Lancaster 2012

It's been a long time between blogs, I know!  I haven't had much of anything to post and I've been busy behind the scenes, including moving furniture (and stash!) around in one of my bedrooms so I can get a new bedroom set delivered.  Salvation Army will pick up the old one but they won't disassemble the bed, and it has to be moved out of the way before my new bedroom set can be moved in.  BUT the new stuff is coming the day BEFORE the old stuff gets hauled away... try and figure that one out!  Sheesh, a girl needs a break!

That's where the happy part comes in...

Yesterday was the annual shopping trip to Lancaster and the Kitchen Kettle area with the Faithful Circle Quilters (hi MaryBeth!!!  I've been doing the Lancaster trip with MaryBeth Little for a long time and just yesterday discovered she's  the MaryBeth who's one of my followers!)  Anyway, at the crack of dawn I scooted down 16th Street and picked up Emily from my Bee, and we headed out to Columbia, Maryland to catch the bus.


Sauder's, our first stop, had rearranged their shop a bit since last time - I don't have too many photos to share but I wish I'd gotten a couple inside the shop, it looks neater and there's a lot more light.   And... they got rid of their outdoor toilet!


I've been on a serious fabric diet for awhile and I haven't been buying a lot of fabric... in fact I haven't bought any  for a long time!  But on this annual trip I allowed myself some freedom - if you're like me your stash is traditionally low on neutrals.  Since I'll be cruising with Bonnie Hunter to Alaska in August, my mission on this trip was neutrals and more neutrals!

I have no idea what her quilt design will be, but since I need more neutrals and the design will probably include neutrals - I can't lose!

I fell in love with these cute prints from Marshall Dry Goods' Storybook Collection.  I only got six quarter-yard cuts at $2.99 a yard, so it didn't expand my stash too much or dent my wallet.  I feel pretty good about staying on my fabric diet!

I couldn't resist getting a half yard of this cute Peanuts print from Zook's in the Kettle area; if I made an impulse purchase, this would have been it...

I like words!  These just had to come home with me...

the one on top supports breast cancer research; there are two Christmas fabrics and another with quilt-related phrases.

In the Kettle area I bought a bag of eleven bean soup mix that I've been wanting to try.  Charlene says it's pretty good, so I'm looking forward to making it when the snow flies!  They always have such cute decorations and novelties in the Kettle area.  I thought this spider pumpkin holder was so halloween-y...

The weather couldn't have been better yesterday, I loved it!  And so, after a great day of shopping and the excellent smorgasbord lunch at Shady Maple, Terri the bus driver delivered us safely home and we bid each other a fond farewell til next year...

Sew forth and sew on...

More from Lancaster trip



Do you ever have the feeling of being watched??

And when you turn around, you really are? 

I thought I'd share the last of my pics from our shopping trip to Lancaster last Friday, it was a great time!

Of course I had to get some red, and red-and-white...

The piece on the left is part of almost 9 yards of a flat fold that I bought and split with two friends.

Some of these will work for the cruise, neutrals ya know...

I wanted to get a closer shot of the beige piece... it looks like little dogs wearing a Christmas hat?  It's a fun piece anyway!

After lunch at Shady Maple some of us took a short hop down the hill to Goode's, a dry goods store.  You can get some pretty decent fabric there too!  I got these homespuns from their flat-fold shelf...

not bad for $2.99 a yard -- and, their flat folds could be cut!  I also got the red print (way above) from Goode's.  There was oodles and oodles of  fabric and we'd have liked to really look through it, but our time was limited because of the bus schedule.  We were in someplace called East Earl, and still had to hit the Kitchen Kettle area in Lancaster!

Here are some good buys...

I got the bright yellow from Goode's, and the Sonie Ruffin (middle) and batik from Zooks.  The Sonie Ruffin is a 3-yard piece from their flat fold table... I bought the entire piece at $2.99 a yard, minus the 10% storewide discount and minus another 20% for some reason I don't need to know!  And the batik is the last of a 102-106 wide piece.  Not a bad deal, and pretty pretty!

That's all my purchases, except these three gourds, I like em!

They should dry nicely, I think.

In the Kettle area if you look down as you walk, you'll see these nice paving stones...

The Lancaster Farmland Trust, a non-profit organization that works to preserve farmland in Lancaster County, sponsors these stones, and for just over $100 you can purchase one and have your name, location, and the year inscribed on it.  I thought the stones were a great touch to the Kettle area, not only because they support a worthy cause but, well, they look like they just "belong" there!

So now we're all shopped out and we're loaded up to head back home - loaded with fabric and popcorn and books and homemade ice cream, and kettle corn, and warm pretzels...

We were a happy bunch!  Whenever our driver pulled off a tricky maneuver or made that impossible right-hand turn, everybody applauded.  Nothing like quilty encouragement! 

We all had a great time and, trust me - there were no complaints!

Sew forth and sew on til later...