A "Girl Day" - Time To Play

Monday was a GREAT day - I took the entire day off to take a 350+ mile road trip with my friends Mary, Kimber, and Lorrie...and boy did we make the most of the day! We had been planning this "day away" for a few weeks...a visit AccuQuilt in Omaha, NE and retail therapy at a couple wonderful quilt shops and antique shops in the area. Since I was only able to take one friend on my prize-winning AccuQuilt trip, I really wanted some of my special local friends to share in my excitement by seeing my gigantic winning quilt block on display and have a "girls day" of shopping, lunching, and sightseeing.

Leaving West Des Moines bright and early, we headed straight to AccuQuilt for a tour. It is about a 2-hour drive...and it was quite fun to pull up to the building and see my quilt block in all it's glory once again. Inside, Carolyn took the four of us on an inspiring tour, where we got to see the new display in the AccuQuilt Gallery - "Quilts In Many Pieces". This new exhibit is based on a small selection of Linda Pumphrey's extensive collection of antique quilts from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century - the antique quilts inspired several AccuQuilt team members, along with Linda (GO!bal Sales Manager for AccuQuilt) and her mother, to create/recreate quilts using the AccuQuilt GO! fabric cutting system. The antique quilts were shown side-by-side with quilts made today using the GO! fabric cutter. The display was wonderful and all four of us were quite impressed - we took lots of photos and read about each of the quilts. Next, we were privileged to see the AccuQuilt Dream Studio...and although it was being put back together after an event, it was still amazing and I still want to spend my vacations everyday in there! Our tour continued through the warehouse, where staff members were happily packing and shipping orders...and I drooled at the racks and racks of AccuQuilt dies...I honestly wished I had a shopping cart and unlimited funds. At the conclusion of our tour, Steve Nabity (Chief Energizing Officer at AccuQuilt) came out of his office to greet us and take a photo...and we got to spend some quality time with Linda Pumphrey and all of the AccuQuilt team - everyone was enthusiastic and accommodating - and it was definitely a joy to take the tour and see my AccuQuilt friends - we had a GREAT time - seriously, working there would be my "dream job"! To read more about AccuQuilt's new headquarters and see additional photos, visit my post from June 25, 2012.

My gigantic barn quilt block greeted us as we arrived...

AccuQuilt Gallery
Left - Flowers and Hearts - c.1900
Right - Love Blossoms - Melissa Merriman - 2012

AccuQuilt Gallery
Left - English Hexagons - c.1840
Right - Diamonds are Forever - Linda Pumphrey - 2012

AccuQuilt Gallery
Left - Irish Chain with Flowers - c.1860
Right - 1860's meets 2012 - Carolyn Marsh - 2012

AccuQuilt Gallery
Left - Square in a Square - c.1890
Right - Patches of the Past- Barbara Scott - 2012

AccuQuilt Gallery
Bottom - Yo Yo's - 1930's - Mida Vesta Gieseker
Top - Yo Yo's Much Smaller - Mary Pumphrey - 2012

A lovely display in the Quilters Dream Studio...

A very fun sampler quilt in the Quilters Dream Studio...

Fabric and GO! dies in the the Dream Studio...aren't the fabric cupcakes adorable??

Pallets of GO! dies in the warehouse...

Racks of Studio dies....a girl can dream...

AccuQuilt Offices

After leaving AccuQuilt we headed to a marvelous quilt shop just a few minutes away (The Quilted Moose in Gretna, NE) for some retail therapy. I always enjoy visiting this shop, where gorgeous models are intermixed with bolts and bolts and bolts of fabric! It always takes me multiple trips throughout the shop to even begin to see everything and I always leave with a shopping bag full of inspiration for my latest projects...

The busy morning really helped us work up and appetite and we headed to our final destination - the town of Fremont, NE. I really wanted my friends to experience to warmth, charm, and hospitality of Main Street in Historic Fremont and visit a couple special places. We started off by having lunch at J's Steakhouse - this was a favorite when I visited in June...I was really hoping everyone would like it - and sure enough, we had a FABULOUS lunch! After lunch we visited two local antique shops - Park Avenue Antiques and Yankee Peddler West- and although it was quite warm in the afternoon, we enjoyed our browsing and did find a few items to purchase. Lorrie had the best finds, purchasing the largest antique wooden spool (bobbin) I have ever seen and a huge loom shuttle. Our last stop was (obviously) Country Traditions, where I got to see the friendliest staff on earth (I love the Country Traditions family!) - I just adore this shop - the atmosphere, the staff, and the selection are top notch - I couldn't wait to share this quilt shop gem with my girlfriends! The shop was decorated beautifully with new Christmas displays and bolts of fabric...making it extremely hard to narrow down my purchases. We shopped till we dropped and found lots of new stash to take home. To read more about Historic Fremont and the STELLAR Country Traditions (and see a bunch more photos), visit my blog post from June 24, 2012.

A (always) smiling Nicole working hard on a shop model - quilting and getting paid for it!

A Christmas tree decorated with fat quarters - LOVE IT!

