International Quilt Study Center - Day 7

We are in Lincoln Nebraska today and we spent the morning at the International Quilt Study Center, at the University of Nebraska, a place I have wanted to visit since I first heard about it.

 

This beautiful building houses not only a collection of incredible antique quilts, but a state-of-the-art facility for research, the study and conservation of quilts. We saw several exhibits and I took photos of some of my favorite pieces that we saw today.

This '30s appliqué quilt depicting lotus blossoms was so typical of that era's colors and techniques, but I thought the design quite a bit more sophisticated than most.

 

Another '30s quilt. The fan pattern is a really unusual variation on a common theme and the docent pointed out that the fans, while they look identical, vary quite a lot.

Oh, how I love red paisley!

 

This may be the craziest crazy quilt I've ever seen.

 

Beautiful stitching on a Baltimore album quilt.

 

An exhibit called "Covering the War" made me think about my friend, KristIn LaFlamme's military themed quilts. I think this one is so interesting in the placement of the stars. The info card tells the story.

 

 

And what a wonderful surprise to find the Boise Peace quilt in the collection. In the '80s the Boise Peace Quilters created several quilts promoting world peace and opposing nuclear proliferation. This quilt was circulated among members of the U.S. Senate with an invitation to sleep under it in the hope that it would inspire dreams of world peace that they would carry into their work. 55 senators, including John Glenn and Strom Thurmond accepted the invitation embroidered on the quilt to ''rest beneath the warmth and weight of our hopes for the future of our children.'' The names of all the Senators who slept under the quilt are embroidered in the sashing between the blocks.

What a beautiful place this Center is, where the work of so many hands is celebrated and preserved and so beautifully exhibited. What we saw today is a very small part of their collection, but an expansion is underway that will create more gallery space.

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Thanks for all the comments. Blogging is my way of journaling our travels and using my photos. So it's really more for me than for you, but I enjoy sharing them. So far I am keeping my photos pretty well organized, which is one of my goals here. I take a lot and if I don't edit and label them right away I lose track of what was taken where. Remember the old days when you brought back rolls and rolls of film from a trip and then, when you finally developed it, you couldn't remember taking some of them? I love being able to relax at the end of each travel day, transfer photos from camera to iPad and delete the stinkers and label and file what I want to keep. Then I pick a few favorites to include in a blog post.

Tomorrow we move on to Iowa. Do you think it will be as windy as Nebraska? I am beginning to understand why pioneer women went mad in their sod houses out on the plains with the incessant wind whistling down the chimney...

 

 

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Out of the West—Long Straight Highways - Day 6

We have transitioned from the Western States map to the Central States map. Yesterday was a long drive to Cheyenne on the straightest highways I have ever seen. It was good to arrive at the Plains Hotel, in Cheyenne, our home for the night. It is one of those great old hotels with a grand lobby and a tiny elevator and long narrow hallways. The bathrooms have wonderful old tile floors in odd colors—a great place. We recommend it, though the WIFI is spotty.

After our long drive it felt good to get out and walk around Cheyenne. The hotel is in a historic part of town not far from the state Capitol. Across from the hotel is Depot Square and the beautiful old sandstone depot building.

These big boots seem to be all over the place.

Lots of great old buildings in the area.

 

After a margarita and revitalizing Mexican food we were back to the room. This morning we hit the roads and crossed into Nebraska. More long, straight highways.

We broke up our trip with a lunch stop in North Plains and a visit to the Golden Spike Tower where you can view the huge North Plains Bailey Yards, where the Union Pacific Railroad's huge operation, the largest switching yard in the world, is located. Trains as far as the eye can see.

 

Though not as cold as it has been, the intense winds in Nebraska today made driving stressful and tiring. Tonight we are in Kearney, Nebraska, heading for Lincoln in the morning.

 

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Sacajawea - day 5 of our American adventure

When we decided to spend a night in Lander I read up on the area and learned that the gravesite of Sacajawea  was nearby on the Wind River Reservation at Fort Washakie.
Sacajawea—heroine of my childhood. Every Idaho schoolchild, at least in my day, knew about her. Born in southeast Idaho, into the western Shoshone tribe, she was kidnapped at a young age by the Hidatsu and taken to North Dakota. She married the French trader Toussant Charbonneau who was hired as a guide by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. At age 16 Sacajawea went along, with her infant son, Baptiste, on her back and proved invaluable as a translator and negotiator with the native people they encountered. The part of the story that always made us cheer in elementary school was when the expedition arrived in Idaho and she was reunited with her surviving family members. I remember carefully coloring a mimeographed picture of Sacajawea and her baby and marveling at her courage and strength and importance to the success of the mission.
Here is where we found her.

 

Sacajawea Cemetary, Fort Washakie, Wyoming

 

This charmingly decorated little Cemetary is still active, with many nice, new monuments, but mostly the graves are very humble and very old.

Here were a section of Grants—one proper stone, the rest simple and handmade.

 

There was something quite touching about the small, lovingly crafted stones.

Up the hill a bit was Sacajawea's grave. She is buried between two of her sons, including Baptiste, the baby on her back.

