Chicago Visit
I took a trip with my local senior center to visit Chicago. We packed a lot into two days. We left at 6:30 a.m. Monday and didn't get home until midnight on Tuesday. Monday afternoon we visited the Field Museum to see the King Tut exhibit. No pictures were allowed. It was crowed but they limited and attempted to space out the visitors. The items were nicely displayed and I rented ear phone to listen to the information. This made it much easier than trying to get into position to read it. My favorites were King Tut's childhood chair and a crown. Lots of gold here but no quilts. :)


At the Navy Pier the Illinois Sate Museum was having a special display of Amish quilts from their state. They were nicely displayed and documented. Next door was a store where they sold items made by people in Illinois. They also sold the book Illinois Amish Quilts and it contains many of the quilts in the display. I bought the paper back version. I didn't realize the Amish ever made crazy quilts. But I do know each Amish community is different and follows the rules of its Bishop. The quilt on the cover was made by Elizabeth Kauffman Hershberger in 1901 in Arthur, Illinois and she actually put her initials and the date on it. This was rarely done. The quilt includes golds, red, purples and blacks. Some of the fabric is silk and some is valour. Of course the Amish did not use these fabrics in their clothing so it is assumed that their "English" (anyone who is not Amish) neighbors gave them these scraps. It is foundation pieced but also highly quilted. The border is the heart and cable design.