Home from Our Getaway!

We got home Saturday night at 1am from a 6 day trip to Illinois and Indiana.  It was our first time crossing the border to the US since before the pandemic.  My quilting friend, Christine, and her husband came with us. The original inspiration for the trip was an advertisement I saw online for a display of Ken Burns' antique quilts at the Peoria Riverfront Museum in Illinois...I told my husband that it would be interesting to see this exhibit and the vacation grew out of this small seed that I planted! We spent a few hours at the museum, amazed by the variety and stunning beauty of Ken Burns' antique quilt collection. The quilt exhibit will be there until June 5th and if you live within driving distance, I highly recommend a trip to see them!  

Our favourite quilt in the show.  

String Star.  Maker unknown.  1880-1900. Machine pieced and hand quilted. 

Amazing how such an old quilt looks so modern!

My husband is an excellent trip planner and was soon googling other things to see and do in the general area.  If you are a long time reader  of my blog, you will know that I am a big fan of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture and that we have toured several of the buildings that he designed. Our first stop was in Kankakee, Illinois where we toured the Bradley House. The stained glass windows are a particular highlight for me. The tour guide was excellent and her enthusiasm for the house and its designer were very evident on our tour. 

This one was above the dining room table. 

 We then drove to Springfield, Illinois, home of the Dana Thomas House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  One of the cross stitch pictures I did was a window from this house and it was thrilling to see the original window.  We were not allowed to take any pictures inside the home which was disappointing as I would have loved to get a picture of that window!  

While in Springfield, we also visited Abraham Lincoln's home and law office as well as 

the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.  

In Columbus, Indiana, we toured the Miller House, a mid century modern home designed by Eero Saarinen and completed in 1957.  It was raining while we were there so we did not get any long views of the house.  Here are a few pictures I took on the tour.  I loved the conversation pit! The pillows and carpeting in the conversation pit are changed seasonally. 

The next morning, we did an architectural tour of Columbus with another volunteer guide.  She was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about her home town.  She wore a great jacket, hand painted by her daughter, with silhouettes of many of the iconic buildings and sculptures in Columbus. If you are ever near Columbus, Indiana, we highly recommend these two tours!

This used to be drive through banking and now its a lovely place to eat your lunch outside. 

Our reflection in the Irwin Conference Center (the building in the picture following this one). 

A sculpture, Large Arch, by Henry Moore, framing the First Christian Church, designed by Eliel Saarinen in 1942. 

Inside the church.  This picture also shows off our guide's jacket. 

These colourful tubes are the vents for the HVAC system of this building. 

Inside the North Christian Church. This church was designed by Eero Saaranin, 1964. 

5th Street, near the library, lined with Japanese Zelkova Trees. 

Even the washrooms at Mill Race Park were iconic!  This is the Women's side and the men's side had an "M" roof. 

We could have spent hours at the library, looking at the building and the books!

If you want to see more of the buildings of Columbus, you can watch the movie, "Columbus", which was filmed there. 

Since this is a quilting blog, I should probably share some blocks I made recently for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  June's colours are navy and medium blue.  I had lots of blue squares so I divided them into three piles, navy, medium blue and light blue and made these blocks. 

I made a backing and pieced some batting scraps for the red, blue and white baby quilt I am making for the church bazaar and will be working on getting it quilted and bound over the next few days. It is pin basted and ready to go. 

I did some knitting in the car when we were away, finishing the yellow bird baby facecloth and starting a blue whale facecloth.  Funny how my knitting matched my outfit...

The keys are out on my Japanese Maple tree. 

The Clematis are in bloom.  

Finn has been a bit under the weather over the last week but is back to his usual self today, finally.  He will be going for a haircut soon! He likes to keep one paw touching my daughter at all times, in case she tries to escape...

I will link up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and the Slow Sunday Stitchers on Sunday. 

PS. I have been having trouble commenting on a number of blogs recently--the comments are often blocked or I have to comment anonymously.  I'm not sure why this has happened but if I don't comment on your blog and I usually do, it is not for lack of trying!  Thanks for visiting!