First weekend in October

Seems like it's been a lonnnnng time since I last updated my blog.  Well, actually it has - where has the time gone!??

Let's start off with the annual bus trip to Lancaster, PA, that I took yesterday.  My guild gave a trip in June, but I wanted to take the Faithful Circle trip because I was curious about the new places they went this year.

We started out at Wilbur's Chocolates in Lititz, which originated when H. O. Wilbur of Philadelphia partnered with Samuel Croft, creating the Croft & Wilbur confectionery company. 

Their business grew, expanded, divided, changed and prospered before finally becoming the chocolate company that we know today. You can read the entire interesting history of Wilbur Chocolates here.

This five-story building was built sometime in 1913 to provide more operating space. 

Now it's being converted into condos.

Antique chocolate pots from France and Germany.

An antique chocolate cooker, repurposed as a candy holder.

There were some interesting and intriguing shapes made of  chocolate!  I know you've seen their melting chocolate in places such as Michael's Arts and Crafts and A.C. Moore.

We left Wilbur's and stopped at Weaver's Dry Goods in Lititz.  I had never been there before but I was impressed with the prices - I got some nice Kona solids for around $5.60 a yard. 

The outside is deceptive, it's really large inside!  There were two and a half levels; their sales room downstairs had popular brand fabrics for $3.99, and a $2.99 flat fold table.

Looking down into the sub-basement - lots of crafty stuff down there!

Going back up to the main level. 

I missed their batting; I understand they had cotton batting for a great price.



After our buffet lunch stop at the Lititz Family Cupboard (it ain't Shady Maple ... just sayin') we arrived at the Kitchen Kettle Village in Intercourse, where I had to get my pumpkin butter!  I wasn't interested in fabric so much, but it's always nice to wander around the area.

Pretty quilts (for classes) on display at the Old County store.

ideas, ideas ...



It was a gorgeous day, just a bit cool but it felt great with a light jacket.

I didn't buy much fabric this time; I don't really need any. 

That's it for now, sew forth and sew on til later!

Lancaster shopping trip

Three things to be happy about:
(1) baked pork chops
(2) gingerbread men people
(3) pumpkin butter

(I think somebody's a little hungry!)

Friday I went on the annual bus trip to Lancaster, PA - you couldn't have asked for a better day!  The weather was mild, even early morning and late evening.

Last year I got a pint of pumpkin butter from the Kitchen Kettle Village and it was really delicious!  This year I brought home two pints, LOL.

I also got an "oops" bag of broken gingerbread people.  If they're broken it's half the calories, right??

My goal this year was to get lots of white-and-black, to beef up the variety in the churn dash blocks I'm working on.  I usually load up on neutrals because no matter what other colors Bonnie Hunter uses in her mystery quilt, neutrals will play a definite role.  But I have plenty already, so I didn't let myself get tempted in that direction.

But there was plenty of the white-and-black to tempt me!  I limited the amounts to 1/4 yard pieces, unless they had a 1/2 yard minimum as Burkholder's did.

I like words, so I had to get some of those, plus a newsprint piece.  That winter themed piece at the upper right was so pretty I that I broke my self-imposed rule and got a whole yard!

I got a fat quarter of mustaches ... the print is sorta big and I wasn't sure how well it would work with the 6" churn dash blocks.  Same goes for the ampersands in the top picture.

For the most part the prints were either small or teeny, always a good choice!

I made blocks from two of the iffy pieces to see if they play well ...

I think I'll save the mustaches and the ampersands for another project, they sort of overpower the block.  Since I pieced them I'll use em though.

And did you notice I had to sneak in a coupla red pieces?  They were so pretty I "had" to get some!


And so another trip goes down in history, leaving me with deep satisfaction with the fabrics I got, and fond memories of all the ones I left behind!  Sew forth and sew on til later...

Ten twenty-two

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a footbridge in the fall
(2) pens clicking open
(3) honking geese migrating

This post is brought to you by the number 1022 - which is today's date and also happens to be my house number!

Last Friday I did one of my favorite most-looked-forward-to things - the annual shopping trip to Lancaster, PA, with the Faithful Circle Quilters!

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for our trip - sunny with just the right amount of crisp "fall is here-ness" in the air!

This year Sauder Fabrics was not on the agenda - sadly it closed in December 2015, so we substituted Burkholder's instead, a fabric shop not too far away that's housed inside a converted barn.

Although Burkholder's offered a 15% group discount, the prices were still a bit higher than I'd like to have seen, so I stuck to their sales aisle.

Since Bonnie is about to announce the colors for this year's Quiltville mystery and the only teaser she gave us is that it will have neutrals ... my goal this year was the same as last year - to beef up my neutrals and blacks.

I didn't get to see all the fabrics in Burkholder's - they have tons and tons - but I think I did a pretty good job in their sales aisle!

After Burkholder's came lunch at Shady Maple Smorgasbord (yum!!) with just enough time to dash down the hill to Goode's drygoods store for more fabric.

Then it was on to the Kitchen Kettle area in Lancaster for shopping at Zook's (20% store-wide sale) and The Old Country Store.  Zook's had some great fabrics on their $3.99 shelves!

In the Kitchen Kettle jam and jelly store I picked up a jar each of their pumpkin butter and strawberry preserves.

Delicious - I should have bought more than one tiny little jar!

So that was our annual trip, I'm looking forward to next October for more of the same.


And a reminder - if you're a U.S. resident and would like to own the crumb blocks that I am giving away, go HERE and leave a comment.  Tell me how you'd use crumb blocks, I need more ideas!

Sew forth and sew on til later

Road trip revealed!

