Wandering the Old City

 When my son was here, we wandered through Ciudad Vieja, the part of Montevideo that was settled first.  We started at Plaza Independencia, the location of General Artigas' mausoleum.  His ashes are in the big urn in the center of this picture.  Artigas is Uruguay's George Washington, except they exiled Artigas.

This is the remains of the gate leading into the old city.  It's the oldest structure in Montevideo.

As we were walking down the pedestrian way, we saw a string quartet playing Vivaldi.

 A picture of the cathedral in Plaza Matriz.

Just a neat doorway.

Which evidently was the entrance to the Smurfs hideout.

Spiffy old lamp by the port market.

View up the street from the port market.

One of the many parillas in the port market.

Same here.

Crazy January #2 - The Gingkos

This piece will be stretching me in two ways - it's pulled thread on canvas and it's got a cut out to add in later.  Both are things I've not done before.  The canvas means you have to pull really hard to get it to make a big hole.  I'll definitely get back to this soon.

Beading for Arlene

 Arlene's block was mailed out on Monday; here's a picture of how it was before I got it.  There's still one more person to embroider on it after me.

Here it is after my work.  I added a sheer flower spray that I added beads to, and three jewelry findings to the bottom right.  They just seemed to fit well there.  A few bead-bullion roses and another seam, and it was ready to send to Peggy.  I hope Arlene likes it when she gets it home.

Two Thirds

Two thirds of the way done with Baumchen in this picture.  Slowly it comes together.

New Year's Party

The embassy New Year's party was held a couple of blocks from our house, and we got to go on the roof to see the fireworks.  Not only were people at the party setting them off, so was everyone else.  There were fireworks in 360 degrees!  Breathtaking.  There was also a lot of silly string and noisemaking.  Thank you Florine and Saint for hosting the party!

Crazy January #1 - Wine a Little

Time to begin documenting my fifteen starts at the start of the year.  This I began on New Year's Day.  It's Wine a Little by Sue Hillis, and is fairly small.  I hope to put it into the rotation and finish it before the middle of the year.

Start to Finish in 2010

Finally, a picture of my completed Winter White!  I finished it before the end of 2010, so I did it all in less than a year.  Really fast stitching for me.  I liked stitching it, and I love the way it looks.  Now to get it framed...

Eight of Twelve

Finally, eight parts of twelve done on this.  Been a while since a picture.

Last of the Christmas Temari

This is the last of the temari I gave away at Christmas.  It's a double kiku in kyo-temari thread.  Simple design because well - I had a lot of temari to make!

Temari Treasure

 I have been a bit slack and busy, and so am just now working on my temari from Jean C.  She sent me this one back early last month, though.  Isn't it beautiful?  I love all the trefoils!  Thank you, Jean, and yours will be in the mail this week.

Secret Santa'd - Thank You Jillann

Santa reads my blog!  I got these beautiful Florimell skeins from my secret Santa in Friendly Stitchers.  Thank you so much, Jillann!  I'll definitely be using them very soon.

Temari Basket

I gathered all the temari I gave away for Christmas this year and got these pictures taken.  The amount looks impressive!

Beribboned

Betsy sent me ribbons last month!  They're a great collection of remnants that I can use in finishing and on my crazy quilting.  Look for ribbon in a project near here soon.  Thank you!

Pretty Purse

I received this beautiful purse from Betsy.  It's in colors I love and is the size I like to carry.  On top of that, it's cute!  I love the little dragons attached to the chains.  Thank you!

Handmade Paper

Isn't this paper pretty?  I got it at the pre-Christmas artisan's fair.  Not sure what I'll do with it yet, but I thought the marigold petals in it were so pretty!

Pandas and Penguins - More Montevideo Christmas

 A few pandas for Betsy from the mall's Christmas displays.  This one was outside Santa's area.  Penguins and camels and tigers, too!  They're already beginning to take down the display.  Bye bye holidays, hello Carnaval.

Sun Square Temari

 Yet another of the gift temaris, this one is a simple square design on a S4 marking.  I think, because of the thread and color choices, that it came out pretty well.

Getting to the Bottom Branches

You'd think that such a small ornament wouldn't take long to stitch, but it took a surprisingly long time to get this far.  It might be that every single square is stitched and there are a lot of color changes.  Anyway, I'm working on it still and I hope to have it done soon.

Ball for Braeden

 Braeden, a friend's five year old, came over to dinner one day last month and was fascinated by me making a temari.  He learned the difference between a needle and a pin, and how a temari was marked.  So, what could I do but foster his interest by making him his own temari?  His favorite color is red, so I made red the dominant color for embroidery. 

He enjoyed it when I gave it to him and used it in the original intent - throwing it across the yard and playing catch.  It was holding up surprisingly well.

Gift from Sussy

Sussy gave me this wonderful magazine.  It's Labores en Hogar, and is a Spanish language needlecraft magazine.  If you see a copy, grab it.  They're very, very rare here in Uruguay, and full of wonderful projects.  Thank you so much, Sussy!

Fire Damage

Last month our plans to see Harry Potter were foiled by a short in a popcorn machine.  The damage in the theater was so bad they closed it off and there was smoke on the mall's glass roof.  The cinema's on the top floor, and it happened the day before we got there.  No injuries or anything, but it's going to be a while until it's open again.  Maybe we'll be able to see Harry Potter at the other mall before it stops its run.