The quilt shops on our Iowa trek.

We visited quilt shops on our recent Iowa road trip! Are you surprised?!

We stopped in Cascade, Iowa at The Quilting Tree. It's an older shop that the owner bought ten years ago right after she retired. The building and the shelving units were quite interesting. The owner's husband came in while we were there and showed us his neat collection of sewing machines - he likes one of a kind machines..

I bought a black/white fabric to back a red/black/gray quilt.

We stopped at Helios Stitches N Stuff in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. It was in this neat old school. The place was so busy, it was hard to look (the Iowa Quilt Shop Hop was in full swing). We'll definitely stop again when we are in the area.

We found Cotton Creek Mill in West Branch. It is a very nice shop and I might go back - I was a bit taken back when I was checking out, the owner asked where we lived and then went on to bash our state politics and say she couldn't leave the state fast enough! I do hope she was just having a bad day.

I found a backing for the other red/black/gray top that needs quilting.

In Tipton, IA, we visited The Fabric Stasher Quilt Shop Store and More. This was a nice little store with great people working. The town was having a kick off to summer celebration for kids so there was a lot of activity downtown. 

I found this red dot wide backing that I will use at some point - yes, I began adding to my stash again right here!

We spent one day in Kalona, Iowa and the surrounding area. We visited an Amish quilt shop - Little Prairie Fabrics. It is owned by three sisters that live next to it. I continued adding to my stash. The top fabric is a pale blue and the second is a light green (although I think it looks yellow). The rust red and the blue fabrics are wide backings.

As we walked the streets of Kalona, I had to take pictures of some of the quilt blocks in the sidewalks. They caught my attention the first time I visited there too.

We found Stitch 'n Sew Cottage right downtown in Kalona. It is a great shop with such helpful ladies. 

I wanted fabric to do a little redecorating and found this. (Something I need!)

I also found this kit for a Patriotic Door Banner and this wide Amish Squares on Navy backing. Although I don't need either, I'll use both. The clerk also slipped a nice pen into my bag.

While we were in Cedar Rapids, IA, we visited Frond Design Studio, one of my all-time favorite shops, in Fairfax, IA. I have been a fan of this shop since the very first time I took a step into the shop. It was a different name and in a different place then but still in the area. I forgot to take a picture of the store front - guess I was too excited to be there again!

I found MANY fabrics I wanted but settled on these. The five "plain" fabrics are all Plaster of Paris prints and the red with blue, white, and a little yellow is a wide back that I have purchased before. Stephanie Brandenburg, owner of Frond Design studios, designed this fabric for Northcott. I have talked with Stephanie before, but she wasn't there when we visited this week. The young lady working was just as helpful and a delight to visit with.

We had more shops to visit on our way home but when we left Cedar Rapids to head home, the air was heavy with smoke from the Canadian wildfires. Neither of us really wanted to get out of the car any more than necessary. Please keep those affected by the wildfires in your prayers. Even if one didn't lose property in the fires, I can't imagine being in that smoke very long.

It was time for a road trip!

We headed to Iowa for a week. The weather was warm, very warm, rather cool, rainy, sunny, cloudy - we had it all! 

We stopped at the American Gothic barn near Mt Vernon, Iowa.

We stayed at an Airbnb in Iowa City in the area of Rocky Shores Drive and River Street by the Iowa River. It was a neat neighborhood and one day while walking, we found the Little Kinnick House. There are many articles about the house and the locals all have stories to tell. It is designed just like the University of Iowa Kinnick Stadium.

We spent some time with friends Jim and Nancy in Iowa City and enjoyed a delicious meal at their home. It was wonderful to have time to sit, visit, and play games. They introduced us to pizza at Wig and Pen's and breakfast at The Encounter. We also enjoy the farmer's market and lunch at Heirloom. Ray and I spent some time shopping, quite a bit of time at quilt shops (another post), and took a few walks. We were staying right by the riverwalk which was wonderful. One day we visited the Amana Colonies and one day we visited Kalona, Iowa.

