How would YOU make an American quilt?

After a 24-hour period of spring sunshine yesterday, New Yorkers awoke to a grey Tuesday morning, and clouds that threatened to open up at any moment.  A common, plaintive moan echoed across my office - all of us just wanted to head back home and crawl into our beds.

It was probably fitting then that today’s lunchtime excursion took me across the street into Grand Central Terminal, to view the exhibition entitled “Grand Central Centennial Quilts”.

Grand Central celebrated its 100th birthday in 2013 and to commemorate the occasion, the national magazine American Patchwork and Quilting teamed up with the Chelsea-based store City Quilter to launch a national contest for quilts that would celebrate the iconic train station, as depicted by home quilters across the country.

From hundreds of entries, the NY Transit Museum Gallery Annex, just off the main concourse in the station, is now exhibiting 30 gorgeous quilts, representing the prize winners from 15 US states.

The winning entry is the one on the right here, entitled "Time Flies But We Take the Train", created by a lady in Maryland.  I loved the colours immediately, and when you get up close you can see she has included some sparkly golden thread.  Of course I approved of that too.

Now I can neither sew nor knit, but even I can appreciate the talent and dedication that it would have taken to plan and execute these amazing quilts.  I especially loved the subtle tributes to the Terminal, evident in each piece.  What I found most interesting was that only a couple of the quilts were stitched by people living in or near New York.  It was really wonderful to see how non-residents have depicted the national icon, and what makes it special to them.

  

 

Inspired by my surroundings, and the drizzling rain outside, I started to wonder what sort of quilt I would have made, if my talent knew no bounds.  I figured that it would definitely be colourful, for the noise and diversity of the daily commuters.  I would also need to feature some plush fabrics, in honour of The Campbell Apartment, and the Tiffany Blue colour of the main concourse ceiling (a popular inspiration).  I’d have to devote some squares to the dynamic Grand Central Market, which has so many food options I can barely handle it.  And finally, I’d have to find some way to give a shout-out to the historic Grand Central Oyster Bar downstairs, which I really love.  It would be a messy, vibrant quilt – but to me, that would be the very embodiment of the giant Terminal.

The “Grand Central Centennial Quilts” exhibition is free, and it will remain on-site until 6 July.  After you've visited, you need to call into the adjacent Transit Museum store - it's full of great subway-centric souvenirs, baby clothes, toys, not to mention and excellent range of books about New York through the ages.