Getting Caught Up

 Hello Everyone,

This is the final installment of my trip to Marcus Fabrics in NYC.  

The offices of Timeless Treasures and Marcus Fabrics occupy the entire 4th floor of this beautiful older building.

When you step off the elevator, you enter the reception area and are greeted by a beautiful quilt....of course!

This is the room where we held our meeting to discuss my future lines of fabric. Notice I said LINES of fabric.

I spy with my eye.....the sales literature for Bridle Path.

After our meeting, we had the opportunity to meet the entire Marcus Staff.  It was great putting a face to the name of the ladies who I've been talking with on the phone.  They were all so pleasant, and just as nice as they could be.

We then walked back to our hotel, changed clothes and set off for our hop-on hop-off open air bus tour of Manhattan.  We hopped off the bus so we could walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Ominous storm clouds were gathering and then the thunder and lightning started along with torrential rain.  The middle of the Brooklyn Bridge is not the best place to be during a thunderstorm!

We quickly looked like two drowned rats.

We hopped back on the open-air bus during the storm and continued our trip through Manhattan including Hell's Kitchen, the theater district, and Times Square.  The little red ball in the center of the picture is the ball which drops during the celebration on New Year's Eve.  I couldn't begin to imagine being crammed together like a sardine at New Year's in Times Square!

We got back to our hotel and quickly got ready for dinner with these wonderful 'Ladies of Marcus'.  I had the pleasure of having an interesting conversation with the head graphic artist who I'll be working with closely on my next line.  After meeting everyone, I just want to do more and more for the company and create, create, and create!

In the morning on Thursday, we walked to Katz's deli for a lox and bagel breakfast.  We bought one of their famous pastrami sandwiches to take with us to the airport to snack on before boarding.

This was the location of the infamous scene from Where Harry Met Sally.

We had a fabulous time in NYC.  We crammed as much as we could in the four days we were there. We walked over 30 miles....I would be thin if I lived in Manhattan!  

Many, many thanks to the Marcus Fabric family for this incredible experience.  We made memories to last a lifetime.

Soon,

Lynn

NYC Day 3

 Hello Everyone,

The travelogue continues for day three of my trip to NYC.  

Gail and I put on our walking shoes and headed from the hotel for our walk down Broadway to the Battery to meet our tour guide in front of Castle Clinton.

Along our way we passed the famous Trinity Church.  

We also passed the Bull by Wall Street.

Then we boarded the ferry for a short ride to the Statue of Liberty.

The Manhattan skyline is quite impressive along with the fluffy white clouds.

This picture speaks volumes to me.

This lovely quilt is hanging in the museum on the island.

Another short ferry ride took us over to Ellis Island.

Millions of immigrants were processed through this facility.  I wish I'd taken a picture of the many, many radiators lining the walls of this building.  I can just picture the tired, hungry and poor huddled around the radiators after they long voyage.

We sat for a moment at a picnic table while our guide gave us a short history of the island.  This is one of my favorite pictures which I took on our trip.  This statue was so touching.

The Manhattan skyline from the island.

After our very impressive and informative day, we walked backed to the hotel after a stop at Starbucks for a Frappuccino, changed our clothes and headed to the restaurant to have dinner with the VIPs from Marcus Fabrics, Pati and Kristin.  From left to right we have Carrie and Katie, the dynamic mother daughter duo from Pieceful Gathering Quilt Shop. Pati and Kristin. Then yours truly and Dolores Smith from Timeworn Toolbox, the designer of the Front Porch fabric I showcased yesterday. 

What an inspirational day we had while logging over 20,000 steps!  Our day was filled with a huge dose of patriotism and history.  

Prior to our trip, my friend suggested I read the novel New York by Edward Rutherfurd.  It is a fascinating book about the history of New York beginning with the arrival of the Dutch.  Some of the things we saw such as Trinity Church are mentioned in the book.  It's a long and enjoyable read. 

After reliving all of our activities last week, I now realize why I'm dragging my feet and feeling so tired this week! Maybe it has something to do with those 33 miles we walked!

Soon,

Lynn

A New Country Sunshine

 Hello Everyone,

I'm diverting from my NYC travelogue to show you what I've been up to since I've been home.

When I was in New York, I had the pleasure of meeting Dolores Smith from Timeworn Toolbox Designs.  Dolores is so sweet and fun to be with. I LOVE her new fabric line called Front Porch. 

When I first saw the fabrics and loved their muted elegance, I thought they would work beautifully in my Country Sunshine design. I downloaded the jpegs and imported them into EQ8 software.  I played around with fabric placement and decided on this combination of color.

I think Front Porch and Country Sunshine were a match made in heaven.  Dolores's line will be available in shops in July.  I'm going to do a bit of re-writing on the pattern and include the fabric requirements for this version using Front Porch.

I'm slowly getting back into the swing of daily life again after our whirlwind trip.  I received the update from my Fitbit and I walked 33 miles last week!  I'm not keeping up with my 15,000 to 20,000 steps a day, but I did start water aerobics this week.  Every morning I'm in the pool at 8:30am.  I have goosebumps on my goosebumps because it has been so cool in the morning......46 degrees to be exact.  It isn't bad in the water, but it's miserable getting out!

I'm going to submerse myself in my quilting room today after I get out of the pool.  I have so many fun projects in the works just begging to be finished.

Soon,

Lynn

NYC Day Two

 Hello Everyone,

This post is picture heavy to illustrate one very full day of touristy activities in NYC.  We started our day by walking to Saint Paul's church to meet our tour guide of the 911 memorial and grounds.  Saint Paul's church survived the destruction even though it was extremely close to the Twin Towers.

The old and the new.

The two reflecting ponds are the exact footprint of the towers.  The ponds reflect the absence of the souls lost in the attack and are so powerful and moving.

A white rose is placed each morning on the names of those who should be celebrating their birthday.

This is inside the Three World Financial Center.

I see a quilt pattern here.

This display is called Eleven Tears and was commissioned by American Express.  Their company lost 11 employees. A huge crystal is suspended above the pool of water and 11 drops of water.....tears...travel down metal cables creating a ripple in the pond.

The names of the 11 employees surround the pond and there's a brief description of each person.

Our tour included a trip to the top of the One World Trade Center building.  We were so fortunate the smoke from the fires in Canada had cleared before our arrival.

We could see the Statue of Liberty from the building.  

We could also see the Brooklyn Bridge. It probably took us a half hour to get out of the World One Center.  We kept getting lost even though we asked for directions.

The 911 memorial was so somber and reverent.

This is the Survival Staircase as many evacuees used this staircase to flee the devastation.

We saw many examples of twisted metal throughout the displays such as this firetruck.

I loved this display and the quote.  This display depicts the color of the sky on the morning of the 911 attack.  There are 2,983 watercolors each with a unique shade of blue.

After our 4-hour tour we were mentally and physically exhausted.  We headed to O'hara's bar and restaurant which is located next to the closest fire station to 911.

Many firefighters have left their patches to be placed on the interior walls.

This is a copper plaque on the side of the firehouse.

Our next stop was an Uber ride to the Empire State Building.

It was overcast, but it didn't hamper our views.

And here we are at the top of the Empire State Building.  It was a sunset tour of the building, but I didn't take any pictures as the city lights started to turn on...my bad.

What a long, inspirational, and memorable day we had!  We took an Uber back to our hotel reflecting on our day filled with sights, sounds, imagery and a huge dose of patriotism. My sister, Gail, set up all of the tours in advance which is something you need to do to really learn about the area.  

It's been fun for me to relive our time in NYC while everything is still very fresh in my mind.  Tomorrow you'll see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Soon,

Lynn