New York!

Well I'm back from NYC! And what an amazing city it is! We had a wonderful time and I was really upset to leave. I'm usually always pleased to get back to Edinburgh, but not this time.
I managed to just about fit everything in that I planned. All the usual stuff, Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, 5th Avenue, Ellis Island... all fascinating and awe inspiring. And I loved riding the subway!
I did manage to make time to go to the Purl Patchwork shop in Soho. They have a fabric shop and a 'yarn' shop (called just Purl Soho) just a few doors away. I didn't dare go into the wool shop as I had spent so much money on fabric! Above are some of the beautiful fabrics.
And here is some sashiko thread and needles - look at the size of the needles! I will be using these for the quilt I started a few weeks back.

Here are some beautiful goodies from the best shop in Manhattan (in my opinion) 'Anthropologie'. I was actually I wee bit disappointed with the shops as there was so much expensive designer stuff (which does nothing for me) all of which you could buy here. But then having my own shop means it takes quite a lot to impress me! Anthroplogie was an eclectic mix of gifts, homewares and really lovely and unusual clothes. I couldn't afford any of those but bought this little selection of 2 adorable xmas decorations, gorgeous mug and retro childrens book about New York. The illustrations, by M Sasek, were the inspiration behind the Saks Fifth Avenue Xmas windows. I loved looking at all the big store windows, Saks' were probably the most imaginative but I preferred Bergdorf Goodman - Alice in Wonderland inspired and very 'handmade'.
Here is the shop window of Purl Patchwork. Inside, I kept recognising things made for the 'Last minute patchwork and quilted gifts' book, such as the colour wheel quilt and the tote bag. This is a great book written by the owner of the Purl shops. I will be trying out some of the ideas over the next few weeks as I attempt (finally) to get on with some handmade Xmas presents. Take a look at the Purl Website
You can see the colour wheel quilt hanging at the back of the shop in this shot. And all the lovely fabrics. The step ladders are needed to get to the top shelf but there isn't really enough room for customers, staff and step ladders!

They only open at 12, I got there at half past and the door never stopped opening. The poor staff did seem slightly harassed though very friendly and helpful. They had a great way of cutting the fabrics on the cutting mat - piling them on top of each other and then slicing through them with a rotary cutter.
Well now I am back to reality with a bump, but at least I have the wonderful memories and all the lovely fabric to play with!