left: Andrea and Ivete created a
custom quilt in the store colors to
surround the cash wrap. above: Small
embroidery kits featuring New York
landmarks are quick take-and-make
projects for local customers as
well as tourists. below: The narrow
storefront has only one window so,
like the crisp store logo, the changing
displays are vivid and uncomplicated.O
n any given day, Gotham
Quilts owners Andrea Deal
and Ivete Tecedor chat in
their colorful storefront with quilting
aficionados from all over the globe.
“We love that so much of our walk-in
traffic comes from tourists,” Ivete says.
“People are coming in specifically to
go to a cool quilt shop in Manhattan.
I do the same thing when I travel: I
look up where the quilt stores are.
People are in New York for a ton of
reasons, and while they’re here,
they’re going to check out our shop.”
Andrea and Ivete, who met in a
quilting class years ago, grew the
store slowly and steadily by building
a following—first online and then
with a smaller shop—so they know
what their customers crave: charming
fabrics, blazingly bright colors, and
cheeky designs. One favorite designer
is Tula Pink, who festoons her fabrics
with unicorns and dragons. “Anytime
Moda Fabrics or Robert Kaufman
Fabrics signs a new designer who’s
modern and fits our aesthetic, we’ll
definitely carry them,” Ivete says.
“We have fabric coming in almost
every week.”
All that fabulous fabric provides
inspiration to Andrea, and some of
it is funneled into her modern quilt
designs. In addition, she has a talent
for reimagining other people’s
patterns with a scintillating color
scheme—think deeply saturated
hues with high contrast and
outsized impact.
In addition to dazzling displays,
customers also will find a multitude
of embroidery kits, some of which