When Iowa Calls

I hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day.  Last year at this time I was having an awful time of it in the hospital, recovering from yet another of my surgeries. My family visited and all I remember is that I could only eat  a liquid/soft diet. Seems so far away now and, even though my daughter is still away at school, this Mother's Day was so much better, as you can imagine. Yesterday, my husband and son took me out to a nice place for an early dinner to make up for it. And then my son, the starving graduate student, "let" me buy him a new pair of jeans and some groceries. After all, what's a mother for?

My trip to Iowa last week was great. Everyone in Grinnell was so pleasant and I almost didn't want to leave. My first class was located at Cornerstone Quilts, a great quaint shop in  downtown Grinnell.

Another of my classes was located on the Grinnell College campus, which was just lovely. Orange Peels were the order of the day and featured in one of my favorite quilts.

I enjoyed seeing the variety of  colors and prints my students used to make theirs -

Barb looks tickled pink.

Jean is having so much fun with color . . .

The ideal class allows some time for hand stitching and more than a little time for relaxing chatter as well.

And I like seeing lots of smiling faces too!

The ladies suggested that we stop at the Amana Colonies on the way home for a look at this group of villages with old world charm and a nice selection of craft shops and restaurants.

Handcrafted gifts by Iowans, what could be better?

 

 

More than a few antiques shops and  . . .

 . . . lucky me - another lovely quilt shop!

One of the little quilts from my latest book The Civil War Sewing Circle -  done in blues and browns. So cute.

They had a nice selection of stitchery patterns too.

Chris at Heritage Designs - a Top 10 Quilt Shop. Make sure you stop by if you're in Amana.

I could have spent a lot more time in this place but we were anxious to get home as we still had quite a long drive back to Chicago.

I love driving around the country, stopping at towns I might never have had a chance to see if I weren't visiting guilds. I know many of you travel to more exotic places and while Iowa may not be the most glamorous place to visit, as Oprah says - this I know - Iowa will be calling me again and I won't hang up. I'll be going back, that's for sure.