On June 13, our 53rd wedding anniversary, we left our 'home' in Iowa City, and moved to Cedar Rapids. On the way, we visited the University of Iowa Macbride Nature Recreation Area. There was a bird blind and Ray really wanted to take pictures of the birds. However, the birds didn't come so we went on to the Raptor Project.

"The mission of the Iowa Raptor Project is to connect students and the community to the conservation of birds of prey and their natural habitats through research and education opportunities ... We achieve our goal to preserve raptor populations and habitats through educational experiences that awaken awareness, nurture appreciation and inspire action, as well as through field research on raptor nesting habitats, migration routes, and wintering grounds...The Iowa Raptor Project currently displays 17 unreleasable birds of prey historically found in Iowa. The Iowa Raptor Project is open to the public, and we welcome visitors!" 

It was hard to get good pictures because of the double wires on the cages - I'm sure those double wires have saved many fingers!

There were hawks and beautiful owls.

There were a few people at the center. Most had children with them. I asked some of the kids, what raptor was the favorite. Every one of them said the bald eagle. I liked him too.

I also liked the peregrine falcon. 

We decided we should do a little celebrating, so we stopped at Dan and Debbies Creamery in Ely, Iowa. The homemade ice cream was fantastic! I thought I took pictures but I guess not.

We had an Airbnb in Cedar Rapids which was delightful. That first evening we spent with Ray's brother Ron, and his very special friend Pam, at the Cedar Rapids Kernals vs South Bend Cubs baseball game. We had front row seats - a first for all of us! It was a gorgeous, fun evening! Ray is holding Cracker Jacks which we just discovered were called Cracker Jills!

One of the Cubs coaches had some really cool socks.

Ray and I spent some time at Noelridge Park.

The flowers were just being planted.

We were able to visit the greenhouse at the park.

We loved the desert part,

the bananas, 

and the beautiful orchids.

Ray's camera battery died and his backup wasn't with us so he resorted to his cell phone camera!

We were able to do some walking at Lindale Mall on a very warm day. We spent our last evening with a wonderful dinner at Pam's home and enjoyed a gorgeous evening sitting by the pool.

We are now home and unpacked. Now we just have to adjust to laundry, cooking a little more healthy, giving up on the breakfast pastries that we loved, and getting back to normal. We'll leave all of that for tomorrow...

JGQR1B

Grandson J's quilt is just almost  finished - he will get it when we meet his family in Virginia in August so I still have plenty of time. I had a difficult time when I began making J's quilt and I ended up with 2 rejects before I hit the combination of fabrics and design that I wanted. I took the each of the first two quilts with the scraps and created two quilts for a total of 4 donation quilts. The finish I have is JGQR1B (J's Graduation Quilt Reject 1B), the second quilt made from the first bypassed quilt.

This quilt is 52" square and has been washed. The outdoor pictures show the true colors better.

I free-motion quilted this with my long-arm, using 40-wt Glide #10430 Battleship gray thread on the top and 40-wt Glide #17493 Bone thread on the bottom. The motif is a square stipple which is just a wandering stitch with squarish corners.

The back is a light gray fabric.

When I made the original quilt, I made it similar to a jelly roll race but used strips of fabric a little shorter and a little wider. When I decided that the quilt was a little light in color to use in a dorm room, I rejected it. The first remade quilt (not finished yet) is like the original. The second is made from pieces cut off of the first and a few scraps. I used four pieces (5.5" X 3") sewn together to make a 10.5" X 5.5" piece. I then sewed two of the strips together to make a 10.5" X 10.5" block. 

To make the quilt, I change the orientation of each block by 90 degrees.  Some of the original 5.5" X 3" pieces are made of two pieces of fabric because when I trimmed the original quilt, there were some seamed pieces and I chose to use them.

The weather here is VERY warm and we finally got 1/2" of much needed rain yesterday. It's good weather to stay in and sew!