Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Back among the living

This is inside the International Quilt Study Center (IQSC) in Lincoln, Nebraska. Friday and Saturday, a friend and I drove across the state for a meeting with the State Quilt Guild, and we had time to make this stop. The building is amazing, and the 2 Quilt showings were "Yikes, Stripes!" (visual/graphic elements) and "Broderie Perse" an amazing collection of huge, old (1700s), showy quilts. We saw about 15-18 quilts of each style. This is NOT a quilt show center, it is a Study Center. Below is a room where you can pull up digital images of quilts for study, timelines as to fabric, imports, quilt styles, people, etc., and also a program where you can design your own quilt, another place where you can 'log' your quilt story for perpetuity I suppose, and I'm sure there is more, but our time was limited. Many of our State Guilds have provided financial support to this Study Center. The gift shop had a wonderful arty book that I snatched up. Admittance was FREE for us, not sure why but ... normally, the fee is not exhorbitant.

On the way, we also stopped in Kearney at the Museum of Nebraska Art (MONA), in the old Post Office. This was a lovely 45 minute stop, with a showing of photographs. The building is impressive and was another pleasant first-time visit for me. Thanks Sandy for this introduction! The drive across Nebraska follows much of the migration flyways. Sandhill Cranes were everywhere, some bald eagles, and throngs of flocks in the air. This is the season when most of the flocks are milling about, along the Platte River and gathering strength from their long journies.

I am feeling so much better - my discomfort was not lengthy, and thanks for well-wishes. DH is still crummy. I decided I'd make a few luggage tags as a Thank You to our Overnight Hostess, but I am out of practice and layered it wrong so when it was turned, even though I had an opened seam in the back of the backing, I ended up with batting on the back and no way to turn it! Duhhhh. My hand quilting is rusty also. ONE luggage tag took me about 3 hours! By the time I figure how to streamline the process, I may have 4 completed. LOL This is just ONE of my Carol Doak books - she's the best for paper piecing. There is a CD in the book but I've never even looked at, just made copies of her examples.

This last image is a reminder to myself, that I DO have talents and skills. Some days my self-confidence gets a little shakey! I sewed this 4-bordered mitered corner and it turned out perfectly. The biggest hurdle is that this mystery quilt is large and ungainly to handle, but I like how it's turning out.

My prayers are for our struggling nation, and to fire victims in Australia.

2 comments:

  1. We just installed a life-size sculpture of Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln, NE yesterday. I wasn't there, but my employer was. We usually have a couple of pieces in the MONA show too. So even tho I'm not from NE I am acquainted with the places you mentioned. Some days are like that: nothing goes right. But you have a good attitude about it by looking at something done well and know that YOU did THAT. Maybe Pluto is in retrograde or something.

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  2. I am very impressed with your mitre. I was too chicken to do all three at once on my last quilt. Yours is absolutely perfect!

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