Antiquing Through Virginia!

Inspiration comes from EVERYWHERE! Even one of the churches that one guild used as their meeting place had 4 patches of tiles in the bathroom floor! You know....it's EVERYWHERE. And I am so inspired by what I find. I know it isn't always something that is unique or one of a kind. It isn't anything I can claim as my own. But I am inspired none the less.

Not all of us want to reinvent the wheel when it comes to a pattern design..we want to reach back to the past and connect with quilters gone by, and pick up the needle where they left it. I'm grateful for the simplicity in their designs. I'm grateful that some of them pushed past the boundaries of preconceived notions and used what they had whether it matched or not.

This trip left me with wonderful inspiration. I did bring home two quilts that I absolutely love....however, the camera battery is dead as a doornail and is charging as I type. When I can get pics in the day light with a charged battery, you'll get pics. Probably tomorrow.


Antiquing through Virginia, Jan 09
However...I was able to take pics off the memory card and upload them to a slideshow for you!

My travels took me up I-77 to I-81...past Roanoke (one of my favorite places on earth!) up past Harrisonburg and to Mt Jackson. The wonderful lady I stayed with lived in Mt Jackson, and we traveled back and forth for the workshops, etc.

I can tell I've lived south for too long. I forgot completely about my "emergency" can of diet coke in the backseat.....good thing we had removed the body bags of quilts from the car, because the next morning I was left wondering what this brown condensation was on the inside of my car roof! Uhhuh. I'll have to oxyclean that one out! The can of coke exploded. I can see it....all of us tucked snug in our beds, somewhere around 3am, while this spraying and spritzing is going on inside of my car. Oh well. If you can't laugh, then something's wrong, right? It will clean. Too bad we missed the show! It got to a whopping -9 degrees that morning.

I left Harrisonburg on Saturday, feeling uplifted from two great workshops and a trunkshow, my only regret being that the Virginia Quilt Museum is CLOSED during the month of January. I'll just have to go back.

I arrived Saturday evening in Alexandria, and Lynne was to be my hostess with the mostess for the entire week I was there. I love her and her hubby! Lynne and I have a common friend, so it was very much like "Any friend of Aby is a friend of mine..." and we fell right into step. They have a wonderful townhouse close to DC. Needless to say though, we didn't wander into DC during the inaugeration. Not only was it too cold,but we both agreed we'd rather be comfy on the couch stitching away and watching it on TIVO than dealing with crowds of people.

While staying at Lynne's we tackled 3 guilds: Mt Vernon, Springfield, and Fairfax chapters of Quilters Unlimited. I'll be back up there again in June when I teach for their show right along side Mark Lipinski. I can hardly wait!

Upon advice from a quilter somewhere along the line, I decided to fore go going home via I-95 which is the dreaded roadway of anyone having to go up and down the east coast. Instead I took 29 from Alexandria, traveling through such places as Culpeper, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, on down through Danville to Greensboro, and over. The time really WAS about the same and I had way less semi trucks to deal with. Lots of antique stops along the way (but my camera was dead by this time, remember?) and gorgeous scenery. I think I'll go back UP that way in June. It should be gorgeous then, and there are more antique places to check out!

Needless to say, it's great to be home. It's been wonderful to meet people IN PERSON when I've only known them via email and the internet. Some people I got to see AGAIN, renewing those friendships. I am constantly amazed at what a close wonderful world the quilt world can be.