Crazy Quilt Challenge Project and Travels to Connecticut

The current topic on my YouTube channel, is the Challenge Project that I did for the 2019 Windsor, Connecticut Retreat in April.  You can find my YouTube channel by going to YouTube and searching for "Ivory Blush Roses" or through the link below, which will take you to Episode 2 - Planning, of the Challenge Project series:

link: Ivory Blush Roses - Challenge Project Episode 2 - Planning

Despite the cool wet spring weather, I had a lovely trip back east.  I decided to drive so that I could explore more of New England than I had previously seen.  I'm so glad I did!  I took 4 days to drive from Colorado to Connecticut, stopping overnight in both Des Moines and the Cleveland area to visit cousins and a good friend. On day 3, I stopped for what I thought would be a quick 1 hour visit to Niagra Falls.


The falls were amazing.  I had been there as a child, but somehow, the true scale of them had been forgotten.  When you see the people standing on the far side, it gives you a bit better idea of just how massive these falls are!  Though there was sun, it was a chilly day, about 45 degrees.  I walked all along the American side and ended up spending nearly 4 hours there.


After a night in Schnectedy, NY, I made the last bit of the journey to Hartford/Windsor, CT.  Along the way, I passed by two different covered bridges.  A bit more modest scale than the ones I've seen in Iowa, but lovely none the less!  This one also has the dubious honor of being the "Site of the first UFO Incident officially inducted into the US as historically true" I wouldn't have noticed the signs for it had it not been for another visitor to the bridge who was there because of that designation.  I just thought it was a pretty covered bridge!


I think this bridge might have actually been the gateway to someone's property, or maybe an exclusive neighborhood.  Sure was pretty!


Once I made it to Hartford, CT, I spent the afternoon at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, one of the oldest art museums in the country.  They had a nice collection and a lovely building.  I loved this painting by Edouard Manet. So striking and so much said with so few brushstrokes!


This was my favorite - an oil sketch by William Merrit Chase.  So simple, and I love that it has his notes.  Like the Manet painting, it says so much with so little.  And I love how it leaves much of the canvas uncovered!

Once in Windsor, CT, I met up with the other crazy quilters.  We had 3 lovely days stitching together, but it rained nearly the entire time!  But with great company, and beautiful crazy quilting to view and work on, I don't think it particularly bothered us at all!


The cherry blossoms didn't seem at all bothered by the damp!


And neither did the birch!