight in food at Henry's Tavern:

Can I just say?  Big portions! (That I did not have any trouble finishing...)

Our last full day in Portland we hit a bunch of gardens.  First we went to The Grotto  - which is a Catholic shrine and botanical garden with gorgeous views of Portland and the surrounding mountains.

 

 

You take a cool elevator to the top of the cliff in order to see the botanical gardens.  You don't have to pay to see the gardens, but you do have to pay to take the elevator...which is the only way to get to the gardens, so figure it out.  You're paying.  But I will say that it's worth it, the gardens are beautiful.

 

 

 

There is a Meditation Chapel where you can sit quietly and contemplate the view:

After The Grotto, we hit the Japanese and Rose Gardens in Washington Park.  

 

 

 

 

We packed a lot into a long weekend. We also fit in a surprise baby shower, long talks late into the night and some great meals.  It was wonderful and I can't wait to do it again!
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 

  

   
 
  
  

 
 
   

 

What I've Been Doing With My Time

Mainly what I've been doing with my time is working like a dog, BUT, I've also managed to squeeze in some embroidery.  I've been making a few things for some friends that I will see this weekend.  I haven't wanted to post about it yet for fear they might see it before actually getting the gift in their little hands - so I'm posting this after I give my goods out!

First - my friend Lianne is expecting so I whipped up a couple of cute baby things:

 

 

That bib is a little bit of a joke as my friend is a vegetarian!

 

 

My friend is having a boy so I tried to do some suitably boyish patterns.  These are all combinations of Sublime Stitching patterns.

I also made some tea towels for my girlfriends.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 This vintage pattern I chose for my friend who got married recently!  It's cute!  

Despite the long hours I've been working I planned my time almost perfectly to be able to finish everything before this weekend, however I'm working on my last pattern (an eiffel tower for my french hostess!) as I type.  (more or less!)

 

I think I should finish up in time!  So that's what I've been up to.

When I get back from visiting my friends I'm hoping my schedule will be a bit more normal and I can make some more progress on my Spanish quilt.  I'll be posting a TON of photos of my trip soon.  Until then - hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Work hard play hard...or I guess just work hard

I am currently working some very crazy hours and though I love to keep busy, it is leaving precious little time to stitch in the evenings.  I am fitting in an hour or two of embroidery a night and hoping to present a finished Spanish quilt square soon and sketch up my next quilt square pattern.  I've also get a TON of other project going on but sadly as they are gifts - I can't share them until the recipients have seen them.  No peaking!

Even though the hours are crazy on this project, I'm working at a building that is beautiful and relaxing.  It's on a man made lake with a nice walking trail (prefect for grabbing some lunch time exercise) and has some pretty waterfalls and coy ponds that help me relax a bit when the hours start to add up.

 

 
 

But I think the best part of this building is that it houses the restaurant where the Hubby and I had our little wedding just four short years ago.  In fact, we have a couple of wedding photos posed right in front of the waterfall.  

So every day that I go to work I am surrounded by sweet memories of one of the happiest days of my life.  Not a bad way to spend the day actually.

 

Fall Round Up

It seems a little late for any kind of Fall post, but it's actually at least a week before Winter officially kicks in so I figure I have a little time.  Plus, I had so many pretty Fall pics that I couldn't post because of the ugly Dell computer crashing thing that now is my first chance to share this stuff.

The hubby and I had a ton of fun around Virginia this Fall.  We took a leaf color drive up to the Shenandoahs which are just gorgeous in the Fall with pretty views everywhere you look:

 

 

 

An awesome tip I just learned from my friend Abigail is that there is a yummy diner called The Apple House near the entry to Shenandoah park that makes the greatest apple butter donuts that just melt in your mouth.  We ate about a bagful while driving through the park.

Our other fun Fall outing was to Leesburg, Virginia.  It's a cute town with lots of great shops and on the outside of town is Temple Hall Farm.  It's a regional park with a petting zoo and seasonal activities.  In the fall it's a corn maze, pumpkin patch and hay rides.  It is the perfect fall location:

 
 

 

The air was crisp, the pumpkins were the perfect shade of orange, and all in all it was a wonderful Fall outing.  Plus, on the way back into town, we caught this sunset:

I promise now that all posts will be Winter/Christmas related.  I hope to absolutely OD on Christmas by the time the holiday actually comes around.  Next up - my Christmas inspired craft projects!