Iowa Trip Part 2

 

In the previous post, I was in Des Moines for the AQS QuiltWeek but alas, I had to head back home at some point. So rather than try to do the whole trip in one day, I decided to spend a night in Iowa to see some other sights.  But where, oh where would that be. 

 

Research mode kicked in & I decided it would be best to head back part of the way on Wednesday evening rather than facing the whole drive Thursday morning.  So, I ended up in



 

 Kalona, Iowa - the largest Amish settlement area west of the Mississippi.  I stayed at the local motel - clean & friendly.

 I arrived pretty much just in time to see this sunset over the corn field across the highway from the motel.

Kalona is a nice little town with a couple of quilt shops, which I unfortunately didn't have time to stay until they opened Thursday morning.  But the whole town celebrates their quilt heritage.

 

They have a quilt block walking tour around the whole town, showcasing 42 different quilt blocks done in brick on the sidewalks, measuring 6 feet square

 

 One of my favorites - Blue Dahlia.

 

Double Wedding Ring 

 This one is called Kalona Star

Log Cabin

And around the countryside, there are barn quilts of course. I found this one right on Highway 22, heading into nearby Riverside, Iowa.

Riverside, Iowa has an interesting claim to fame.  Any Trek fans out there?

 

 

And finally, on my way out of town, I did a double take, drove around the block & had to stop and get a picture of this.

 

 

I mean just how often do you see a 600 lb. cast aluminum chicken? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barn-ette Quilt Revisited and Here I Go Again

I have realized that all this road tripping is cutting into my quilting time - not that I am going to stop my mini trips anytime soon. Just an observation. I wonder if I can reallocate some cleaning time to quilting time...

 

Looking back over my recent posts, I discovered I never shared the barn-ette quilt installed in it's new home after the road trip to deliver it.  So I shamelessly borrowed the picture from Martha's site  Thistle Rose Weaving (check it out - her weaving is awesome) so I could post it here.

 

 

Copyright Thistle Rose Weaving 2013

Martha's Irish Chain variation barn-ette quilt

 

I think it looks good against the barn red barn, but I may be a tiny bit biased.  I still have to design & paint the one for the Michigan shed.  I do have a few ideas percolating on that one, just nothing on paper yet.

 

And YES, I am going on another whirlwind Road Trip this week.

 

I will be trekking west, over the Mississippi River, across the plains of Iowa to......Des Moines!!   I am fortunate to be able to head out to the AQS QuiltWeek in Des Moines to see my quilt hanging with 111 others in the first Modern Quilt Challenge.  I already packed spare camera batteries.

 

Departure is set for T minus 21 hours. 

 

YIKES!  I better go pack something!

 

Road Trip Recap and a little different kind of sewing

3 states, 36 Hours, 664 miles.

The trip to Metamora to visit Martha & deliver the barn-ette quilt was a lot of fun packed into a short time.  I don't think we stopped talking the whole time - lots to catch up on. Her house is so pretty, situated at the top of a small rise, with cornfields behind.  Unfortunately, they had a predator move into the area that wiped out their small flock of chickens and inflict damage on their neighbors flocks as well - so no chicken visit. Martha & her DH are planning the new larger chicken yard as free ranging is not an option any longer.  In the meantime, the two of us were hatching even larger plans for converting an existing shelter into a more all-weather mini barn for an few alpacas (fiber boys) and the necessary fencing. Not entirely sure her DH was thrilled at all the work we were planning for him. We were so busy chatting that I forgot to take pictures!  Martha promised pictures once the barn-ette quilt gets installed.

We even managed a visit to the Metamora courthouse right on the village square.

 

 

The first floor is the local historical museum including the history of Abraham Lincoln practicing law in the second floor restored courtroom.



 

The trip continued and allowed me to find the solution to the design brick wall I've hit with the Summer Stripes quilt.

 

YES - the answer to my dilemma - more fabric!! Stay tuned

 

And finally, yesterday - a different kind of sewing. Horse blankets!  It will be winter before we know it so it was time to shake out all the horse blankets, inspect the damage, repair & waterproof everything.  My friend Pam & I set up two machines and out of 27 blankets, 12 needed repairs.  Most were minor repairs but one of the horses (Bob) managed to rip clear through both layers in a most interesting way - requiring an inner and outer patch! 

 

 

 

On the Road to AQS Quilt Week Grand Rapids!

Yesterday was departure day for my trip to American Quilt Society's Quilt Week in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  A total of 227 miles to Grand Rapids, 121 miles down - 106 miles to go. And that will make it a very early morning tomorrow if I want to get there before the 9 am opening, which of course I do!

Today, in exchange for my overnight way stop I have some lawn mowing & yard work to do. And then there's some quilt designing, a book to read, a glass of wine, some hand piecing I brought along and a dvd or two to keep me company.  The hand piecing project has been ongoing, or more accurately off and on-going for a few years. It's a project I started while my husband was hospitalized for hip surgery. That turned in to 6 surgeries in 26 months time. I would carry it along to hosopital, dr. appts., therapies sessions & occasional car rides.  Wil made the leather pouch that I carry it in, which protects the sharp pointy bits and fits into my backpack.

The fabric came from a five fabric fat quarter bundle of the blues & fairy frost white  - I added the purple for a bit of spark - from Emmatown Fabrics in Emma, Indiana. It's a neat little Amish general store that carries a bit of everything from clocks to thread.  They have a large selection of polyester fabrics for clothing and a nice selection of cottons for quilting.  I've since purchased more yardage of the fabrics as I wasn't orginally sure what it was going to be.  I decided - what the heck, let's make a full size quilt out of only 5 (then 6) fabrics, hand piece & hand quilt it and make it out of 2" cut squares so they finish out at an inch and a half.  It alternately goes fast and slow and sometimes grinds to a halt for a bit. I'm only carrying some of the project with me - there is a stack of 16 patches at home.

I also need to do some color matching for my next barn quilt - well, really a shed quilt. Once I match the current shed color to a paint sample I can build my palette. Here's the shed - just standing there waiting for some embellishment.

Barn-ette Quilt

It done! 156 little squares contained on a 24" square of wood - just needs several coats of clear protective finish & it will be ready to deliver & get hung in place.

 

I did have an 'AH HA' moment. Remember that in order for my design to fit the predetermined size (already cut & primed the wood square), I ended up with a 5/8's inch grid. The entire square surface had to be marked - how to do that as accurately as possible?  With a quilt ruler of course - DUH!!  Sometimes it takes a minute or two for the logical side of the brain to catch up with the creative side, especially with a lack of sleep & no where near enough tea factored into the equation.
 

 

 

I used Behr interior paint samples, starting with matching the Behr Barn Red to an interior Behr color, then finding a golden yellow & a forest green.  I used white to create the two lighter cream shades & the lighter green. I thought originally I was going to use 3 shades of green but I didn't like the lightest shade so I cut it from the palette. To achieve the middle red, I mixed the Poppy red with the barn red color - it's okay but could have been just a hint brighter.

 

 Several hours later...

 

Here's the finished barn-ette quilt on point.

 

Here it is square - Not sure which way I like it better.

 

Most barn quilts I've seen are usually done with larger pieces - less complicated/busy blocks. But they are also much, much larger & on the side of a big, big barn. Since this is going on a barn-ette and Irish Chain is one of Martha's favorite quilt patterns - I couldn't resist doing this design.