Visiting Gotham Quilts

Our Florida winter is over. We left last Friday and headed back to our New Jersey home, and I couldn’t be more delighted, even though I woke up to snow on my lawn yesterday. What did I do on my first day back? Why, I went into NYC and visited Gotham Quilts, of course!

I had big plans of making a really nice video of my journey into the city, so you can see why I don’t do it more often. The idea wasn’t all that appealing at 0-dark-30, so I skipped it. Let’s just say it is a long and winding road, with literal winding roads, hills, highways, traffic jams, a train ride, then a walk through the city. For those of you who think NYC is a glorious adventure, bless you. I think it’s a noisy cesspool. (Can you tell I grew up in Connecticut?) But Gotham Quilts is definitely worth it. Plus, I practically get a contact high from all of the pot being smoked on the street, so it’s fun, too.

I did shoot a video once I was safely locked in the shop, alone. Seriously, my favorite part of working with Gotham is that I HAVE MY OWN SET OF KEYS. I can go in literally whenever I want and pet all of the fabric by myself. No competition from other customers.

I spent the day enjoying myself, and working with my friends. I did a very minimal amount of customer interactions. I’m always happy to push fabric, but I don’t do much of it. My first task of the day was to finish my Lorelei pillow. I had some embroidery to finish, then I assembled the pillow. Isn’t it gorgeous! I love this color way so much. It’s called Jewel, and kits are available. (You can read more about Lorelei here.)

Andrea broke out the stash of bolt ends, and I helped sort them into scrap bags (for sale online, while supplies last!) 12 of them are all yarn-dyed wovens! I also put together Snippet bags, but they aren’t sold online. They are the same stuff- bolt ends and scraps, but sorted into pleasing little collections. Our customers snap them up, and it’s a fun job.

I also took photos of my curated bundles of woven fabrics – perfect for anyone struggling to find my favorite textures at their local quilt shop. I was delighted that I had two kawandi samples with me that used some fabrics from each bundle. Can I confess that I’ve wanted to have my own Curated Bundle for years? It sounds so fancy. Now I know I’ve made it.

Oh, and I made a special guest appearance on Tuesdays In The Shop! Ivete called me a Guest Star. I was delighted to play, although I made an unwise decision at lunch time and had noodle soup, which was all over my shirt, so I didn’t do much on-camera time. Note – dry foods only when videos might be happening. Here is a photo of my favorite wiener-lovin’ shop owner, responding to my harassment as she tries to get the video stream going. (That “It will quilt out” sticker makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.)

I hope you get to spend some time having fun this weekend! I’ll be continuing to settle back into my space. I’m planning to do a studio tour next week to celebrate being back. I think my studio here is almost as big as my whole condo in Florida.