Home from Tripping

 

For some reason Blogger will not let me move this photo down to enter type above it, so my trip's story will start with this great quilt shop--Helen's Hen House in Florissant, MO.  

It is in a restored late 1860's house that is now on the historical register.  Downstairs is the quilt shop; upstairs there is a weaving shop.

I had to buy the kit for this turkey mini quilt that greeted all visitors to the rear entry door. 

 Across the lawn from the house is the barn, and right next door beyond the barn was the hotel I stayed in.  Talk about convenience for a quilter! 

 Yummy wools filled the entry to the shop, which was probably the home's back service porch in the days it was a family residence. 

 I loved all the original moldings, transom windows, and ceiling medallions, its worn wooden floors and fireplaces in many of the rooms.

 The shop was chock full of the CW reproduction prints and colors that I love and which are not available in my area in such abundance.

 This was the ceiling in the shop's classroom, obviously the former dining room.  Can you picture how it might have looked when the plaster was freshly painted?

 I could not get a shot of the front of this grand house straight on--I would have had to levitate over the freeway access road--but it is still a lovely thing with all the trim and columns. 

 On the drive to my sister Kathy's house I passed a haunted graveyard....

...and a lot of colorful fall trees.  This scarlet one was my favorite.  But let me back up:  Our adventures began right away when I arrived in St. Louis on Wednesday.  Kathy drove over to the hotel soon after I checked in and we went on a rescue mission--her daughter Caitlin was out on a date and the date's car had blown a tire on the freeway.  So Kathy directed me in my rental car as we drove in a few circles before we could see where they were on the side of the road, then had to go around again to stop and pick them up.  Hazard lights and people running across the freeway access road!  We left them at home to finish their date with order-in pizza and video gaming, and went off to dinner by ourselves.  It was the next morning that I visited the quilt shop next to the hotel. I would not have known about the shop without the help of another St. Louis resident, Cherie, from Quilted Jonquil.  I had emailed her prior to my trip and she was graciously excited about getting to meet a fellow blogger.  We made arrangements to run into each other closer to her work, so she suggested The Quilted Fox, another terrific quilt shop.

The shop's employees were interested in our Blogger's Meet and Greet there and snapped this photo of my sister, me, and Cherie, making sure fabric was our background.  Lots of great gals work there and it is another shop full of wonderful fabric, including batiks, Asian, Australian and African prints in addition to repros and modern sections. 

Cherie and I both contributed words to Tonya's Ricucci's free-pieced letter quilt that made the cover of her book, Word Play Quilts.  It was my sister's idea to have us each point to our word after we found the shop carried the book.  Kathy thinks all the contributors should get together to be photographed with the book.  That would be fun, wouldn't it?  Cherie joined us for lunch and we enjoyed spending time swapping stories.  Cherie is a busy quilter with a lovely, sunny and vibrant personality and it was wonderful to meet her. 

Look at all that loot!  We talked so much at The Quilted Fox that I only managed to buy the two polka fat quarters in the middle of the photo.  The rest came from Helen's Hen House:  Two grab bags of brown scraps on the clearance shelf, a one yd cut of fun fish fabric, some repro fat quarters, and the turkey mini quilt kit.  After a quick three days of some much needed Quality Sister Kathy Time in St. Louis, I got back on the plane and headed for home, landing in Phoenix for an overnight stay with my brother and family, and to see DD Erica.  One of my nieces was on a sleepover so I was given her room, and her roommate:

This fuzzy photo is of Rufus, her approximately 8 month old Ragdoll kitten.  He was an incredibly soft and charming companion and didn't keep me awake, hardly weighing a thing at this point.  Someday he may make it up to 20 pounds.  My brother Ted and I then flew back together to SoCalif, landing in Santa Barbara.  My generous brother upgraded us to first class (my first time!), a great ending to a quick jaunt.  And now, back to our regular programming...

Midwest Travels--Part I

So I flew into St. Louis on Wednesday night and after a bit of a late start Thursday--no matter--my sister Kathy and I got on the road.  We drove through downtown St. Louis to reach our highway and took a short detour so Kathy could show me the huge Cavalia tents practically at the foot of the federal building she works in.  This very popular "Cirque de Soleil" type show with horses has been held over twice in St. Louis.

Kathy and her daughter had seen the show from the front row--as a spectacular gift from her roommate--and raved about it.  Then we drove along the waterfront so I could get some pics of the St. Louis Arch, Gateway to the West.  Along the way, we saw a horse with some different colors:

This Percheron with pretty painted hooves and his carriage were awaiting some fares at the base of the Gateway Arch...

with the Mighty Mississippi River before them.  My timing seemed to be perfect as this riverboat passed under the bridge just as a pleasure boat approached.  Only my sister--a dog lover with a current total of 6 Cavalier spaniels plus one Cairn terrier--would point out there was a dog on the motorboat!

It is hard to gauge just how tall the Gateway Arch is, from a distance.

Got a better idea now?

See those tiny windows?  The view from 630 feet up is pretty incredible.  Going up inside the Arch is an adventure in itself--Kathy took me on that ride many years ago, the first time I visited St. Louis.

Lewis and Clark, the well known western explorers, captured in bronze on the banks.

Another bit of timing luck, as a train crossed my scene as I shot this stone arch bridge. Finally we turned away from these interesting scenes for many miles of other views through two states...

Endless farmlands stretching out through Illinois and Indiana...

...interspersed with forests leafing out in every shade of spring green.

These 80 foot trees were luscious to stand beneath at a roadside rest stop.  Kentucky brought some hills and rocks and wound through downtown Louisville along the Ohio River.  No pics of that, since it was my turn to drive.  Finally, long after dark, we arrived at Cousin Florence's house in Mason, Ohio and dug into the wonderful homemade chicken cacciatore she had made, while catching up with her and our mom, and talking about the next day's adventures.  Part II to follow!