Wednesday 8 May 2013

Seven hours and fifty minutes

I think I am probably the last online quilter/crafter left, who has never actually met an online person in real life.

Not any more.

I met Leila (she was my partner in Pillow Talk Swap Round 10 on Flickr) and over the course of approximately seven hours and fifty minutes we walked, talked, ate, drank, took subways and buses as we took our own quilty chunk out of the Big Apple.

We met at the hotel I was staying at and a brisk 15 minute walk brought us to Kinokuniya Books - a Japanese book store.

The park is quite beautiful - I was back there a couple of days later for lunch - please can we have a Chop't in the UK...they are fab


They have a quilting/crafting section and I ended up buying a quilting block book because, despite it being in Japanese, the visual instructions were so good.



The book is, in my opinion, much, much better than 'Patchwork 163' which I know a lot of quilters covet. There are more blocks and with excellent step-by-step instructions and I just think it is an all round much better buy. I have both.

If you are interested, they have a website where you can buy this book and it is very reasonably priced

Then it was on to the subway, some panoramic walking...



...a spot of lunch, some more walking...



 and a bus until we reached Brooklyn General Store.



I particularly liked what I saw on the door.


The store was a lovely mix of fabric and yarn, with the yarn so inviting I was almost tempted to take up knitting again.


Liberty fabrics beautifully displayed.



And if you bought skeins of yarn, you could wind it on to balls as Leila did

.
I loved the whole look and feel of the store.



It had a lovely quirky, individual feel about it.


I would definitely recommend a visit.


The plan then was to get on a bus and go to a quilt exhibition.

Well we got on the bus bit but as we bumped along I spotted an Ikea and before we knew it, we were off the bus and buying the obligatory text fabric.

Documentary evidence.


Ikea very helpfully lay on a complimentary shuttle bus to a subway station so plans reworked, we took the bus, hopped on the subway and ended up here.




While The City Quilter is more utilitarian in appearance, it more than makes up for its choice and variety of all things quilty.


More than an ample choice.


With a side section devoted to a small quilt exhibition.

Incredible quilts.








After that, we fitted in a quick cuppa and cake and then it was time for Leila to get back on the train and make her long journey home.

I had such a lovely, lovely time.

Thank you Leila for making the long journey to meet up, for putting together such a great itinerary and for just being an all-round lovely person to share the day with.

I am sure we will meet again.

(Part Two to come with a visit to Purl Soho and some general hints and tips if you are visiting New York)






37 comments:

  1. How exciting! I loved reading this blog post. Your next trip needs to be to California so you and I can meet--I will travel anywhere in the state. :)

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  2. That was thrilling - felt like I was there with you! Your next visit needs to be Sussex etc! Well I'll let you go home first unless you and at Gatwick (a short hop away from me)

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  3. sounds like a great day

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  4. Oh I really really enjoyed this blog post! What a lovely day you had x

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  5. Well, shoot! If you make it all the way to Calif, you might as well come to Hawaii! Then you can see another Island!

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  6. Wow, lucky you to be in New York and to have such a great day.

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  7. It was a great day! What a fun blog post. I like the bit about "quilty chunk" particularly. Very apt. Thanks for meeting up with me and I can't wait for next time, whether it's this side of the Atlantic or that!

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  8. How fun! I love NYC. Too bad this "Leila" couldn't come too! :)
    BTW - your giveaway is the BEST! Pick Me, Pick Me! :)

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  9. I've just acquired some of the text fabric and it dyes beautifully too.

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  10. What a lovely day and AMAZING art quilts.

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  11. Oh my! Those quilts are fabulous. Glad you had fun

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  12. ohhhhhhh! What a fantastic day!!

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  13. New york, New yorkkkkkkkkkk.... (just singing the song) Jealous... MUCH.. ;)
    Beautiful quilts. Looking forward to the next installment.

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  14. I have never met a virtual quilter in real life...yet! Really jealous of your walk round New York and those giant pixel art quilts are amazing. I couldn't even START to make one, can you imagine the workspace you'd need to work on them?

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  15. ahh you never wree the only one not having met a bloging friend in real life ... sounds like you had a fantastic time ...

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  16. Such a lovely post - really loved reading it and miss NYC! Lucky you.
    Tx

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  17. Wow! Your day leaves me speechless and slightly envious.

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  18. Fantastic post, I haven't met any fellow quilters either, what fun.

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  19. What a fabulous quilty marathon of a day!

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  20. Um, jealous on so many levels!

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  21. It sound wonderful. I have never met anyone from online yet but one day I hope to have such a great time as you did.

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  22. How fun! I have never met an online person in real life either, I'm terribly shy in real life.

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  23. Great post!
    And great to meet a fellow quilter/blogger.
    Great shops too.
    I'm looking forward to your next post!

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  24. Such fun - and all that camera-dodging too - I salute you x

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  25. What an amazing time you are having. I am going to NY next year so will take note of those places. Will look forward to the next instalment!

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  26. I am so blown away by the pictures of the quilts from THE CITY QUILTER. I can't imagine the hours of time put into making just one of those quilts. How wonderful that you had opportunity to see them in person. Just started reading your blog and am delighted to find you on the web. Thanks for the tips on places to visit in NYC.

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  27. Yay! So glad you had a lovely time and finally got some quilty interaction, it is the best, isn't it??

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  28. Yay! So glad you had a lovely time and finally got some quilty interaction, it is the best, isn't it??

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  29. Love the pictures from The CIty Quilter and what a wonderful trip to make and to meet a fellow blogger!

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  30. Wow, lucky you - what a fantastic day! Those quilts displayed at City Quilter are out of this world!

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  31. Neat! That looks like a fun, magical day :-D

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  32. Great post! I want a LQS like the one in the pictures. Actually I just want a LQS

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  33. Wow! What a great time you had! Those "portrait" quilts are amazing!

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  35. I had to read that last bit three times to visualise how these amazing mosaic quilts were made. The squares must be only half inch once complete. Quite stunning work. What a fantastic day you had.

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