This week’s post is filled with more travel fun! Last week I was teaching in Pella, IA and Madison, WI and this week I’m writing to you from Manhattan! Thanks to my dear friend, Maggi, who moved from Wisconsin to New York, I was invited to share my Mariner’s Compass techniques with the Empire Quilters!
I flew in on Friday morning and took a taxi to my hotel in Chelsea only to discover that my room wasn’t quite ready. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, so I headed to the High Line. My friend, Chiyoko, had recommended it and it was only a few blocks away. It’s an old elevated rail line that has been converted into a garden walkway with trees and plants (growing amongst the rails),
interesting art,
and fascinating views (like this one of the Statue of Liberty).
From there I walked to the City Quilter – a wonderful quilt shop a block from the hotel! And I just had to buy a few yards of New York fabric :-):
After lunch at a typical New York deli, I found my way to FIT – the Fashion Institute of Technology. In their beautiful gallery space they had an exhibit called Retro Spective. It included fashions from many different decades and “explored fashion’s relationships with it’s own history”. Being that I’m also I garment sewer, I found it fascinating.
By then my room was ready – on the 24th floor – and this was the veiw:
What a blessing, and I’d only been here a few hours! Once I got situated I hopped on a subway and headed “uptown” to visit with Maggi. We had a great time of tea and conversation.
The next morning I rolled my bag of quilts about 4 blocks to a lovely old church where the guild meeting was being held. The quilters began arriving as I prepared my quilts.
What a lovely group! I shared my Mariner’s Compass quilts along with their stories and even did my “I can draft a compass in under 5 minutes” demonstration.
Today was a Mariner’s Compass workshop. Another fun day with wonderful quilters. The group shot from class was too fuzzy to post :-(, but I do have a picture of my new friend Mary. We have gotten to know each other over 3 delicious dinners and she has graciously shown me around the city. Thanks Mary!
I gave myself an extra day here and have some wonderful plans for tomorrow, but that will have to wait for next week’s post. I do however have one more thing I’d like to share. If you’re interested in taking my “Mariner’s Compass” class, or the free motion quilting class I call “Beyond Meandering”, I will be offering both next month at the AQS quilt show in Des Moines, IA (another great travel adventure to look forward to :-)).
It promises to be a delightful show and you can get all the information, as well as register on their site at: http://aqsshows.com/AQSDesMoines/.
I’d like to close with one last New York picture – the view out my window right now! The Empire State Building is lit up so beautifully at night!
Praise the Lord!
marla Morris-Kennedy says
Chris,
This blog is so timely for me. I’m going to NYC on Sept. 24th. I’m going to check out the High Line and that quilt shop. By the way, what hotel did you stay at? I have a reservation but I’m still looking around for a better deal(that could be in vain).
Marla
Pat and Bob Gilane says
Loved all your pictures and posts. Bob knew you would like the evening view out your room window. He just told me you should be a reporter on all things quilting and your news paper could be called “Stitch in the Ditch” by Chris Kirsch. Or I might add, Our roving beloved quilting instructor. Take care and be safe.
Barb says
Thank you Chris for your stories. They are so rich – full of life!
Just a little note of class feedback. I was a student in your free motion class in Paducah this season and continue to challenge the love of free motion. My quilt buddies think I have a screw loose but there I am again. At the machine. These quilts are still for charity because I haven’t passed “quality control” yet.
Thank you for posting how to put the quilt together as my husband and I just finished doing this together. We had a few laughs as be began but soon the safety pins came out and all was well.
I look forward to keeping in touch through your blog.