Stitch a Memory

It's been a long time since I posted last.  I took some time off this summer to go on a road trip with my family.  We went from Minnesota to North Carolina and stopped several times along the way. It was amazing.  America is so beautiful!

My husband is our driver in the family.  I got the kids ready with activities, audio books, and a DVD player in the back.  I packed a little pack of art supplies for myself.  I thought small for this trip... no sketchbook or watercolors... this time my medium was going to be fibers.  Here's what I had in my pack.

I brought my sewing kit (previous post),  some plastic hexagon templates, small embroidery hoop. embroidery floss, needles, and my embroidery pocket guide. It was small and easy to work on in the car.

Then when we had a long drive, I would ask the family what really stuck out to them as far as imagery from the last stop. It was really a team effort. I have a good start on our trip, but there is a LOT that I still will be adding.  

Here's some of the inspiration so far.

We stopped in Mason City Iowa to see some Frank Lloyd Wright houses.  We had a little sushi on this stop. 

In St. Louis, Missouri we went up in the gateway arch.  It was way cooler than expected.  I was in awe of its size when you are close to it.  We also found a great city garden as we stopped for some food truck lunch. I'm still trying to work out what sculpture I want to represent for that stop. Then we went to the craziest place I have ever been to... The City Museum. Holy over stimulating! Words can not explain what this place is like... and it was hard... very hard to pick an image to create.  We chose to represent this whimsical wonderland with a whale.  You just have to go to understand.

We stopped in Nashville, Tennessee and had a great time checking that place out.  Thanks to Cassie Stephens for some great suggestions... however, I have not represented this great city in imagery yet.  That is true of Metropolis, Illinois as well. Great experience... but still working on the picture to represent it. 

In Crooksville, Tennessee, Road Side America suggested stopping to see this pink Elephant... Well, why not :) We were also listening to The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.  What a wonderful book... it too has an elephant in the story.

We went Glamping near Gatlinburg, Tennessee at Camp LeConte. 'Glamping' is Glamorous Camping... and it was so much fun.  We had beds, a cooler, and even air conditioning.  A clean and rather glamorous showers and toilets, a pool, bean bag toss (I refuse to call it corn hole) and ping pong. The kids had a blast with this location.  I thought it was adorable. 

While in the Smokey Mountains we did a zip line and white water rafting excursion. We went with a company called Wild Water who did a package deal. It was a lot of fun for sure. The mountains themselves is a hexagon that I'm working on right now. It's hard to translate such a vast image into a little, tiny hexagon.

My Mini Matisse loves the mini bottles at all the hotels.  She loved being pampered and 'living the good life' as she kept saying.  She mentioned the little shampoo bottles every time we went to a new location so I had to make a little bottle for her. 

Our final destination was North Carolina.  We went to Asheville to visit my friend Erica McClain.  She and I did our senior show at Stout for our BA.  This talented woman has makes some of the cutest stuffed animals that I have ever seen.  She also does some cute cloud pillows and vintage, child dresses. You have to check out her Instagram.  My kids were lucky enough to each get a Winky Rat from Erica. That to us, was the best image to create to represent Ashville. 

Then onto Louisville, Kentucky... We went to the Sluggers Museum. My son loved seeing both the lego exhibit and how the bats are made at this stop.  We had a lot of fun with this one.

Mom and Dad got to choose the next stop. We both enjoy Angels Envy and we were so excited to tour the facility.  Wow!! That place is beautiful! They also have great employees.  Our tour guide, Brent, was both knowledgeable and personable. If you go, be sure to have him take your picture.  He's a really good photographer. 

These have been so fun to create. What am I going to do with all these treasures?? Great question.  I was hoping to reach out to my PLN (Professional Learning Network) to see what you thought.  What should I make these little hexagons into? Leave it in a comment if you have a great link or idea. Thanks, guys.