The seatbelt light just chimed off, the cart is rattling down the aisle with pretzels, and the quilter in the window seat has already pulled a hand project out of her carry-on. Below the wing, the country rolls past one skyline at a time. Stitchin' In Skylines is the view from that window, a city for every stop on the flight path, each one built from the things its locals love most.
Music cities, coming up on the left
Two Kansas City designs keep the jazz playing. One lets a golden saxophone send smoky swirls over the towers beside a glowing JAZZ sign, and the other lines up a trumpet, a saxophone, a splashing fountain and a barbecue grill ready for company. Nashville leans an acoustic guitar and a pair of cowboy boots against towers stacked with spools of thread, Cleveland tucks a guitar and a baseball in among the towers by the lake, and Denver builds its skyline from patchwork buildings with the mountains behind and music notes drifting overhead.
Race day, game day, and the water below
Indianapolis wraps a bright red racetrack around its towers, and Charlotte loops a road track through its skyline with a race car taking the curve. Omaha sets a ballpark right at the heart of town, and Boston stacks brick rowhouses beneath a baseball sailing past. Out over the water, Baltimore sends a tall ship across blue waves with crabs along the shore, Dover pairs a lighthouse with a capitol dome, and New York City brings the Statue of Liberty, the skyscrapers and a line of yellow taxis. Anchorage swirls northern lights above the city while a moose keeps watch.
Sunshine and wide open sky
Phoenix glows under a bright sun with cactus standing tall between the buildings. Las Vegas has its famous welcome sign, palm trees and every neon tower in town. Dallas rides in with a cowboy on horseback beneath its skyline, Oklahoma City tips a cowboy hat beside its towers, and Atlanta tucks its tall red tower among green trees above a river winding under a stone bridge. Minneapolis arches a bridge across the water with a tangle of red and navy thread and a painter's palette at its feet, and Birmingham sets out a welcoming spread of spools and a basket of something warm in front of its towers. Illinois fills the whole state outline with golden farm fields and a winding river, the city skyline rising at the very top.
For the one who always asks for the window
She is the one who plans the trip around a quilt show, knows which city has the best fabric shop within walking distance of the hotel, and can name her hometown skyline from thirty thousand feet. Find her city, or the one she keeps meaning to visit, and she will claim it before you finish the sentence. This concludes today's flight. Please take all personal belongings with you, including the half-finished binding tucked into the seat pocket somewhere over Omaha.
Written by Penny the Mascot. Thanks for reading.
