One thing I love about traveling at this time of the year is the beautiful colors of fall.
Since my roots are from the Midwest, it was fun to visit some of the old homesteads. Both of these homes were built by my father and it was nice to see them still looking good.
We also took the time to visit Boys Town while in Omaha. They have a fantastic museum on the grounds that was fun to visit. If you have never seen the movie, Boys Town, you should consider watching it. The original Oscar for the movie was displayed in the museum.
We avoid busy roads while driving so we can enjoy the countryside and this trip was no different. One small road landed us in the middle of Hamilton, MO. I had no idea until we had arrived in the town that it is home to Missouri Star Quilt Co. Wow!!! It was amazing. They had great murals. We only stopped for a few minutes as we were working our way to Iowa.
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A nice spot for DH to bask in the sunshine as it was 29* outside.
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While in Iowa we stayed with my cousin on their farm. Again, it was quite chilly for us with highs in the mid 20s and low in the teens.
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| My cousin's farm in the heart of the Amish community. |
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| Sunrise over the cornfields. |
Driving back to Omaha for our flight home, we passed through Madison County - home of the covered bridges. This poor one had seen better days before burning.
Winterset, IA. is the birthplace of John Wayne.
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| John Wayne birthplace |
This week has been an exciting and busy one for us as we added a new member to our family. Needless to say, he is getting lots of love.
I haven't had much of a chance to sew this week. I can't imagine why, but I have made a couple of pulls for the upcoming Quiltville Mystery QAL which starts next week. I'm leaning towards pull #2 as it is a bit more green. What do you think?
Oh my goodness. I think I have distant relatives in Iowa. My dad was from Wisconsin. You visited a lot of great places. I can understand why you didn't get much sewing completed. I like both of those pulls. I am not sure which I would choose. I love the new member of the family. How adorable.
ReplyDeleteI think both fabric pulls would work equally well. I really like the colors chosen for this year's mystery, but sadly few except for the browns are currently in my stash. That puppy is adorable - spaniel?
ReplyDeleteWow you have been busy!!
ReplyDeleteLove the tour of your hometown.
So cool you got to Missouri Star!! Jenny is awesome!!
Love love the puppy!!
I always love travelling with you and hubby... how wonderful to see the homes your father built and still I use...
ReplyDeleteThe farm look so different from the ones in our Midwest.
What a great surprise to get the great pis of Missouri Star ⭐️..good one of DH.
Oh how cute is your new family member , kids love ❤️ him. What's his name?
I like the first pull.... do I need to check out Bonnies Mystery Quilt ?
ReplyDeletewhat a great post! It makes me want to travel AND sew!! perfect.
Sounds like an absolutely wonderful trip, although quite nippy. So happy you were able to visit the Missouri Star Quilt Company, but maybe more excited about the new addition to your family. Congratulations. Both collections of fabric are beautiful. Maybe it is a sign you should make two mystery quilts?
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www.quiltshopgal.com
OH Mary....the trip of a lifetime there! I would love to visit Missouri Star.....your stash and new puppy are both adorable!! Lol
ReplyDeleteGreat pics of your family and trip.
Oh, that pup and the grands! Such an overload of cute Mary!! Cool that you got to see MSQC, I have relatives in Kansas. Iowa and Missouri but have never managed to coordinate visits with a field trip there. And I agree pull number two is THE one :)
ReplyDeleteHi Mary! Always happy to see a new post from you! Your trip looks grand. I can't believe you only stopped for a few minutes in Hamilton. We visited this year and had a fun time. The new puppy is adorable. He or she will definitely like children!
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving!
Pugs and kisses,
Nancy
Fantastic trip. What you didn't stop in MSQC? You have so much self control. Gorgeous pictures. Your new little man is amazingly cute.
