I have been traveling a lot lately. I recently spent 3 days with the Shawnee Quilters in Carbondale, IL, teaching both Repliqué and Beginning Fiber Art. The students were delightful and, since I did a lecture for their guild meeting on the third day of my visit, they were able to bring their workshop projects for show & tell.
Great job ladies!!! Thanks for a lovely time!
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In May I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a week in New York City with my cousins. Deb, Cindy and I had a spectacular time touring the Big Apple, taking in two Broadway shows, and indulging in delicious meals – all interspersed with lots of giggles. We had an amazing view from our hotel room – 35 floors above Times Square.
We did a 2 ½ hour guided bike tour through Central Park with Tony,
and walked or took the subway all over Manhattan. We even walked across the Brooklyn Bridge!
Cindy, Deb and I enjoyed our ferry ride with a tour of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Our guide Zach made it especially fun.
He did a great job of sharing a lot of history and fascinating information about these two amazing places, plus he spiced it up with his “Zach facts” 😀 ! They weren’t necessarily true, but they kept us smiling (note his flag in the picture above). Here he is next to an actual size replica of the Statue’s foot in the pedestal museum beneath Lady Liberty.
During the rest stop on the tour I showed Zach pictures of my “How Beautiful – Liberty” quilt (click here to see a post about that quilt).
This got me to talking about the tours I’ve led and how Wendy and I have a mascot who often finds herself atop flags so we can keep track of our guides, like when Rudy and Quiltina led us through Siena, Italy.
Zach jokingly mentioned he’d love a personal flag that announced his “Zach Facts”, and when I got home I decided it would be fun to make him one to wave along with his orange “company” flag. He emailed me the “head shot” he wanted me to use, I transferred it to white fabric – along with the words, added the Statue fabric to the back and did a bit of fun quilting. Here are the results – front and back:
And this was his response via email:
“Hey Chris, I just received your quilt and card in the mail today and I want you to know how honored I am. It really made my day. Even the back side of it is beautiful. Loved the card as well. Can’t wait to proudly wave that flag. I am truly thankful.”
That made it so worthwhile. Isn’t it interesting how quilters can find a way to bring quilting into all aspects of life (LOL)?