Pins & Needles, New York

It was extremely cold in New York City that morning but I was sure it would be worth facing the freezing wind and the subway to make it over to Pins & Needles. When we arrived at the location, that the map had suggested, doubt settled in. We weren’t really sure if we were in the right spot or not. The directions didn’t lead to a store front! We looked around and discovered a small Pins & Needles sandwich sign, and realized we needed to buzz in and head up to the second floor. We didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into. We had walked all the way across town to get here, so we thought we might as well take the plunge as we walked up the stairs. Was this the right place? We didn’t know, it was warm inside and that was inviting enough. We slowly opened the door not sure if we needed to knock.

Pins & Needles, New York

We were greeted at the door by the owner Rachel and her little dog Molly.

Pins & Needles, New York

It was bright, warm and full of fabric! Sigh! Definitely worth facing the cold and the walk.

Pins & Needles, New York

Every where you looked there was eye candy. Yup definitely worth facing the cold!

Pins & Needles, New York

I tried to soak it all in, looking on every shelf…

Pins & Needles, New York

Wonderful things were tucked everywhere…

Pins & Needles, New York

Since our visit I’ve been checking out Rachel’s blog called Start Stitching  and one of my favouite things is her display board by her work table. The display’s are always, hmm, how do I describe them? I want to say yummy! Is that weird? You know what I mean, right? You should see what she has up now! You can tell she puts her heart and soul into her store.

Pins & Needles, New York

As I was consumed with the store my husband was equally consumed with Molly. He fell in love with her. Unfortunately she was feeling a little under the weather and really didn’t feel like being a model that day. Fair enough.

Pins & Needles, New York

You can see from the post card I brought back of Molly that she’s super cute.

Fabric brought home from New York

Now this is my disclaimer; this is all the fabric I brought back from New York, not just from Pins & Needles. However the top four were my Pins & Needles purchases.

Pins & Needles

So if you ever find yourself in New York, Pins & Needles is a definite must stop shop. Even if it’s freezing cold outside!

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The “Big Apple”! It’s just out side Rockefeller Center past the skating rink at the LEGO store!

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We had settled in to watch TV for the night. Our kids were all tucked into bed. Our youngest especially likes to drift off to sleep listening to us watching TV. Often if we have taken to long to settle into our shows  we usually hear a tired and dreary voice call out, “are you guys going to watch a show?” It reminds me how much I don’t like being the last one to bed either. As a kid I too loved listening to my mom (my dad worked night shifts) putter around the house or watch TV after I went to bed. So there we were, kids off to bed ready to queue up our show, when low and behold we caught a glimpse of the movie “Working Girl”. Do you remember that show? As my husband likes to say in his best Antonio Banderas voice, “Melanie Griffith” was in it with Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver and Alec Baldwin. I’m sure we saw Working Girl in the theatre when it came out but we had forgotten that Joan Cusak was in it and we just love her lately in Shameless. After we had gotten over the laughable teased backcombed hair and the beige huge computer screens we realized the movie was set in New York City. Part of what I love about traveling is when you recognize places you’ve been. Not only is it exciting, it gives context to the movie you wouldn’t normally get. As soon as we saw (in our best Antonio Banderas voice) “Melanie Griffith” cross over to New York on the Staten Island Ferry we both let out a, “Hey, we were there!” Yup, we were in NYC back in January of this year. Then I realized I haven’t posted any of the photos from that trip nor have I told you about the two fabric stores I went to. How can time just zip away like that? So thanks to (in my best Antonio Banderas voice) “Melanie Griffith”, I can right this wrong.

We only had two days in New York and my husband and I were determined to hit as many places as we could with the time we had. We ran from place to place Amazing Race style checking off each location from our bucket list. Unfortunatel,y even though my my husband and I were born in the prairies, we have become quite soft about winters and greeted New York wearing our little West Coast little mitties and little toques. New York was FREEZING!!!!! Our West Coast mitts and toques did not cut it. We had to buy the largest scarfs you’ve ever seen and Thinsulate mittens. Not matchy, matchy fancy but much better. Warm is GOOD! Luckily, I had warn legging on the plane so I was able to wear them under my pants. Anything to stay warm! geez louise it was cold brrrr! As you can see as I’m standing in Times Square!

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Our hotel was great and they did warn us of the weather, we just didn’t believe them until we went outside. They seemed to be wishing for warmer weather as the high got to -7c and the low was -15c!

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Let’s see,  Where to start? We stayed in the Garment district.

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First we went to Times Square, then we walked through Bryant Park and had a little chat with Gertrude Stein. I was glad I had read all those books about her in art school otherwise we would have had nothing to talk about! That would have been embarrassing!