Perhaps you can see that there are many coins and a few seashells left at the foot of the stones.
At the back of the Cemetary there is a lovely bronze statue, depicting Sacajawea holding a sand dollar and standing in the water of the Pacific Ocean.

At her feet visitors have left trinkets and coins and small stones. Among them, a small mirror reflecting the statue.

Some people believe Sacajawea died of a fever at the age of 26 and is buried in North Dakota. The Shoshone believe that that woman was her sister, Charbonneau's second wife, and the real Sacajawea lived among them, lived nearly 100 years, told her stories of that great journey and is buried here with her people. That's what I believe too.
What a lovely thing it was on this beautiful sunny, cold day, to stand on this hillside and look out over the graves and beyond to the fields and the horses and the mountains. She is still a hero to me, who might have merited a grand burial monument in a place of great honor, but this place seemed right. It seemed perfect. I imagine she is at peace here.

Wyoming - Day 4 of our American adventure

Our time at the cabin was short, but sweet. It really is one of my favorite places in the world, filled with so many good memories. It was snowing and cold when we got up this morning. It was good to be inside with a big fire and a warm breakfast. I helped my sister-in-law in doing some repair work to the cabin scrapbook my mother started more than 60 years ago. It was fun going through and seeing all those photos of the building of the cabin and several generations of my family and our friends and so many good times. These photos were taken the first time. I brought Ray to the cabin.

After lunch we packed up and headed for Wyoming, passing the Tetons and climbing up the mountains into a pretty wintery snow scene and over the Continental Divide at Tagwotee Pass.

Then down the other side and through the Wind River Indian Reservation. I have always thought of Wyoming as rather dry and desolate, but today's drive was through wonderful landscapes of forests, meadows, mesas, cliffs and mountains, abundant with wildlife. We saw elk and buffaloe and deer and many antelope.

 

Cattle and horses also roamed the land and at times I saw antelopes in amongst the cattle. Such interesting forms in these mountains at the edges of the Wind River Range.

Tonight we are in Lander, Wyoming. We have a little exploration to do around here tomorrow and then we are headed toward Cheyenne.

 

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About that ball of string...

I was only partially serious about our trip being about finding the biggest ball of string in the country, but if I found myself anywhere near it, I'd certainly take the time to check it out. As to where it is, that is up for debate. There are contenders in both Missouri and Texas and others that, it turns out, are really balls of twine. And, darn it, I'm not interested in twine. It is string that would fascinate me. I am imagining different weights and textures and colors...

Today we are in Idaho, at the family cabin. Tomorrow we head out across Wyoming and that is when the real adventure begins. Idaho has been about seeing family and renewing our Idaho roots. It is really an extension of home. We were in Boise for our great-nephew's 3rd birthday and in Pocatello to see my brother's band play, and to check out the progress of his restoration of our grandmother's 1955 Studebaker.

Now today, an overnight stop at the cabin. When we were in Boise our niece said she figured we were in search of the American Dream and please let her know when we found it. Well, luckily for her this is it. The cabin—best place in the world.

Tomorrow— unknown territory.

 

 

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Looking back, looking ahead...

I am in the passenger seat. Ray is driving and we are out at the dry end of the Columbia River Gorge. Soon we will head up that hill that takes us from the river and out into the desert that comprises the greater part of Oregon, but I am thinking of it as the beginning of the rest of America. Hour three of a 37-day journey. But more about that later.

Last week the international Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) met for their national conference in Portland. It was a great opportunity to connect in a bigger way with my professional organization. I met lots of formerly virtual friends, altogether new friends and reconnected with old friends. We heard some good (and not so good) talks and panels and study sessions, hung out, ate, drank, played and absorbed generally good stuff all the way around. It is a good organization. Conference photos are almost hilariously boring, but here are a few anyway.

Backs of heads and PowerPoint

 

Backs of heads and PowerPoint, but look—that's me on the screen! (Really good presentation by Sue Reno. I was a happy contributor...)

 

Finally got to meet Lisa Flowers Ross, whose blog and art I have enjoyed for years.

On the afternoon designated for exploring Portland, I had the pleasure of introducing these lovely women to some of Portland's best fabric stores. We locals appreciate their contributions to the Portland economy!

My small piece, "At the Market", donated for the silent auction, brought a great price, which pleases me immensely, both for the benefit to the organization, but mostly the relief that it did not sit, sadly unbidden upon. My worst silent auction nightmare—so embarrassing.

The people, people, people part of these affairs is exhausting, but also exhilarating and inspiring. Still, it was really nice to drive away on Sunday and go home to my family and our celebration of Ray's birthday. Then, after everyone left, I sat for awhile in the calm and quiet of home and it was the best moment.

And now, several days later, we are off to "look for America". Over the years we have travelled to cities and destinations across the country, but seldom by car, and especially east of the Rocky Mountains. I have a desire to see how it all connects on the ground—the inbetween parts—small town attractions, countryside, crops and weather. I have a secret desire to track down the biggest ball of string in America, but I expect the things we didn't even know to look for might be the most interesting.

 

And so it goes...

 

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