Three things to be happy about:
(1) #2 pencils
(2) scented soap
(3) just going for it!

So, where did we go on our road trip two days ago??

Here's a broad hint!!

It all started with an idea... Sauder's just took further reductions on their entire store, why don't we go back to Lancaster just one more time?? As I mentioned in an earlier post, I wanted to beef up my blacks for the 2015 Quiltville mystery, so we just took advantage of the new reduction, and headed out!

I got these blacks - they'll add a lot of texture to the quilt, something other than just black-and-white.

The colors don't read true in this photo, they're not that dusty looking.

Words - I like words!!

Just can't resist em.

Sauder's was deliciously empty of crowds, but look at some of the shelves!

This is just one aisle, there was still fabric left but not as much as when we took our bus trip three weeks ago!

Can you say "echo!"??

A girl can always use more neutrals, right?

... right??

I ended up with two - yes, two! - pieces of grey for the constant fabric.

I bought the one on the right at Sauder's, then when I saw the one on the left at the Old Country Store in Lancaster I liked it better - so I got that one too!  Words, ya know?

Either will do the job, I think.

With these additions, I'm all ready to start the mystery when the first clue is revealed!

So, that was out road trip - another go at Sauder's before they closed the store!  In addition to Sauder's, we stopped at a Weaver's General store (red!), Good's Drygoods (and Shady Maple smorgasbord, of course!), Zook's Fabrics and The Old Country Store.  We both had a great day and got what we went for - and what we didn't go for too!

So long again, Sauder's, we're sorry the farmer's son is taking over the house ... even your leaves all deserted you...

Sew forth and sew on...

Fabric goodies from Lancaster!

Three things to be happy about:
(1) home made chicken soup
(2) a foot massage
(3) mint flavored toothpicks

This is what my shopping cart looked like as I chose fabrics from Sauder's on Friday.  My focus this trip, as it has been for the last two trips, was to beef up my neutrals stash.

As you know I like scrappy quilts and I like a lot of Bonnie Hunter's scrappy patterns, so when I buy neutral fabrics I use her guidelines - anything that has a white, cream, beige or tan background.  Any color or pattern can be printed on the foreground, but if that background reads as a neutral?  it works like a charm!

I found a few pieces on their remnant table that I just had to have!



The pieces on the right are the only exceptions to my neutrals - now take a look at what I got!

The pictures should get biggie sized if you click on them!

Aren't these gorgeous?!

There's a little birdie in there, perched on a musical score - its called Girlie Girl,  by Dana Brooks for Henry Glass & Co.  They also had the birds in pink, but I kinda like the blue.

I like words!

That find-a-word piece is different; I think I've seen it around but I never bought any of it before.

Some fun pieces!  Good morning, good night, wake up and eat!  Is the Kellogg's piece a neutral?  You betcha - the background makes it qualified!

Lots of variety in these pieces...  I like the boldness of the piece on the left; it's called Paper Dolls Around the World  by Sibling Arts Studio for Blue Hill Fabrics.  There was just over a yard left on the bolt, so I took it all!

This piece was from the $2.99 flat fold table at Good's; it's called Garden Romance, by Hoffman.  Pretty!

I like the variety of fabrics I got, I like that they add lots of variety to my neutrals stash.  They have been thoroughly petted and are waiting to be snuggled in next to my other neutrals.  Love it!  Now - how many of these can I use before our trip next October???

That's it for now, have a great Monday - sew forth and sew on til later!

Lancaster trip!

Hello everybody!  I would go through the "it's been a long time, yadda yadda yadda," but you know that already!  Here we are, at this point   ;o)

Yesterday was our annual fabric buying trip to Sauder's, and to Zook's in the Kitchen Kettle area.

What a great, gorgeous, sunny day it was! In October you can't guarantee the weather, but yesterday was all thumbs up!

But first, look at the two photos below... I have a new camera (more about that in a later post) and the first photo was taken with auto flash at around 7:20 am - this is what the morning light looked like to my eye:

But look at this second one, taken a few seconds later without flash:

what a difference, eh?

Our first stop was at Sauder Fabrics... it was sort of a bittersweet occasion for me because their store, that sweet little underground shop, is closing in December!

I understand from someone who heard it from someone else that the farm that owns the property is buying the house, and they have to vacate it.

Who would guess that down those steps, through that anonymous door, you'd find bolts and bolts of name brand fabrics - Timeless Treasures, Moda, Henry Glass, Windham to name a few - at prices well below what you'd see in our area!?

The flat fold table is always loaded with interesting pieces that average about 6 yards, great for backings and projects that need matchy-matchy units.

Meanwhile, they're having a 20% storewide sale, then all their remaining fabric will be transferred to Zook's (their sister store).  Sauder's was my favorite stop on that trip.

Next to Shady Maple Smorgasbord, that is!

Look at these beautiful plants they had at $7 each or 3 for $20, aren't they great?

And the bins with pumpkins and gourds always attract my attention.

Shirley likes them too!

 Shady Maple's decor is always fun to look at too - look at the sweet expression on this little old lady's face!

After a groaning meal - you know the type where you want some of EVERYTHING but you have to pick and choose in order to go the distance - some of us made a quick trip down the hill to Goode's drygoods store and the Shady Maple farm store.

Then on to Lancaster/Intercourse and the Kettle area for more fabric shopping, preserve tasting (you ever tasted sweet potato butter??  Well, don't!) and browsing.

As usual it was a great trip, and I'm looking forward to next year... the word is they'll choose Burkholder's fabrics to replace Sauder's.


Bye bye Sauder's, I've enjoyed buying and petting your fabrics, and I'll miss you dearly!

Sew forth and sew on...