Over the holiday, my husband and I took off for a little adventure. We love doing this- picking some place on the map, not terribly far, but not terribly close either, and not knowing just what we will discover, taking off on an adventure. I looked up some places only a few hours from Chicago and of 24 quaint towns on a Midwest Living list, Cedarburg, Wisconsin caught our eye.
We booked a room at a sweet little B&B called Lillypad because it was cute (that was my reason) and the mom and pop place (that was his reason). It turned out to be a charming home away from home. Cedarburg was a perfect blend of picturesque Main-street shops, delicious dining and local wines, magical holiday ambiance, a bubbling, cheerful creekside and a rich heritage of woolen production.
Our first stop in Cedarburg was the Wisconsin Quilt Museum . Though I don't do a lot of quilting myself, I enjoy fiber art of all types. What my notions were was that we would find an old house filled with lots of old bed quilts.
I was blown away. A group of women, over 10 years, fundraised over a million dollars to restore a farmstead and build the museum of their dreams. Way to go ladies! That's a grassroots effort to further the art you love. Inspiring!
And the exhibit was equally impressive. Walking into their barn-gallery, there was a full sized crocodile quilt by Susan Carlson, an intricate fiber collage full of tiny stories and discoveries within the fabrics. Colors exploded off the walls, there was so much to take in, I was breathless. I don't remember how many pieces they had, but they were all art quilts and the theme was animals or insects. I was in my element........