Field trip! Inspired by Endangered Species

 Will County is at the other end of Chicagoland, 95 miles south of where we live.  For us it's a place to go through on the interstate when we are en route to points beyond.  This past Thursday it was our destination.  The Forest Preserve District of Will County is hosting the art quilt exhibit "Inspired by Endangered Species" through the end of July. 

We started at Four Rivers Environmental Education Center in Channahon, then went to Sugar Creek Administration Center in Joliet, and then to Isle a la Cache Museum. (The fourth site, Plum Creek, is 45 miles further east, too far for one day.) 

The quilts were made for a challenge coordinated  by Donna DeSoto for the Outside the Box Playgroup of Quilters Unlimited in Fairfax, VA.  She has coordinated other challenges that have resulted in traveling shows.

I splurged and bought the book. Not only does it include the artist statements with descriptions of their techniques but it also has information about each of the species, plant and animal, why they are endangered, and what needs to be done to restore healthy populations.  

Stevens enjoyed the recap, too. 

So, on to the quilts!  I took pictures of all of them. Here are highlights.  

Click on any photo to enlarge it and see the artist's name.

My favorite was the quokka.  We saw them in person on Rottnest Island off the Australian coast. 

Note that the artist used Australian print fabric.

The artist portrayed the plover eggs rather than the birds themselves. 

"Green alligators and long-necked geese, humpty-hump camels and chipanzees."  Bactrian camels have two humps like the letter B. Dromedary camels have one hump like the letter D.

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More about Four Rivers. 

We live at the north end of the Des Plaines River.

Boat landing at Four Rivers Env. Ed. Ctr.

The Isle a la Cache museum tells the story of the fur trade that provided the economic impetus to "open" the midwest to European settlement. 

New discoveries!