Wyoming Breezes

street signs in Hamilton, MO August 2015

Four Seasons in front of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Kansas, MO July 2015 Last summer, Marilyn, Brenda, and I visited The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art . The featured outdoor sculptures were the Four Seasons , created by Philip Haas, displayed in front of the museum building.  I didn't care for the "summer" sculpture, so I didn't take a photo of it. The sculptures were 15 feet tall, and three-dimensional. Spring Fall Winter The artist had quite an imagination: I love the whiskers on Winter.

Tourists with selfie sticks photographing Shuttlecocks Kansas City, MO August 2015 On the grounds of the  Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art  in Kansas City, MO are several large badminton shuttlecocks, and they were a delight to see on both sides of the museum. It appears that some giants were once playing badminton, using the museum building as the net, and simply left the shuttlecocks strewn on the expanse of grass. According to the museum website, these works of art were created by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Brugge in 1994. The sculptures are made out of aluminum, fiberglass-reinforced plastic, and paint. Each shuttlecock is 19 feet 2 9/16 inches high and 15 feet 11 7/8 inches in diameter and weighs approximately 5,500 pounds.

artist working on a new mural Hamilton, MO August 2015 It was fascinating to see this man working on a new mural for the Missouri Star Quilt Company. The building was next to a small coffee shop where we popped in to purchase a cold drink. mural in progress Missouri Star Quilt Company Hamilton, MO August 2015 We went further down the street, and when we turned around to go back to the car, we could see the progress that he had made. How I would love to see the finished mural that appears to be a large farm house, probably with quilts on the porch.

Missouri Star Quilt Mural painted on the side of the Retreat Center Hamilton, MO August 2015 It was fun to see the large mural on the side of the Retreat Center. The quilt, shown above, features the signature block for the Missouri Star Quilt Company - the Missouri Star. A tutorial on how to make the block and the quilt can be found here .

Window Display Missouri Star Mercantile Hamilton, MO August 2015

Marilyn and Brenda outside the original Missouri Star Quilt Company store Hamilton, MO August 2015 Brenda, Marilyn, and I saw numerous interesting and fun things on our August road trip across Kansas, but our primary destination was the Missouri Star Quilt Company (MSQC) in Hamilton, MO. I would be willing to bet that eight out of ten quilters have seen at least one of Jenny Doan's many YouTube quilting videos. Jenny Doan and her family started with the original store (shown above) in 2008 and have since expanded the business by purchasing and refurbishing other old buildings in the small town. They have turned Hamilton, MO into a quilting mecca. The MSQC has six fabric shops:    Main (original) shop      Sew Seasonal  (featuring fabrics for specific seasons)   Batiks Shop   Licensed to Sew  (trademark fabrics, i.e. sport teams, cartoon characters, brand names)   Penney's Quilt Shop (featuring solid...

aerial view of Glass Labyrinth Kansas City, MO source One of the most interesting places we visited in August was the Glass Labyrinth in Kansas City, MO. The labyrinth is located on the grounds of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art . The  museum was closed by the time that we arrived, but the labyrinth is located in the large sculpture garden on the grounds and is easily accessible and free. The sign at the entrance warns people to walk slowly, but we saw several places on the glass where people had done face plants into the heavy glass panes because it was difficult to determine where the openings were for the next path. Brenda and I were constantly waving our hands to find the next opening. Brenda and I wanted to walk the labyrinth, but Marilyn opted out and sat on a nearby park bench and snapped a few photos of us. It was a miserably hot day, and walking through between the huge panes of glass was almost suffocating. Nancy and Brenda working their way to the ce...