June 2, 2012 Day 19

Today, I  attended an event with both anticipation and anxiety- a meeting of the New York Modern Guild.  Anxiety because of my shyness around large groups of new people (I have at times spent 20 minutes in a restroom to avoid mingling in a large group of strangers). Anticipation because it is always fun to talk to quilters.

The meeting was held at the loft of Victoria Findlay Wolf, the president (Her blog is bumblebeans.blogspot, and is quite interesting), in the Garment District.  It was just like I expected- a full floor in an old 9 story building. The elevator takes you to her front hallway.  Both Victoria and her husband are in the art world, so the loft is filled with very large paintings (the kind I see in museums and wonder who has a wall large enough for a painting that is 5 feet  by 5 feet).   And lots of light- with two walls full of windows. The main room is at least 50 feet by 40 feet.

The group was about 47 women and 3 men.  I met many interesting women.  Two have written books- Anita Grossman Solomon and Rayna Gillman.  I have Rayna's book, Create Your Own Free Form Quilts- but, of course, did not know she would be there to have her sign it.  Her web site is Studio78.net-full of samples of her work.  Anita's website is makeitsimpler.com. I also met a woman who grew up near Albert Lea, and hope to lunch with her soon.

As with any quilt group, there was lots of show and tell. See below.

This quilt was made by her great grandmother in 1890.  She was born a slave.  A wonderful crazy quilt.

 This man (whose name I don't remember) made this quilt for his grandchild.

This quilt won a blue ribbon at a quilt show.  Her cabin is called Ramshead.

This is her second quilt.

 

This is Anita.  I plan to try this technique.  It is basically a huge  hourglass block.  The back of the quilt uses the remaining pieces.

This quilt uses a technique Anita developed to make square in a square quickly and accurately.

Victoria is at the edge of this picture.  This quilt top sizzles with color. The technique is simple- long strips. 

I had a great time. Plus there was free fabric (strips 2 to 5" wide)- since I brought only fabric I had cut out at home for projects to sew here, that was a special bonus.  I now have scraps! Unfortunately, the group does not meet in the summer, and meets alternate months the rest of the year- so I will be able to attend only one more meeting- in October.

After the meeting, I walked 10 blocks to the City Quilter- the only quilt shop on Manhattan. I recommend the shop to any quilter coming to NYC. They have everything.  I needed three Kona's to complete the blocks for a quilt I am sewing.

Lunch and then home for an evening of sewing. 

A few comments on living here- although I love the liberation of not having car, the trade off is that it takes 45 minutes to an hour to get to an event. Our subway stop is a 15-minute walk (it is possible to take a bus to the stop, but we usually walk).  Then there is usually a walk at the other end to get to wherever you are going.  Fine for retired people who have lots of time.  Good to have time to read during the ride. Must be stressful for employed people to spend a lot of time travelling. The subways are clean and air-conditioned.  We can get a monthly unlimited pass for $105- a single trip is $2.25, so it is a real bargain when we are taking at least 2 trips every day. The subways travel primarily north-south, so if you wish to go east-west, it requires a walk or bus ride.  The buses are fine, but often get slowed down by traffic.

Sally
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While Sally went to her quilt event I went to the Ed Sullivan Theater to try to get tickets to the Late Show with David Letterman. They opened applications for tickets at 10 in the morning. I filled out a form that put us into a lottery for tickets. We may get a call the day before the show if we get tickets. It could happen any time in June. Then I walked over to the theater where they do the Daily Show. I was three blocks west of the Ed Sullivan Theater, but that was about a half mile. Anyway, it is a shuttered building, which I assume opens up when they do the show. I realized I was two blocks from the Hudson, so I walked over there. There is a really nice park running along the Hudson. I walked up to Trump place at 70th and then headed home. On the way, I went into a super huge Traders Joe. I thought of buying some things, but there were about 50 people in the check out line, so I passed. I then walked across Central Park, one of my favorite things to do. Interesting things and people to see.

At second avenue, there was a street festival.  Street festivals here seem to be shutting the street for several blocks and setting up booths for people to sell food and things.  No entertainment.  Not that exciting.  So I went home.  I think I walked about 5 miles, but I took my time and had a good time.

After I got home, I needed to go to Target to get some things, so I got my bike out and rode up.  It is only about two miles and a pleasant ride along the East River.  So it was my day for both rivers.

Saturday night, we stayed home and rested.

Al

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Al didn't mention that he got us tickets for the Daily Show on June 28.  They give out more tickets than they have seats- meaning that we will need to arrive at least 2 hours before the show to line up for our seats.  I am quite excited about this event.
Sally