Indian Train reservations

Over the last few days I have been making reservations for e-tickets for three trips on Indian trains on a trip to India-Nepal this fall. Tickets can be purchased 3 months in advance. Its advisable to book them as quickly as possible as the best spots fill quickly. I am not traveling by first class day coach as shown below which is very comfortable. Bags are stored on the racks over the seats.

The efficient reservation system means that you can safely forget any photos you've seen of overcrowded Indian trains with people on the roof or hanging on the side - these photos show suburban trains, or basic unreserved 2nd class on long distance ones. On fast long-distance trains in AC1, AC2, AC3, or AC Chair Class, all passengers have an assigned seat or sleeping berth so there's no overcrowding. Don't expect pristine western standards anywhere in India, but you'll find AC1, AC2, AC3 and AC Chair class fairly clean by Indian standards, with both western-style and squat toilets usually in a reasonably sanitary condition. See the train interior photos below. On the other hand, Sleeper Class gets much grubbier than the AC classes and unreserved passengers can sometimes enter the coaches making it crowded. 2nd class unreserved can be incredibly crowded. Toilets in sleeper class or basic non-AC 2nd class seats can leave a lot to be desired...

The destination and car number are clearly noted on the sides of the train.

And most stations have a car number on the overhang of the roof of the station where your particular car stops. The porters all seem to have this down to a science and know exactly where your car will be when the train stops. They are a wonderful feature of Indian train stations especially for people like me with overstuffed bags.

First Class AC train compartment. Four berths to a compartment with a lockable door. Top of the line on Indian trains. I managed to book this type of compartment on a trip from Delhi to Ahmedabad this fall...and with a 50% senior discount the trip is costing me about $24. its about 500 miles. The senior discount is for females over 50 and is 50%. The discount for males is only 30%. Now that seems fair...right? The female discount used to be 30% which I felt at the time was terrific.

Not every train has the above coaches. 2AC is more common. The difference is no door and two berths on the end. The end berths..which I prefer...have curtains. I booked a trip from Ahmedabad to Jodhpur (about 250 miles) for about $9 with the senior discount.

The main berths in a 2AC car.

Project Iron Quilter, Ithaca NY Quilt Show October 3 & 4th, 2009

Project Iron Quilter


With tongues held firmly in cheeks and in anticipation of a fun and entertaining time for all, the
Tompkins County Quilters Guild announces the first "Project Iron Quilter" competition to be held as
part of the Greater Ithaca area Traditions & Beyond 2009 Quilt Show! The competition is a fusion of
two guilty pleasures, Project Runway and Iron Chef. Contestants will have a limited time on Saturday
(in kibitzing view of show attendees!) to create a two or three dimensional wall-hanging based upon a
secret theme revealed at the start of the competition. They will then face a panel of judges who will
discuss the successes, and near misses, of the art works with the contestants. After deliberation, the
judges will announce the winner of the first Project Iron Quilter! Quilt Show attendees will have the
opportunity to vote for their favorite piece in a viewer's choice award.
On Sunday, we'll have an awards ceremony where the Iron Quilter will receive a top of the line
Rowenta iron, and the viewer's choice winner will receive a Rowenta travel iron (to keep with the
Project "Iron" Quilter theme!) Following the ceremony, Quilt Show attendees will have the chance to
take home a Project Iron Quilter wall-hanging if they are the top bidder!
Intrigued? Do you have the mad skills and sense of humor to be a fieeerce contestant? You can apply
to be a contestant in the first Project Iron Quilter competition by submitting three digital images
representative of your work and a brief but persuasive explanation stating why you think you would be
a wonderful contestant for the title, Iron Quilter, to projectironquilter@gmail.com or mail to Ruth
White, 211 Paul's Way, Ithaca, NY 14850. There is a $15.00, non-refundable application fee to help
defray costs. Deadline to receive entries is September 1, 2009. Entries will be numbered to maintain
entrant's anonymity, then given to jurors who will select the contestants. Visit www.tcqg.org for further
details. Just DO it!

Traditions and Beyond, 17th Biennial Quilt ShowOctober 3 - October 4, 2009 at Tompkins Cortland Community College, 170 North Street, Dryden, NY

Jacket Class, Day Three

Beth continues to make progress on her jacket which seems to becoming a bit on the green side. And my new orange jacket begins to take shape.

As I audition pieces for the front Beth suggested two beauties by Kaffe Fassett.

Nancy continues work on her tiger jacket. She wore a beautiful sparkly jacket today.

I finished piecing the back and the front begins to take shape.

Beth added some of her beautiful marbled fabrics to the mix.

And after more work on her kimono jacket Marcia took her Chinese collar apart to begin work on her orange jacket.

Marcia's Studio Day Two

I bit the bullet and trimmed the slanted edges off this quilt and now have to quilt it. And am finally getting serious about using one of the Flower Collars from Southwest China in a jacket. I will probably start with the orange one on the left and have made a couple of strips of hand dyed fabric to coordinate with it.

Marcia worked on a kimono jacket made from a knit purchased in Turkey.Her orange jacket is behind her.

And Nancy made a lot of progress on her Tiger jacket.

A Great Day at Marcia's Studio

Today was day one of a three day "Jacket Sew-In" at Marcia's beautiful studio. We began with a bit of show and tell as Marcia showed us her gorgeous quilt begun at Nancy Crow's Barn and now beautifully quilted. Stunning. I had finished piecing the wonky blocks and now planned to cut them on a slant.

Beth began a jacket using tiny Slash and Burn squares as the center of the back.

And Nancy Crouch began a jacket with a tiger focal point.

Inspector Suki took time out from her busy schedule to check Marcia's calculations.

Beth adds a bit of orange to her jacket.

And Marcia begins work on an orange jacket with an intricate collar from China as the focal point.

As it turned out the quilt top wasn't long enough to slash and turn on point and came out a bit "skewed".

I will probably trim off the "off center" sides and make it into a square.

The Chicken Coat Goes to the Lancaster Quilt Show

This year it was the Chicken Coat's turn to go to the Lancaster Quilt Show and be featured in their Fashion Show Luncheon on Friday.
Called "Just Your Basic Chicken Coat" , the design is taken from Maggie Walker's Country Journal Quilt.

My favorite panel is the rooster on the back with an attitude. The basic fabric is tea dyed cotton and the chickens are fused and then machine appliqued. It is also beaded.

Class at Towpath Quilt Guild in Marcellus

On Tuesday I drove to Marcellus to take a class with Nancy Bales and the Towpath Guild at the beautiful library. This is probably Nancy's most famous quilt which has won a number of prizes.
Another student's work at the end of the class.

A group of us went out to dinner at a local restaurant then came back for Nancy's trunk show at the Guild meeting. This is their beautiful raffle quilt.

I thought I would have a good spot for taking photos if I sat in the front row. Wrong......Nancy began by showing some of her garments.

This one matches her quilt.

I just loved this landscape.

This is the roof of the horticulture building at Morrisville...

E.A.T. Group Meeting, Ithaca

Monday saw the monthly meeting of the E.A.T. Group at Quilter's Corners in Ithaca. After a work session Show and Tell is always a focal part of the meeting. I loved the use of black in this scrap quilt. June had used scrunched fabric to make a matching blouse for a suit made long ago.

And a hysterical bra for a contest co-sponsored for the shop for Cancer.

This skirt was made from a woven oriental fabric.

This rag rug was made from tee shirts and was last month's class.

We had discussed these blocks once before and they were back for more work.

We had also discussed this one last month and the quilt was now finished.

After show and several of us head out to a delightful French Restaurant for lunch.