Kathy and I met when we were in library school. We kept contact over the decades, mostly at Christmas time. When her husband had a conference in Portland she and her then-young children came to visit me in Auburn. We also met at a couple of library conferences, including PLA in the other Portland (2010). Since then Facebook has made updates and contacts easy and plentiful. It was so nice to visit her at home and to (finally) meet her husband. And I appreciated their hospitality: dinner, bed, and breakfast!
Just west of Coralville I saw signs for Kalona. I didn't have to be in Des Moines until mid afternoon so I pulled off the Interstate. It turned out that that was the long, rather than the direct, route to Kalona but I got to see the lush farmland and enjoy the rolling hills (better in daytime on dry pavement!).
Kalona is a Mennonite/Amish settlement. (See this post from our 2014 Lancaster trip.) I saw several horse-drawn buggies.
The historical village has an assortment of old buildings -- a church, the depot, a house, etc. -- and a (modern) brick museum/archives building.
There are two quilt galleries with permanent exhibits, one for Amish and the other for "English," the term for non-Amish, regardless of actual origin. There was no explanation why the English exhibit was only crazy quilts and no other style.
(I chose nine of each type for the collage photos. There are more than these.)
The gallery also featured a collection of spool cabinets. I had no idea they came in so many styles!
I got back on the highway and pushed on to my destination: Des Moines and the P.E.O. convention.
[Even though these quilts aren't on my design wall, I'll share them with other bloggers. Design Wall Monday
Monday Making ]
It’s such a treat to visit local museums. I always enjoy the enthusiasm of the docents and the quirkiness of the collections. Location takes precedence over artistic value. Not that they aren’t artistic, but it’s more important that it was made in the area.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your conference and meeting up with friends.
What an interesting collection of quilts. The top left Mennonite quilt is absolutely stunning -- wonderful use of color in what is a pretty basic quilt. Sounds like you had a great time.
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