Last stop - Nebraska

OK, so Nebraska wasn't really our last stop. Our last stop was Des Moines to visit Jenna - but I really didn't have any pics from that to share. So we crossed into Nebraska from Kansas and here is the sign - ahhhh, the Good Life! But wait.... whats wrong? It looks like people have been throwing rocks or shooting at the poor sign! Do Kansans hate Nebraskans? Or do Nebraskans really not like Nebraska? Who knows!
And who knew it was home of Arbor Day! The things you learn traveling the back roads of the midwest.

As for me - It was beautiful.


Last stop before heading to Iowa.... YES! I got Mark to swing through Lincoln and stop long enough for me to visit the International Quilt Study Center and Museum! It was the most wonderful hour (Mark sat in the car and read a book so I didn't want to take too long). No pictures are allowed inside, but I can share a few things I saw with pictures from their website.

They had this amazing exhibit on Quilts from India, Pakistan & Bangladesh. Oh these pictures don't do ANY JUSTICE to them at all. The detail in the applique and stitching in some of them are amazing. The one above is absolutely gorgeous in real life - but when I found the picture I couldn't believe it was the same quilt - but it is.
They had several that the patterns were used with the stitching, but I couldn't find any pictures of those, although they are probably in the online gallery. The colors and designs were so wonderful - I can't even begin to explain to you how much you are missing in these pictures.
I did pick up the book "Ralli Quilts: Traditional Textiles from Pakistan and India" by Patricia Ormsby Stoddard who gifted several of the quilts on display to the museum. Including that top one I showed. The book besides showing the quilts gives a lot of interesting reading about them and the creation of them.

They also had some gorgeous quilts hanging up from the recently acquired Hortense Beck Collection. Oh they were so wonderful. I believe I remember reading that she didn't start quilting until she was 60. (This is when I miss not having pictures of the signs!)
They also had a very small collection of doll quilts and beds from the Ghormley Collection, which will be expaned as the exhibit once the Ralli Quilts exhibit is done. Scheduled to be there from August 6th through Dec 12. I watched them as they took a lot of the doll quilts out of storage in the conservation room! You can actually download a free podcast from their website of a lecture Mary Ghormley gave on her doll quilts

There was also an exhibit on "Quilts under the Microscope" which takes you through the life of a quilt, what might (or did) damage it and how they preserve them.

See - can you believe I saw all this and was there only an hour! (OK, maybe a an hour and 15 mins....)