On the two and a half hour drive home we talked at length about our day, our fun finds, and all the wonderful people we met along the way - it was a FABULOUS trip! It is always hard for me to take a day completely away from my desk, but this trip was well worth a vacation day - I am so glad I got to share some of my favorite places with my dear friends....it was great to spend the day laughing and catching up...and it definitely lifted my spirits and left me feeling refreshed and revived. Thank you so much to my girlfriends for making the day a complete joy...and thank you to the AccuQuilt family, the Quilted Moose, J's Steakhouse, and the entire staff at Country Traditions for making this a road trip to remember!

Sculptures and Shuttlecocks...

Two of the large "Shuttlecock" sculptures in front of the
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

As I mentioned yesterday, my husband and I just got back from a little vacation in Kansas City, MO - today I thought I would share some photos with you from the Kansas City Sculpture Park located on the grounds of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art...I just loved walking through the park after a lovely dinner at Houston's in the Plaza. The Sculpture Park is is 22-acres (park perimeter .7 miles) and is home to thirty-two sculptures, including the largest collection of monumental bronze sculptures by Henry Moore. One piece on the extensive grounds that definitely stands out is Shuttlecocks by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen...it is quite fun to see each of the four gigantic shuttlecocks placed strategically throughout the park! The walking tour has labels that identify and provide interpretive information for each sculpture...and there is a mobile guide tour available, as well. Walking through the park in the late evening was quite inspirational, as the shadows added to the artistic views...and I found it quite interesting to look at multiple views of each sculpture, as different angles provided unique perspectives. My absolute favorite sculpture is Ferment by Roxy Paine (two photos shown below) - a 56-foot stainless steel tree-like structure that investigates the the complex interrelationship between nature and technology....the label provided states: "'Ferment' is defined as a state of agitation or turbulent change. With it's twisting, gnarled branches, Paine's sculpture embodies the surging energy of creation, growth, transformation, decay and regeneration." It also states "It's organic, tree-like form also speaks profoundly to the dendritic (branching) structures of nature - from our bodies (torso, arms, hands, fingers) to vascular and neurological systems to river and deltas and erosion patterns to botanical branching".

I hope you enjoy my mini photo tour of the Kansas City Sculpture Park...
(Those of you on Instagram can see some additional photos I took on my smartphone - username: BRDGIRL)

Two-Piece Reclining Figure No. 9 - Henry Moore

Seated Woman - Henry Moore

Shuttlecocks - Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen

Sheep Piece - Henry Moore

Large Interior Form - Henry Moore

Large Torso: Arch - Henry Moore

Large Totem Head - Henry Moore

Ferment - Roxy Paine

Ferment - Roxy Paine

Three Bowls - Ursula von Rydingsvard

Ferryman - Tony Gragg

A Few Days Away

I am back in my studio after taking a few days off...my husband was on vacation last week...and since most of his weeks of vacation center around hunting and fishing trips, he decided to share a few days with me and take me down to Kansas City for a little rest and relaxation. What started out as an extremely stressful trip for me (just because I have a million deadlines and a huge pile of work to take care of right now), actually was quite enjoyable....and although I did take some work along with me, I did do my best to enjoy the time away. Kansas City (the city of fountains) is a good destination for us - it is only about three hours from our home - it has an old-world charm enriched by quaint outdoor parks, museums, shopping, and great dining. We stayed in a charming historical hotel that has been renovated to have modern conveniences...with a beautiful view of Country Club Plaza - and we were just moments away from many of our "go-to" destinations. My husband did a decent job of keeping my focus away from work and on the trip, as we visited some of my favorite places (the Kansas City Zoo, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and sculpture garden, shopping at the Plaza, and some delicious restaurants - just to name a few).

Even with the extreme heat wave, the Kansas City Zoo was enjoyable - we always enjoy this particular zoo - we arrived as the gates were opening (trying to take advantage of the cooler morning hours) and stayed for about half the day, taking advantage of the train, the tram, the African Sky Safari, and the boat ride. To our surprise, most of the animals were out and active...after a couple previous visits without seeing the Chimpanzees, we were surprised to see them up close...and we even got to see the hippopotamuses being fed. As always, I took a bunch of photos and picked some of my favorites to give you a little tour - I wish I could show you more (this is just a taste), they have so many amazing exhibits - click on any of the photos for a larger view....

Nikita the polar bear swimming in his 65-degree 140,000 gallon pool...

Springbok - taken from the Sky Safari - I just love the two that are nose to nose...

Perfectly posed Meerkat

Red-flanked Duiker

Blue Duiker

Saddle-Billed Stork

Western Lowland Gorilla

Three giraffes and an ostrich - taken from the Sky Safari...

The elusive chimpanzees...

My favorite photo of the day - Liberty the hippo cooling off...

Chilean Flamingos

So there you have it - my little photo tour of the Kansas City Zoo - I hope it was enjoyable...and I still have a few inspiring photos from the Sculpture Garden at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to share with you in the future...

For now, it is back to work - I have multiple models to stitch, new designs to prepare for printing, a newsletter to write, shipments to package, and sewing/quilting to complete - it is going to be a busy week!