Amish Museum Quilts

Gah! Where is my camera?! I've been working on a baby quilt with really cute sailboat fabric. I ran into some complications, and I'd love to show you my progress, but my camera has gone into hiding somewhere.

Yesterday the kids and I did a field trip to Chicago. We stopped at a cupcake place that was very good, but I like to bake and those cupcakes weren't really any better than the ones I make except that they use real buttercream and I do powdered sugar with much less butter for my icing... We planned to go to the Field Museum of Natural History. Unfortunately, we were running so late after a couple side trips that we just walked Michigan Avenue instead. I was weak and let each child pick out something from a store. Daughter got a cute set of stuff from American Girl Place. Did you know that they have a new "Historical" doll from the 1970's? That's how they get you over there... I wasn't the only 40 something mom at the display saying, "I used to have that when I was a kid!" Son could not get out of American Girl Place fast enough so we went to the Lego store and he picked out a set of basic pieces and people. This was an excellent purchase because the kids have been playing Legos all day long with no arguing and no complaining about there being nothing to eat in the house.

I went back into my photo files and found some Amish/Mennonite quilts I meant to share. This first one was on display at the Denver Museum of Art. I love the colors here. I usually want to pair up my blues with yellows or orange, but this inspires me to try to tone down my color choices.


This one was on display at a little museum in Shipshewana, Indiana. The museum explained all the history and theology of the Anabaptists and how the Amish and Mennonites are different. I won't go into it (martyrs are very important), but it was a very good little museum. Here again is the tame color palate, but that sparkle of red and pink are perfectly placed. This one is my favorite:


Lastly, this quilt was also on display at the same little museum. It pulsates with color. I've seen patterns for this sort of star (is it the Lone Star?) and it doesn't look that difficult, but those diamond shapes and their perfect points intimidate me:


Now.. where could that camera possibly be?