Exploring Brooklyn, NYC

After our NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild meeting back at the start of April, a group of us headed down into Brooklyn to see the Quilters' Guild of Brooklyn Quilt Exhibition at the Marriott Hotel at Brooklyn Bridge.

I didn't bring my camera so I've just got some pppp (pretty poor phone photos) to share but hopefully, they'll still inspire.  Here's just a snapshot of the exhibition which is heavily biased towards my more modern tastes and also to people I'm friends with ;D

 



Now for my friends' quilts:

Bernadette Forward - who blogs over at New Quilts On The Block

Robin Strauss

Above and below quilts by Christine Janove, who taught me to quilt (read about my very first quilt here) and to whom I'll always be immensely grateful x

Here're my friend and ex LQS staffer, Robin Strauss (you saw her Global Rising quilt above), teaching a Dresden Plate class that we just had to take part in - Robin you were wonderful, hope our heckling didn't put you off ;D

Now that we'd made the trip out to Brooklyn two of us decided to take the opportunity and explore further so we went in search of the Brooklyn General Store.

What a find, you can see from the pics that it's a little gem (as always I asked permission to take photos).

A range of all fabric types and weights, yarns, notions, books and they do classes too - I won't list all the brands, you can check them out on the website - strangely their Facebook page is a personal page and not a business page and I'm not up for 'friending' a business myself, I prefer to 'like', but if that's your thing here's where you can find them on fb.

A peep inside the classroom (below).

You know that working in a fabric store I'm always interested to see how other stores operate from

how they display the fabric - seemed to be mainly in colour groups and some by type;

cut it - the minimum cut is 1/4 yd and they tear the fabric (giving you a truer crosswise grain line) but if, like me, you prefer to avoid misshapen fabric edges and like your fabric roller cut, then they'll do that for you too;

price it - prices were on each bolt and looked like the majority of standard quilting weight cotton was around $12 to $13/yard

swatches - forgot to ask :(

It's an all round nice store, good atmosphere, and the staff answered all our myriad of questions.  One thing to note is that I believe the classes fill quickly particularly the serger sewing.

Downside - it's a bit of a trek to get to, 128 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231.  I checked it out on Google maps and if you're visiting Manhattan and using the subway it's a 33-minute journey from Macy's, Herald Square - that's 22 minutes on the F train then an 11-minute walk to the store.  So maybe it's more of a local destination store than one for the general fabric tourist?  That said if you do make the journey out I don't think you'll be disappointed and there're some great places to eat and drink between the subway and the store too.

And if you're wondering what I bought ...

Two Morris Modernized in Aquamarine - (it's killing me typing modernized instead of modernised in connection with something as English as William Morris), Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton in Raspberry and Three Sisters Etchings - Dobby Dot in Aqua.

Have you ever been to Brooklyn?  Is it on your bucket list?

For details of other fabric, yarn, trim and notion stores that I've visited around the world along with the NYC stores I love, exhibitions and events I've attended and wonderful people I've been lucky to meet click the links below or in my side bar :D

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.