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Then we made out way to Grand Central Station. See that building in the back ground, the Chrysler Building. Just take note of it, I’ll be mentioning it later.

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I have to admit every once in a while I come across a land mark that takes my breath away.  You know it’s something to see but then unexpectedly, it’s more than you imagined. The Golden Gate Bridge was one and so was Grand Central Station, especially the ceiling but unfortunately I wasn’t able to capture it in a photo.

We took the subway, which wasn’t a take your breath away experience but you gotta ride the subway when you’re in New York! We headed for Pins and Needles, a fabric store and one that deserves a post just on it’s own!

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Next we waked over to Park Ave, by Central Park…

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…and over to the Guggenheim. I loved seeing this building, again back to all those art history classes! They were showing Picasso’s Black and White but we were also able to see a Manet, a Renoir, a few Cézanne’s,  a few Chagall’s and a Van Gogh. It was unexpected but significant to finally come face to face with some of these pieces. However, I have to admit what struck me the most is that they sold snow globes of the Guggenheim in the gift shop. Funny and weird all at the same time.

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My husband was posting on Facebook while we were on our trip and one of his friends suggest we meet at a bar not to far from our hotel, called Stitch.

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Our friends that had gone to New York the November previous suggested we see the Empire State building at night, which we did. Remember that building I told you to take note of, the Chrysler building? I have a confession to make (I might add we didn’t learn about it in art history)… I thought the Chrysler building was the Empire State building. I’m not sure why, I guess maybe because of the stylish hubcap design at the top I liked the looks of the Chrysler Building more? So there we were at the top but wait, what’s that building over there… I thought that was this building. I’ve got it all straightened out now!

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After that we headed home to our hotel.

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Which had this amazing live wall of plants.

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Day two we had decided we wanted to try and go to a taping of Jimmy Fallon only to find out they were on hiatus.

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So we trucked over to CBS to see if we could get into the Late Show with David Letterman but they too were on hiatus.

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We were kinda bummed and we were getting hangry (when your angry because your hungry). We ended up at a dinner where all the serving staff sang karaoke. It was weird to have a server take your order, sing a show tune and then bring you your breakfast… but fun!

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Once we had taken care of the hangrys we went back to Rockefeller Center to see the skating rink.

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Plus we also got another chance to check out the murals in Rockefeller Center. They are amazing but this mural… it’s a crotch shot! What can I say I live with preteens. Ha!

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Next we made our way through Central Park.

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When my husband wanted to take a photo of me in the park it was just way too cold. See what I mean by the biggest scarf ever!

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We did see a cardinal however. I’ve never seen one other than in pictures – beautiful!

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We walked by the Dakota building where John Lennon lived and over to the Museum of Natural History.

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We only went in the lobby, which was amazing…

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and very impressive. I wish we would have stayed longer or a least went in but we knew we only had time for so much.

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We made our way over to Soho and visited Purl Soho, again another store that deserves it’s own post.

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Then over to the Staten Island Ferry…

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…where we passed back and forth by the Statue of Liberty.

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We ended the trip visiting the 9/11 memorial. It was closed but we made it to Ground Zero and that was plenty.

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I think what stuck out the most in my mind about New York is how when I looked around the neighborhoods it reminded me of Sesame Street. Foreign looking compared to the small town in Alberta around me when I was a kid but how familiar it felt because of shows like Sesame Street,  Spider-man and Law and Order.

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I was a little astonished how familiar New York felt and by how much I expected Oscar to pop out of a garbage can and yell, “get outa here!”
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Which is exactly what we did the next day, it was short trip but it was sweet!

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I love this time of year when everything starts to wake up. The woodpeckers are back and so are the song birds. At night we’ve slightly opened our windows, it’s chilly but this way we can fall asleep listening to the frogs chirp. I’m guessing to us it sounds like chirping but I have a feeling to them it sounds like the smooth songs of Barry White.

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Did you have a nice holiday weekend? We certainly did (I even got my garden planted!) We got back from San Francisco last Friday and were very happy to be home, especially with all the great weather and the blue skies we’ve been having! Weather like that always makes me feel extra motivated. There is something about a blue sky that clears away any bit of sluggishness.  I guess that’s why spring cleaning happens, well, in the spring!  Or it could be because the sunshine lets us see how dirty our windows have gotten. The dirt blocks those tiny rays of sunshine and we can’t have that!

Until next year, it's been a slice San Francsico!

Yes, we were in San Francisco last week and it too was wonderful. It’s an amazing city and not just because of the hills, trolleys and bridges. In fact I didn’t even ride a trolley this time. We didn’t even make it across any bridges but I did walk a few big hills.  Mostly I walked around and soaked up the scenery and people watched.  It was such a treat not having to rush anywhere or to have to be anywhere in particular but just be an observer. This I find very rejuvenating and very inspiring. Not to mention they have the best food of anywhere we’ve ever traveled to. Even their food courts have healthy food everywhere, you just can’t go wrong.

