Another Road Trip

My quilting friends, Rachel and Dawn, and I were trying to figure out how many years we've been going to Lancaster, PA, to shop for fabric and go to the quilt show--it's been about twenty! The last time we were there was in 2009 so with some last minute planning we were ready for another road trip. It takes us exactly one hour to get to the NJ/PA border, another hour to get to Route 501 S, and another hour to our destination.

We've had the same routine for years. The first day we fabric shop at Weaver's, eat lunch in Lititz, and then shop some more at Bird-in-Hand, Lapp's Quilt Shack and Zooks. We check in at the Smoketown Inn around 5:00 and then it's off to Good 'N Plenty for a delicious family-style dinner. When we get back to the inn, we gather in one room and ooh and aah over our purchases. The next morning we eat breakfast at the Waffle House (yummy grits) and then it's time to go to the show.

Our second stop was the fabric store in Bird-in-Hand with a nice assortment of repro fabrics--but I bought an apron panel that was calling out to me :)

After a stop at Lapp's Quilt Shack where I bought fabric for the binding of a Peto reproduction quilt that I'm making, we went to Zook's. This Amish buggy was coming down the street.

Across the street from Zook's is The Old Country Store with a wonderful selection of crafts made by local artisans. Upstairs was an exhibit of twenty-two quilts made by contemporary quilters. Jo-motion was made by C. Jean Horst and machine-quilted by Lisa Taylor.

The curved sawtooth border was amazing and check out the selvage binding. 

 

Postage Stamp Colorsplash, also made by C. Jean Horst, contains 36 different fabrics and more than 5,000 pieces. 
 

What I loved about this quilt was the feather cable in the borders. We found this stencil at The Stencil Company booth across the street from the old Lancaster Host.

Check in/out at the Smoketown Inn.

A glorious sunset as seen from the Good 'N Plenty parking lot.

Here's a view of downtown Lancaster from the top level of the parking garage next to the Convention Center.

I hardly took any photos at the show but this quilt really caught my eye. How creative! Zebra was made by Lisa Gorski of Cape Coral, FL.

We finished the show early so went back to the Lancaster Host to see the quilt exhibits there before heading home. Florence McConnell's Eight-Pointed Star Borden Family Quilt was part of the AQS 2010 Study of 19th Century Quilts.

Here is a detail. The original quilt is in the collection of the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA.

After a full day of looking at quilts--and more shopping--we left for home around 5:00 and stopped at the Blue Mountain Diner in Shartlesville, PA, for burgers and fries--the end to a wonderful road trip.   


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Copyright 2013, Barbara Schaffer