Sunday, February 22, 2015

Boston Round 1

I'm here in MA for some training, and I'll be here for two months. Boston is about a 40 minute drive from where I'm staying, so I plan to visit as often as possible to see as much as I can. It's a little challenging right now since everything is buried under 6 feet of snow.


This is my favorite meme right now!


One day I'm going to park in somebody's driveway and take pictures of the residential areas. It's insane. I saw an icicle that went from the top of a two story house to about a foot from the ground. No joke. That house is on a road where I can't stop and take a picture...


I know for the people who live here it's a big hassle, but for me it's more like "lookit all da snow!"
This is Quincy Market in the heart of downtown.
Pretty!
I have had chowda (clam chowder) almost every day. I've tried it at several different restaurants. It tastes different and wonderful every time! I got it in the bread bowl and seriously had an emotional moment over my soup today. This place also had lobster mac n cheese, but I was too full to try it. Next time...
In the seating area there were rotating musicians. This young lady was only 17 and pretty darn good. You can look her up on youtube if you are interested.
This family of musicians was really great, and fun to watch! They were hard to photograph because they moved so much while they were playing. The girl on the right was so animated!
Cheers! Not the real cheers, but close enough! (That's coffee in my hand - no drinking and driving!)
This outing was very brief because it started snowing. But the sun went down early enough to snap this pretty photo of Faneuil Hall. (Don't ask me how to pronounce that... I have no idea.)
Ok, so one week of my trip is now over. Seven more to go!

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Philly

So I'm in Massachussetts right now, but it was quite an adventure to get here. You may have heard, the Snow-pocalypse hit New England. Well, because of that I got stuck in Philadelphia for two days.
The first day I didn't leave the airport. The USO in the airport had rooms where you could stay overnight for free, and even had food all day, free wifi, showers, and everything. It was pretty cool!


But the second day I met a couple who was also stuck at the USO, heading to Boston. The wife had lived in Philly for awhile and they were going to leave the airport for the day. So I tagged along!
Cheesesteak. Oh.my.goodness. I've never cared for it. But I had never had it in Philly. I'm a convert! The photo above is Geno's but across the street was Pat's. We got steak at both and shared them to do taste testing. Apparently in the summer the customers stand out on the street and shout at each other over who's steak is better! Pat's was better. Like, lick the cheese off the paper better.


It was cold like I've never felt cold before. So our adventure out didn't last very long. We went very quickly through the "liberty" area. Liberty Hall was like the State Capitol building way back when. Or something like that. Anyway, here is where they signed the Declaration of Independence.

And here's the Liberty Bell. Which is broken because they had to use so many different kinds of metal to make it that it was fragile. But it was used to call the representatives to meetings and stuff. So it was special to them and they kept it.
See that man in the background on the left? That's Mike. Him and his wife Suzie were on their way back from their honeymoon in Aruba? Cancun? I forgot... somewhere VERY warm. They are super sweet and I'm glad to have met them!


So, that was my little Philadelphia excursion!

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!



I finished up another round of Wilton Cake Decorating classes and this was the cake I made at the end of the Fondant class to demonstrate the techniques we learned.


I'm travelling today, heading to America for a business trip. Since I had to leave on Valentine's Day this cake was Rob and the kids.



Inspiration cake was found on Pinterest.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Winter's Lane Quilt

This is another project I started more than a year ago and FINALLY finished this year. I made the quilt top in just a few hours, but then had the genius idea that I should hand quilt it! I don't know why I do these things to myself... But it turned out really pretty and I'm glad I did it.

Here's a closeup of the stitching. I used embriodery floss so it would really stand out.


Have you snuggled under a hand quilted quilt? They are just so much more comfy than machine quilted. If it didn't take me like a year to get one quilted I would probably hand quilt everything!

Fabric: Moda's Winter's Lane
Pattern: I just kind of made it up... I think I've seen a pattern like this before, but I can't remember a name. 

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Sewaholic Shirts

I got a few items of clothing made so far this year, but only have two of them photographed so far. 

Both of these tops are from Sewaholic Patterns

Renfrow Shirt

It was really cold outside, so my face is kind of funny in this photo! But the shirt is warm and snuggly. I used some ribbed knit from Fabric.com and it is very soft. This is my favorite knit shirt that I have made so far! I made a size 14 and it fits perfectly. I really like the long sleeves, but some people might think they are a little too long. I did alter the hem to have the curved shirt tail look. Oh my goodness, that hem seam is crazy! I really need a cover stitch machine for nice hems. I didn't have green thread on hand so I thought I could get away with white. Not with those crazy uneven stitches!


Granville Shirt

Next up is Granville, Sewaholic's newest release. I downloaded the PDF pattern almost the second she posted that it was available. You guys, this is a NICE shirt pattern! I made a size 14 with no alterations. I thought it might be a little snug around the waist, but it's not. I think I could have taken it in a little at the hips, but I really like the flair. It makes a nice shape on the sides!

The fabric on this one is a dot pattern from Robert Kaufman. Funny story - those dots started out white. I washed the fabric with a piece of black twill for some pants for Rob. Not a smart move. But the good news is that I like the fabric better with the muted dots. The bright white dots made me dizzy! So tradegy avoided, but just barely!