I did get a chance to visit Britex Fabric and once again I spent most of my time (and my money) on the third floor, the floor with all the trims and buttons. Mostly I bought trims that I know I can’t get anywhere else. I was especially intrigued with the feathered trims-oo-la-la!  I plan on making us all new Christmas stockings this year. Our old stockings I made back in the 90’s. It’s definitely time for something new and decadent, as Christmas always is.

Sitting among vintage ribbon in Britex Fabrics, San Francisco.

I also got a chance to visit Anthropologie, one of my all-time favourite stores! I have a secret to tell you. It’s kind of silly but true and since we’ve been going steady for a while now I figure I can let you in on it. The first time I went into an Anthropologie I teared up. I know silly right. I was like Sally Field but instead of, “You like me, you really like me!” It was more like, “You got me, you really got me!” I’ve never been in a store that I have ever felt so at home with.  We have one in Vancouver but I never get to it, oddly it feels more far away than San Francisco’s. Although maybe that’s why it’s so special, I only get to it once a year.

HELL-O Anthropologie it's been far to long!

I always walk through the store and walk by each display savouring it. There are certain areas I always know I’ll find something special. This was my little indulgence that I found in the stationary section.  Okay, that’s not true! It wasn’t the only indulgence but since I only get to Anthropologie once a year, how could I leave it there?! I knew I’d regret it if I did. This was one part of San Francisco I really wanted to take back home with me.

Eep! A camera roll tape dispenser! How did Anthropologie know I NEED one of these?! Really, really need!

Luckily with the wonderful weather this weekend it made easing back into real life a lot smoother.  Also with it came extra motivation and a titch of spring cleaning! In that spirit, I’ve been meaning to post these pics for a while now. These are some Fab Bee Blocks from January, Bea’s month whose theme was stars.  Chris, my husband kept singing Deep in the heart of Texas  while we sewed together. You see Bea is from Texas (she’s recently moved away form there) but my husband, who always seems to surprise me, of course knew all the lyrics to the song. Once he’s got a hold of a song he can’t stop! Then of course it’s kind of contagious.

The stars at night are shining bright…  clap-clap-clap-clap!

Blocks for Bea

And these are the Fab Bee blocks for Sherri, from back in February. Chris and I took a different approach with Sherri’s and Bea’s blocks. We decided since we were sewing at the same time anyways we’d design together as well, instead of working independent of each other like on previous blocks. It worked out nicely. Plus Sherri ended up with a pair of socks that way!

Rainbow socks for Sherri

Talk to you soon! Happy Spring!

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Britex Fabrics, San Francisco

For the past five years in March my husband and I have gone to San Francisco and it’s that time of year again. We go to San Francisco to attend a work convention for my husband and I get to explore the city. Three years ago I discovered Britex Fabrics! Why did it take me so long to to find it? Well, we had to get all the real touristy stuff out of the way first, Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, Castro street, ride the trolleys, check out Lombard street and one of my favourites, other than Britex, visit the fortune cookie shop in China town (where you can buy hot off the press fortune cookies that are made in a small back alley). Quick bit of trivia: fortune cookies were first made in California in the early 1900’s by the Japanese. They don’t have them in China at all!

Britex Fabrics, San Francisco

I have to admit though, when I finally did come across Britex Fabrics (and it’s pretty close to Union Square where you catch the trolleys) I felt like I had stepped into a little piece of heaven! Actually four floors of heaven! The first floor is mostly fashion fabrics, from silks to wools. The Second floor is home decor. The third floor is my all time favourite – notions! The fourth floor is remnants.

Britex Fabrics, San Francisco

Floor three has quilting cottons and notions, not just notions…

Britex Fabrics, San Francisco

every kind of ribbon…

Britex Fabrics, San Francisco

and every kind of trim you could even imagine!

Britex Fabrics, San Francisco

Shelves and shelves! And just when you thought you’ve seen it all…

Britex Fabrics, San Francisco

you’d find feathered trim!

Britex Fabrics, San Francisco

And faux fir and more feathered trim!

Britex Fabrics, San Francisco

Even though I’m not going to make Gone with the Wind drapes, I  still appreciated their selection.

Britex Fabrics, San Francisco

Then the forth floor is where you find every remnant you could imagine. Although it is the neatest, most organized remnants section I have ever seen. Everything always neatly folded or rolled up.

Britex Fabrics, San Francisco

Sigh! Yup a little piece of heaven. I can’t wait to go back, we head out tomorrow! So, if you ever find yourself visiting San Francisco, I definitely recommend that Britex Fabric is a must stop shop!

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