purl soho « make something

Saturday morning of our trip to New York, we headed over to Freeman’s Restaurant. The restaurant is located at the end of an alley and it’s one of the most charming places I’ve been to in a long time. There were all kinds of wonderful taxidermy hanging from the wall, including a flying goose and even a bee’s nest. I noticed they had cinnamon lemonade on the menu and had to order it. It was so delicious and unexpected. In fact, right now our house smells like cinnamon because I’m making some cinnamon simple syrup to recreate this delicious drink. I’ll be buying lots of lemons this summer. Our brunch was great, so great in fact that we decided to head back their the next day for brunch with my former boss, Margaret. We got to try even more things off their menu and I enjoyed a few more glasses of cinnamon lemonade.

Our downtown travels also took us to Babycakes who make wheat, gluten, dairy, egg and soy-free baked goods. A cupcake never felt so healthy and it tasted great.

I also love to stop by The Market on Mulberry on the weekend. I always discover something new there. This time it was Fine & Raw chocolate. I loved their packaging and picked up a stack of chocolate bars for gifts.

We stopped by Purl Soho to visit their tiny Sullivan Street location for the last time. They are moving to big and fancy digs on Broome Street in April. I’m excited to see what it will be like.

Soho

BDDW
212.625.1230
5 Crosby Street
They don’t allow photos in the shop, but this is some of the finest furniture craftsmanship that I’ve ever seen. It’s an old favourite and I always feel so inspired from being in their space.

Dunderdon
212.226.4040
25 Howard Street
Men’s and women’s clothing shop from Sweden. I hadn’t been in this shop before and I loved their aesthetic.

Opening Ceremony
212.219.2688
35 Howard Street
I’ve known them since they first opened and it’s amazing to see how the shop has grown. Filled to the brim with all kinds of design.

Lower East Side

Freemans
212.420.0012
End of Freemans Alley, Rivington between The Bowery and Chrystie
Next time I want to go for dinner. If I lived in New York, I fear I would never want to eat anywhere else.

Freemans Sporting Club
212.673.3209
8 Rivington, East Store Front
An extension of Freeman’s Restaurant, all their clothing is made in Brooklyn. There is a barber shop in the back when guys get a traditional shave!

Save Khaki
212.614.7283
254 Broome Street
Great casual men’s clothing.

Baby Cakes
212.677.5047
248 Broome Street
Delicious vegan bakery. Truly.

Kaight
212.680.5630
83 Orchard Street
A shop for the ladies. I bought the most incredible lip balms here.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Trimmed Quilt Block, originally uploaded by the workroom.

My quilt top is now completely pieced together. I can hardly believe it. Since this is my first quilt, I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself to make it absolutely perfect. This personal pressure definitely accounts for the fact that it took me 5+ years to collect all the ‘right’ fabrics for it.

You’ve already met Lorelei (the centre piece blue floral), now you can meet all the other fabrics. The fabrics that started it all and set the tone for the colour palette are the first three from right to left. These fabrics were designed by my dear friend Angela for a bedding line that didn’t end up going into production. I snatched up all the sheet samples after the market show was over. The fabrics are yarn dyed, meaning that the yarns were dyed beforehand and then woven together. That stripe is not printed, it’s woven. Even the two solids have multiple coloured threads woven in which really adds another dimension. Besides being designed by a close friend, this fabric doesn’t exist anywhere else, except for in this quilt. How cool is that?

The dark brown fabric was a purchase from the legendary Purl Soho. It’s hard to see, but there is a very subtle cross stitch print with the alphabet going through it.

The last fabric is from the My Folklore collection by Lecien. I found this fabric in the very first order I received for the shop. It was last summer when the boxes of fabric arrived at my house. (I hadn’t even secured a space yet) I couldn’t resist opening up the packages and checking out the fabrics I had chosen. It was even better than Christmas. When I saw that brown floral on blue, I ran to my room and got out my bag of collected quilt fabrics. Yes! This was the final fabric I had been waiting for.

Stay tuned for a look at all the blocks together.

p.s. I had key lime pie for breakfast today. I thought somebody should know that.