ReplyDeleteNow that looks like my kind of trip! Wonderful for you! Fabric, sweet little people, great scenery, fabric stores galore...lovely!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a really fun trip, between the visits with relatives and a bit of interesting sight seeing. I have very fond memories of my early childhood time in Iowa and Illinois.
ReplyDeleteI like both your fabric pulls for the new QAL! It's nice to see more folks using chocolate brown instead of black as the dark neutral. Can't go wrong with chocolate :)
And oh, that puppy! So sweet and fun!
Your trip sounds like it was relaxing and some good memories. The new pup is adorable and quite a hit with the littles. ❤️🍷
ReplyDeleteFun and productive trip you had. I had no idea there were so many great places to visit. You drove North and we drove South to Arkansas. I have never visited Amish country and it looks as amazing as I imagine. Visiting family is what we did also. Your new little puppy is adorable. Now we are in the Holiday Crush. Happy Thanksgiving Dear...<3
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing trip! The house in which I grew up was built for my paternal grandparents. The last I heard parts of it are in very bad repair and that has been some time ago. It's sad to hear. I'm in Albuquerque with grandboys while parents with about 50 people to Italy. I had the better trip. I return home tomorrow. I love to hear of your excursion. I love the fabrics for your mystery quilt. I actually prefer the first pull but it's only personal preference. They are each outstanding. Inspired by you, I've been collecting fabrics for a temperature quilt for my son and his girlfriend. I've considered several different block designs and keep coming back to the flying geese for the ease of the representation of the temperatures for a day. They have a California king bed. So, I'm going to have to do some figuring to decide about what size blocks and borders, etc to see if it's feasible to make it look ok. I'm looking at grays, blues, and yellows and my son does not like red very well. I think red would have been fabulous in a temperature quilt when we live in Oklahoma where we have hot summers. I'm trying to accomodate his likes. His girlfriend's favorite color is purple. I'm trying to knit her a lavender scarf for Christmas. I literally started over 6 times and was making ok progress and made a silly mistake from which I couldln't recover and it was a difficult pattern for me, so I've started a different pattern. It's a synthetic yarn, very soft yarn so it may be an Eastern present. Thanks for your inspirations. I'm excited about the new addition to the family. I want to get a service dog for my PTSD. I need to get my backyard grass in better shape first. The dog is adorable and loved as should be. Thanks for a fun post.
ReplyDeleteI loved the movie The Bridges of Madison County. :o) Isn't Winterset, IA also home to the Country Threads gals?? I think backroads are the best way to travel. Love murals and those are awesome. The midwest has it's charm but oh those winters!!! It appears that the puppy will have lots of love from folks big and small. Oh that face...
ReplyDeleteSuch a fun trip--we like driving back roads, too, until we realize we Need To Get Somewhere Fast, and then it's back on the freeways we go. Thanks for the tour of these cool sights/sites in the MidWest, including homes your father built. Your roots really do go deep back there!
ReplyDeleteAn amazing trip, loved reading about it. You captured it so beautifully in your photos. I didn't realise how small the little pup is until I saw him on the little kiddos' laps. So cute, all of them! Did you name her yet? She is being carried around a lot, right? The stacks of fabric are so beautiful, I think either combination would be wonderful. I have a feeling you will find at least a little time to spend in your sewing room before Thanksgiving :)
ReplyDelete-Soma
What interesting travels you have had - lovely sights to see and great to spend time with family :-) Your new family member is the cutest and will be well socialised with all the kiddies handling him! Lovely fabric pulls for Bonnie's mystery, I think either would work well.
ReplyDeleteI think two sets are pretty, but the number 2 is prettier.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had a great trip! I can't believe you spent only a few minutes at the Missouri Quilt Co.! I would love to go there someday.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pics of your trip and that puppy...so sweet! I can't imagine only staying a few minutes near the Missouri Quilt Store. That must have been tough! LOL
ReplyDeleteYour travels sound lovely. From the Rhine cruise back to the US, seeing some beautiful countryside.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the new addition...such a cutie.