My wife discovered the joys of quilting a few years ago. It’s a way for the artist inside her to be creative, and it also enables her to bless others with a gift she personally made for them. Quilting is one of her “happy places.”

So, when we were making plans for our vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Kim mentioned that she would enjoy visiting the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska, on our way back home.

We were able to visit the Museum on Tuesday.

Many of the quilts on display were patriotic, which makes sense given the fact that our country celebrated its 250th birthday a week and a half earlier. I enjoyed seeing some of the designs, but Kim spent quite a bit of time inches from the quilt, learning from and admiring the stitching.

I have to be honest and state the obvious. Looking at quilts was something so special to Kim … me, not so much. I love seeing my wife happy, but I find looking at quilts about as fun as watching grass grow.

However, one of the things I enjoy is history! (Kim and I listened to an audiobook on Teddy Roosevelt for hours and hours in our vehicle as we drove.) So, when I saw how old some of these quilts were, I was impressed.

Look at this next quilt. Its elaborate detail is impressive! But what really impressed me is that it’s around 225 years old! I took a close-up of the plaque beside this quilt. You can see it below, called “The Tree of Life.”

Here is the plaque beside the above quilt. It was created between 1790 and 1810. That means that as this quilt was being made, the President of the United States was either George Washington, John Adams, or Thomas Jefferson. That’s pretty cool to think about.

I won’t bore you with the details, but it was interesting to hear how this museum protects quilts and keeps the fabric from breaking down. We were told that once they get a quilt, they could, in theory, keep each quilt in a pristine condition for hundreds and hundreds of years.

The picture below shows Kim listening to one of the tour guides at the Museum.

Here’s another picture of Kim listening as the tour guide talked about the history of some of the quilts.

I didn’t like being in the quilt museum that much. In fact, I got in some reading time on my phone’s Kindle app. But I loved seeing Kim enjoying something so dear to her heart. I’m glad we went!