Monday, February 27, 2012

A trip to the quilt museum

I realized last night that I'm almost back in the swing of normalcy again and yet I forgot to share some photos from my trip!


We saw some snow, which was great.  The kiddo was super excited about the snow, though it was only on the ground for a day or so.  He made his very own teeny tiny snowman, a few snow angels and several snowballs.  It was so great to see how happy the trip made him.  We celebrated his fourth birthday on the trip as well, complete with a fantastic Batman cake that put a huge smile on the kiddo's face.

bday


Lee and I also took a trip to the Wisconsin Quilt Museum, which was full of unexpected surprises.  The first thing we saw when we walked in and hung up our coats was a very familiar looking quilt block - the star crossed block I just wrote a tutorial for last month!  It was interesting to see how the quilter chose to sash and border the quilt, which I suspect might just inspire me when I finish up my star crossed quilt.  I've never added cornerstones to sashing before, it might be kind of fun to try that for once.

Star crossed block quilt!

The museum also had a quilted representation of the museum itself on display, which was really amazing.  Inside were several "quilts" hung on the walls, all cross-stitched.  Seeing those lovely blocks and quilts made me want to cross-stitch again.  I haven't done that in eons!

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When we moved into the barn, there were two exhibits to see.  One was a Girl Scout exhibit, showing the history of the Girl Scouts through quilts, but none of those photos turned out very well.  My photos from the second exhibit turned out much, much better.  The second exhibit was called Connecting Thread: A Line of Design.  Each piece had a piece of red cording or thread running through it and connecting it to the other pieces.  It was definitely a unique concept.  I haven't seen a whole lot of art quilting before, so I wasn't too sure what to expect, but I.  We saw a lot of stunning quilting stitches in an art quilting exhibit featuring work by the Milwaukee Art Quilters group.  Here are a few of my favorite free motioned designs:

IMG_7874
by Terri Kirchner

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by Roberta Williams

IMG_7875
by Mary Ellen Heus

These quilts really showed off some amazing FMQ'ing and I will definitely be looking at these photos before I free-motion my next quilt.  So inspiring!  To see the rest of the quilts on display in this exhibit and read more about the challenge, click here.

Lee also showed me her local quilt shops, and naturally, I found a few things to bring home.  I totally plan to hang the quilter's star block lights in my sewing room to brighten things up a bit.  They are just so cute!  I was excited to see the King Tut thread, I've really been wanting to try it for a while now.   The Hera marker has also been on my shopping list as of late, I've been wanting to try using it for marking quilting lines and designs after I saw Kati use one with great success.

Wisconsin goodies
(top row: L-R: Busytown On the Move yardage, Riley Blake Fly a Kite, Robert Kaufman Stockholm, Moda Salt Air; bottom row: L-R Hera Marker, Quilter's Star Block Lights, and King Tut Superior thread)

I'm looking forward to actually turning on my sewing machine and hopefully sewing a little bit today!

10 comments:

  1. That cake is so fun!
    The trip looks great and I love the Fly a Kite fabric - lovely goodies!

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  2. My boys would be so jealous of that cake! And those star lights look gorgeous :)

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  3. Looks like a fun place to visit, and great goodies to bring home :o)

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  4. Very cool! That quilting is very interesting :-) Thanks for sharing finds from your trip!

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  5. Awesome shots from the Quilt Museum! I've been meaning to post about that since you left and haven't had time yet. Thanks for coming with me to the museum, that was a really fun day! : )

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  6. Looks like it was a great visit, love those lights!! You are right, such great FMQ inspiration, love that lightning bolt looking one!

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  7. I'm so excited to know there was a Girl Scout exhibit at the quilt museum. We are celebrating our centennial this year! I have made several quilts with Girl Scouts of all ages. My current troop is making a quilt that they can share when they head off to college next Fall.

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  8. Never even knew they had a museum so thanks for sharing. That cake looks amazing! Loving the fabrics.!! =D

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  9. Those FMQ designs are excellent!

    I'm a little jealous of the cake!

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  10. Oooh, my guy turns 4 in a couple of months - such a wonderful age. So envious of a trip to a quilt museum...sounds like you had a great trip. Welcome back to your sewing room.

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Thank you for leaving a comment for me! I appreciate each and every one of them and try to respond when time allows. Your comments totally brighten my day :)


Welcome! I'm Elizabeth, mom to a mood teen boy and a chatty six-year-old girl and I sew for my sanity. Let's get to quilting, shall we?
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