Athens OH, Saturday 23 May 2015

I made the trip to Athens to visit Quilt National at the Dairy Barn. I was down the road from the place but ended up doing a ridiculous loop as I have absolutely no sense of direction. I’ve always been like this, and it can be so frustrating.

The minute I walked through the entry I felt at home. The work was amazing: big, bold, detailed, exciting, arty, colourful, subtle, complex, painterly – all of these adjectives came to mind as I observed the work.

The organisers of the breakfast got it perfectly right. There was a table set out with a variety of sliced fruit and mini muffins (I had to try the chocolate and pumpkin – good!).

More than 60 artists were present and gave a 2 minute talk relating to their work. With 100 of us milling around, we didn’t get perfect full view of the pieces, but that was OK as we had time later to visit and revisit them.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, so most of us had lunch at the picnic tables outside. Then it was time for more of the SAQA Symposium program. The jurors talked about how they selected the work. One session featured the Merbaum Collection, and then there was a panel of four artists who had had multiple pieces accepted into Quilt National over the years. In between I got some artist signatures in my catalogue and had lovely little chats.

A cute reminder of the original purpose of the building.

Paducah KY to Athens OH, Friday 22 May 2015

I still had the car – my plan was to keep it until I needed to be at the airport for my flight this afternoon. I was over hotel breakfasts. Sure they are free, but there is pretty much nothing that is not processed. You can smell the chemicals as you walk by. So I ate at IHOP – it was as good as I remembered. I tried the Country Fried steak with gravy. Mmmm.

At the Quilting Museum I saw some amazing miniatures. The work of Diane Gaudynski was amazing to see close up. I also saw a SAQA exhibition ‘Food for Thought’. The other quilts were nice, but a tad on the boring side I have to say.

In a side room was ‘quilt’ carved from wood by Fraser Smith. Photography was not allowed anywhere in the museum, but there was a sample piece of his work that you could handle and photograph.

I loved the stained glass windows in the foyer area.

Paducah also has a Quilt Trail, so of course I had to try to find some quilts on buildings.

Quite a few were also on the Quilt in a Day warehouse building.

What a welcoming little area!

Relatively new to the scene is this maker space called (surprise!) Make. I loved it!

Today was sunny which changed my feelings about Paducah for the positive.

I left Paducah on a 4pm flight, heading for Coumbus Ohio via Chicago. At Columbus I picked up a car and drove to Athens. I should have gone south, but headed east at first. I knew something was wrong when the road started getting narrower and narrower and more suburban. Thank god for wireless and mobile phones. I checked the map and got on track.

I finally checked in at midnight. Even the longest day comes to an end.

Day Trip to Paris TN, Thursday 21 May 2015

As I had a car I figured I should go for a little drive. I noticed that Murray had a barn quilt trail, and then I spotted a town not far from there called Paris. How could I refuse?

On the way I found a fabulous Harley Davidson store that looked like an old paddle steamer.

At Murray I had a Culver’s frozen custard. So smooth!

I was excited to find a barn quilt!

Next stop was a major antiquing town called Hazel. It’s right on the Kentucky/Tennessee border

Paris Tennessee – a nice town! I visited the Post Office to post some more goodies home. Not cheap, but then, if my bags are overweight, I can’t take them home at all.

Fun!

Paducah KY, Wednesday 20 May 2015

My plan for today was to walk to Hancock’s, walk to Kentucky Oaks Mall, then get a cab to the airport). I got to Hancock’s via quiet roads. What a mecca!

I then chickened out and called a cab as the road in this area was a lot busier, and it was starting to rain. My gorgeous little runaround for the next few days

I enjoyed a great shrimp taco at Red Lobster and had a lovely chat with the server. I walked in and out of the mall – nothing much to see there – and then headed for downtown. At an antique mall, I spotted this gorgeous bird. I was told it was stitched by a lady in her 80s who uses vintage materials in her creations.

The weather was quite dismal, and the Lower Town area was very quiet.

I was pleased to visit the Yeiser Arts Centre which had some fabulous textile pieces. 

Paducah KY, Tuesday 19 May 2015

Another day, another plane flight. Today I was heading towards Paducah. I almost guffawed when I saw this in the airport at Chicago.

Arriving at the Barkley Airport that services Paducah is like stepping back in time. You walk down stairs onto the tarmac and walk into a small terminal building. There is no carousel, just a short-ish conveyor belt for the checked bags. I was expecting a few cabs or a bus, but there was nothing. So I ended up calling the local cab service which was a hoot. The driver turned up in a mini van, and had to move his kid’s backpack so I could sit down.

I thought I’d be able to easily walk around and see what I wanted to see, but the distances were much greater than I realized, and the locals were quite shocked when I mentioned that I wanted to walk. I decided it would be best to hire a car while I was here.

Chicago IL, Monday 18 May, 2015

It was a super early trip to the airport. I’d been advised to be there 2 hours ahead – which meant being at the airport at 4.30, which meant being downstairs for the town car at 4am. The line for check in was literally out the door of the terminal – way out the door of the terminal! The line did move fast, and the checkin process via machine was all good. Going through security has not been a fun process at all. So many locals are cheerful – chirpy even – about what they have to go through, no doubt feeling comforted by the uniforms and the inconvenience. I wasn’t impressed that my General Tso’s chicken Sauce ended up in the bin because it was more than the magical maximum volume of liquids allowed.

I took the light rail into town – it was a fabulously warm day. As in most cities, there is plenty to see and enjoy just by walking around. Inside the old Public Library building was the most spectacular Tiffany glass mosaic work – literally breathtaking!

Everyone is automatically drawn to the ‘bean’ in Millenium Park – it is amazing. Outside

underneath

I had fried cheese curds (basically pieces of mozzarella battered and fried). Yes, it was as rich as it sounds!

There is much to enjoy in this park – although my goodness it’s not known as the windy city for nothing! It was particularly enjoyable to hear the giggles and laughter of the kids splashing around in the water –

You can see the power of the wind

Fun little critter on the crosswalk

I was reminded of the big craze from a few decades ago where cows were decorated/embellished by artists and auctioned for charity – it all started here.

I also got to see The Rookery Building, refurbished by Frank Lloyd Wright

The river looked magical.

Minneapolis MN, Sunday 17 May 2015

What a glorious day – 70 degrees! See?

It was the perfect day to head down to the waterfront. A bit of interest at the entry of a downtown building -

The Phoenix rising sculpture has a cast base of tools

A quirky multi-piece sculpture outside the front of the Courthouse

A fun ad makes a serious point

The path along the Mississippi River was pretty busy with walkers and cyclists

Later on I saw a Pedal Pub!

Minneapolis MN, Saturday 16 May 2015

The Mall of America is very easy to get to from downtown Minneapolis: the light rail takes you right there. It was a short 3 block walk from the hotel, which gave me a chance to soak in more of the city. I liked this curvy staircase

and was also taken with this vintage car

Minneapolis is another bike-friendly city – bikes for hire are dotted around the city in the system called ‘Nice Ride’, and there’s room to take them on the light rail as well

The Mall is big, with shops around the perimeter and a fun park or two in the middle. I liked this fun area – you can sit in the ‘canoe’ and have your picture taken – a map of Minnesota is on the floor.

I loved the Lego store. There was a huge wall of colour coded bricks to choose from, pre-packaged sets, plus characters like this –

I was struck by the glittery cascades over the atrium.

In the Nordstrom Café I tried my first French Dip sandwich – very yummy.