Mississinewa 1812 (part 1)

Well folks, I'm back!!  What an amazing trip it was and boy oh boy do I have stories for you.  Let me tell you the story of our trip, probably in a few posts.

Thursday morning, bright and early before Big D woke up, JM and I left town for our trip. Destination: Mississinewa 1812

We packed the night before, had all of our documents and cash in order and had composed the most EPIC road trip playlist ever in existence.  We made it through the border without incident and we were officially out of our country and on vacation!

Our first stop was Cabela's in Grand Forks.  Big D is, well, big.  At 6'7" tall, he is ridiculously hard to clothe.  Most stores, including our Cabela's, don't stock his size all that often if ever.  We managed to find him a winter jacket that was half price AND in his size.  He was so happy about it, that last night after I got home and gave it to him, he had to try it on with the rest of his hunting gear to see how he looked.

We stopped for lunch in Fargo, and then headed on out to Minneapolis.  What awaited us there was amazing!!

Neither of us had ever been to a Jo-Ann's Fabric before and boy were we pleased with what we found.  I spent quite a bit of cash, but came out with at least three times the fabric I would have at any fabric store up here!!  My favourite find was this bird fabric.

I was in love with it for one reason only.  Last Christmas, I went to the Manitoba Museum with my family.  In one gallery, called The Nonsuch, there was this little painting.  I've been going to this museum my entire life but somehow managed to miss it until that trip.

Since then, I have been taken with the idea on how to draw from this for a quilt. I had done a sketch for an applique to make a small wall hanging.  I think it will now be incorporated into a full sized quilt using all these wonderful fabrics.

(the top right and bottom left fabrics are more gold than the peachy colour they appear to be in this picture)

I still need to find some green fabric to pull in all the colours from the painting, but I think I'm off to a good start.

After Jo-Ann's Fabric, we gassed up and headed to JM's sister's place for dinner and a quick visit.  It was so lovely of them to let us dine and dash and it really made a huge difference.  It was the perfect break needed during a long road trip.  Wisconsin was quiet and we talked and listened to music.  We were getting more and more excited as we neared Illinois realizing we were almost in the home stretch of our trip there....when we hit Chicago.

I live in a fairly large city, not the biggest in Canada but large enough.  We don't have freeways like some Canadian cities, but I'm no stranger to highway and interstate driving.  This was beyond anything I could have prepared for.  Despite having the GPS, JM ready with toll money and him being the calming voice in the car as I lost it trying to navigate this twisty turning multi-level high way system, we came up with one way to sum up that portion of the trip.

After our heart rates returned to normal and we managed to calm ourselves down, the rest of the ride was uneventful.  It was beautiful as we approached Marion, Indiana and the site of the Battle of Mississinewa, the sun came up over the hilly countryside.  It was absolutely breathtaking!

Day one of our trip was over, but we had finally reached our destination.  We likely would have made it a lot sooner, but it was nice to stop along the way to shop and visit.

I hope to have a second post up soon with the events and sights of Mississinewa, but it's WAY too much to have as one post.  There is so much crafty historical goodness!!!

Inspiration

People that know me in real life know that I am anything but ordinary.  I hate to follow the crowd and I usually make every attempt to make my own path.  My mom can attest to this fact as she says I usually choose the hardest way to do anything.  I see it differently.  Yes, I have made some silly decisions and some down right stupid ones, but there is too much to try, learn and experience.  You can find inspiration in everything thing and that's what I want to talk about.

Given the nature of this blog, you may think I'm referring to the inspiration we find to make new crafts.  You've seen some of my work in my design of the Harry Potter quilts adapted from Rosemary's knitting pattern.  I also have many other scribbles and ideas on the go for different items to create.  This gets me to wondering how we came up with the inspiration to start these projects in the first place.  I talk about it briefly in my “about me” section about where my passion for crafting comes from, but it doesn't really do it justice. 

The first memory I have of sewing is being about two or three years old.  I had a brand new cradle for my favorite baby doll and I requested bedding for it.  I remember sitting on my Mom's lap at her sewing machine helping her.  I'm sure all I did was help guide the fabric, if that, but I do remember telling her I could do it on my own.  This was my first taste of sewing but not nearly my last.

The first quilting project I remember my mom making was a lap quilt from a weekend quilting class out of the leisure guide.  I saw her doing the finishing touches at home and begged her to make one for me.  She did and I used it for many years until I outgrew the pink and purple designs.  It's now put away with some of my keepsakes at my Parents' place.

I asked my Mom to take a picture of it and e-mail it to me so I could share it with all of you.  Instead, she took a picture of every quilt they had in the house.  Some I had forgotten were even there, but looking at each one brings me warm memories. (No pun intended for those who have been pointing out my horrible jokes as of late! You know who you are!!).

This is the first one I watched my Mom finish.  She tells me it was 1991 when she made it to match her newly redecorated bedroom.

This is the quilt my Mom made for me shortly after she finished the one for her bedroom.

This quilt was made by my Mom some time around 1979.

My paternal great-Grandma made this quilt.  It's not very pretty but it is the WARMEST quilt you will ever find.  The quilt top is made of very heavy wool and the back is a thick flannel.  Whenever the temperature gets too cold, or someone comes down with a flu, this is THE go to quilt!

This quilt was also made by my great-Grandma.  It's much more attractive than the first, but not nearly as warm.  I used to keep this one on my bed when I lived at home because it matched the purple in my room.

This quilt was started by my Mom and my Grandma but not finished until my Mom decided to do so after my Grandma passed away.

It's quite easy to say that my Mom has had the greatest influence getting me to where I am and fueling my passion for crafting.  My Grandma was a large influence on my knitting, but my Mom has taught me everything I know about sewing.  From my first experience sitting on her lap at the sewing machine, things only grew from there.  My Mom made us outfits when we were young and then taught me how to make my own as I grew up, just as her Mom had.  The two of us picked out and made my high school graduation dress together.  The list goes on and on.

I realize this is not just a hobby or part of being a "crazy crafting cat lady", this is part of my family history and part of me.  It's so neat to discover once you finally put all the pieces together. (Again! not a bad quilting pun so don't even start!)

I would love to hear about your inspiration for what you do.  Leave it in the comments below!  Who knows, maybe you will be able to inspire one of my readers!