PA Souvenirs :c)

Guess what I finally unpacked yesterday! MY GOODIES! Yes, I know..I've been home a week, and this stuff was still in the bag on my cutting table down here. Yesterday afternoon I put a movie on, and cleared surfaces in my studio area...and I got to fondle this!:



I bought three of the flat folds at Sauders:



I was in search of things that would make great backings. They had a whole table that was $2.49 or some such ridiculously low price. Of course, you had to take the whole cut, so there are about 6 yards in each piece!



The brown/red/green one was from Zooks, and I think it was $2.29 a yard, with 4 yards in the piece.

That's the ONLY fabric that came home with me! But I had a lot of fun perusing the shops. One of the shops in Bird-in-Hand has a shop in the basement owned by one person, and then there is another shop up above. I can't remember the name, but I DID find the YLI hand quilting thread on the large wooden spools that I love in the basement shop. I love to quilt with colored thread, and I found a Cabernet, a Rust, and a funky pinky-tan that is called "mauve" but is ANYTHING but. It's a weird color, but I think it will look great against a lot of things. I also picked up another plastic thimble...still my favorite!

Oh, and the bulk foods at Sauders...lets just say that the peanut butter pretzels were gone before I ever got all the way home to Winston Salem :c) YUM! I love those.



Up above in the "main floor shop" I caught THIS on the rack! I was just so tickled, Especially to find it in a place so far and so different from my own home. I also enjoyed following THIS down the road: (These are things that make me slow down and breathe and appreciate...smell the roses--maybe that would be the CORN? etc...)



I know that people who live near these areas get used to seeing this. For those of us in areas that are not around this, believe me...it is hard to consider this as "Normal every day life". It just is. It fascinates me.



It just makes me think of what life would have could have been like for me if I were born 150 years ago. Not that I would choose that now...I mean....last night I cleaned my oven simply by setting the dial to CLEAN and completely cremated everything that was baked on. Do I want to go back to the days of cooking on a wood stove? No...but I did have "Little House on the Prairie" fantasies when I was a young girl (of course I was in love with Charles Ingalls! *LOL*)and seeing this takes me back to my childhood dreams.



At the Hershey show, after my lecture, I was gifted a special book by Jean Boyd! Jean must know that I ADORE books on antique quilts...there is more inspiration for my soul in these than in any amount of regular pattern books out there. This one is called "Quilted Memories of Schuylkill County (how do you PRONOUNCE THAT?!) All I know is it is full of beautiful quilts, the stories of their makers and information about the Schuylkill County area of Pennsylvania. Thank you Jean!



I also picked up a couple catalogue/programs from the Christ Collection, there was a display of antique 4 block applique quilts at the Hershey show, and one of the booklets goes with the display. Of course, no photography was allowed of the quilts, so I had to have the program right? Great for drooling and inspiration! And they had one of a previous viewing for 2009 as well, so...burn a hole in my pocketbook, I had to have them both.



Just a sampling...too many goodies in these to share them all!



I love how the green has faded to grey in this lovely....Oh. My. Goodness. I just might have to take up applique? I just LOVE it...it's the prep work that slays me. I'm a piecer, but I sure love the look of applique!



And anything ANYTHING with the makers name on it...big bold letters on the FRONT of the quilt? That is someone I wish I knew. It says to me: Here I am. I lived, I loved, I quilted. Who were you, Elizabeth?(Or is it really Eliza Beth ?) Would we, could we have been friends?

I have more pictures to show as I get time to edit them. As of right now, I'm running out the door for the gym, the bank, the pedicure :c) I'm teaching in Asheboro with a lecture tomorrow night and a Cathedral Stars workshop on Friday. Sunday I'm off to Kansas City and I don't return home until the 14th. August will be half over by then? It doesn't seem possible does it?