Fiberly Train to Santa Fe, Morning Walks

I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with all the women on the getaway, but some of the most special times on my trip were my morning walks in town. When I'm home, I walk every morning before work so I decided to continue the practice. I'm so glad I did! The Plaza gets pretty crowded with tourists during the day, so it's interesting so see the sights when hardly anyone is around.

Technically, these pictures aren't the best quality but I hope they give you an idea of what I saw in the early morning quiet. I looked at lots of store windows...

Uli

Uli

Parts Unknown

Ortega's

Ortega's

I remember the store but not the name

Don't remember this one either

Maverick's of Santa Fe

Maverick's of Santa Fe

Cicada

Lucchese

And also saw lots of restaurants that I'd like to try sometime, as well as ideas of where we could go...

Taberna

El Meson

Osteria D'Assisi

The Palace

Ore House

Blue Corn Cafe

San Francisco Street Bar & Grill

Statues and architectural salvage:

The Burro Alley burro

On the Portal by Cicada

Seret and Sons

I will definitely keep up this habit on future visits. I did so much looking that I'm not sure if I got very much exercise, but it was a great way to explore.

Fiberly Train to Santa Fe, A Special Shopping Experience

One of the most special parts of the recent Fiberly Train weekend in Santa Fe was visiting Santa Fe Dry Goods and its sister store, Workshop (several times). The staff could not have been nicer, and was so willing to  show their merchandise to us even though we were unlikely to buy anything. What an excellent opportunity to examine high end ready-to-wear up close and in detail! I didn't take any shots inside, but here are some outside shots of the stores and the windows.

If you're a sewist, you probably know how fun it was to examine these garments up close and touch the fabrics. Most were natural fibers but there were some made of polyester, too. Each has its place.

There were several items I was inspired by, including Rundholz (T Shirt), Etro (several pieces),  Avant Toi (cardigan), Sophie Wang (techniques), Isabel Benenato (techniques) and Issey Miyake (pants and a top). I'm planning on incorporating some of the looks and techniques I saw into some future garments.

Fiberly Train to Santa Fe, Part Two

There is more in Santa Fe than shopping, eating and drinking. Unfortunately, Ann had to leave Sunday morning, but the rest of us pressed forward with sightseeing.

The Cathedral is right next to La Fonda, and many of us stopped by during the weekend:

The Cathedral was built in the 1900s under Archbishop Lamy, whose life was the basis of the novel Death Comes for the Archbishop. It's quite ornate inside and still an active place of worship and a parish, unlike many of the other historic church buildings in Santa Fe.

This statue of St. Francis (patron saint of Santa Fe) is on the less public side of the Cathedral, on the right:

This statue of La Conquistadora is nearby:

Santa Fe is an art center, and you can find many galleries and sculptures throughout the city. I found this one near the Cathedral. Look at that dragon! It wraps around the building.

The museum of the Institute of American Indian Arts is also located nearby. This is a view of the sculpture garden from the street:

This beautiful lady was found in a nearby courtyard of the museum:

Patti and I visited the New Mexico Museum of Art and found Liana and Jan there:

Jan

Liana

The entrance to the galleries goes through a courtyard with frescoes of Native American life.

Afterward, we visited the New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors.  We were fortunate to have an excellent docent on our guided tour of the Palace, which dates back to early Spanish colonial times. She was an excellent presenter and really made the history come alive as she walked us through the exhibits.

Several people went to Canyon Road with its concentration of art galleries. Here are Margy and Sharon as they explored.

Margy

Sharon

Before our last dinner together at the Blue Corn Cafe, we met at Sharon and Margy's room for show and tell.

Margy and me enjoying the fireplace. Nice!

Jan, Liana,  Patti (partially hidden), and Margy comparing purchases

Admiring Margy's new jacket from Babette

Been there, bought the T-shirts!

Jan,  Liana, and Sharon admiring some new earrings 

Jan sharing her purchases

All too soon, we departed on Monday to our homes. It was a wonderful weekend with old and new friends. I'm so glad all of you had a chance to visit my state and share such a special time together.

Fiberly Train to Santa Fe, Part One

If you read Facebook, you probably already know that I was in Santa Fe last weekend with several wonderful women (and my DH, who joined us for some of our activities). Some I already knew in real life, others I felt like I knew from the world of blogging.

The first to arrive was Sharon (or shams as she is known on her blog, Communing with Fabric). She arrived on Wednesday due to a scheduling glitch and spent the night at Casa DaQ. What a delight to finally meet her in person! I took her to the airport on Thursday so she could meet her roommate (Margy of A Fool for Fabric) and arrange for their rental car. But of course, we had to fabric shop first! We stopped by Nob Hill Fabrics and found some wonderful fabrics.

I'll leave it to Sharon to post her finds, but here are mine:

On the left, devore silk chiffon. On the right, a colorful linen print.

The historical La Fonda on the Plaza was our hotel for the weekend. I'm happy to report that the recent renovations have not spoiled its charm. The rooms are are still lovely, but upgraded. The most obvious changes were the new bathrooms, closet space, and carpet. The concierge told me that the rooms were taken back to the studs during renovations; you would never know. My room was on the 5th floor with a view of the Loretto Chapel next door:

Loretto Chapel

Once we got settled in, we headed over to Santa Fe Fabrics (twice!) for more fabric shopping. It's a smallish store but has a wonderful selection of fabric. Here I am with Liana of the Sew Intriguing blog, working out one of the store's samples:

I picked out a couple more selections while there:

On the left, a soft cotton print. On the right, fleece

Our group arrived at various times. Sharon, Margy, Liana,  Jan (no blog), and I arrived on Thursday. Patti (no blog), Ann (owner of Gorgeous Fabrics and its blog), and DH arrived on Friday. We window shopped around the Plaza and had a late lunch at the Thunderbird Grill. It's located on the second floor of its building with a great view of the Plaza and the Cathedral:

A view of the Plaza from the Thunderbird's balcony

That evening, off to the Coyote Cafe. Very fancy!

Saturday, we were mostly on our own. More shopping and dining. Back to Santa Fe Fabrics, with a detour to the Outlet Mall with Liana and Jan.  And lunch at Osteria d'Assisi for a delicious Italian repast:

From left: Liana, Sharon, Ann, Margy, me, and Jan 

In the evening, we visited the Cantina at La Casa Sena for a delicious dinner and entertainment. The staff performs Broadway show tunes in between waiting tables. What fun! We headed back to the hotel to hang out at the La Fiesta Lounge, its venerable bar. We spent the rest of the evening chatting and enjoying each other's company.

Sisters from Different Mothers: me. Liana, Patti, Ann, Sharon, Margy, and Jan

Ann, Sharon, Margy, and Jan

Me and Liana

What a special time for all of us.

And that takes us through Saturday, but I'll post more on the rest of the weekend later.