Shopping in Lancaster

One of the best parts of our trip to Lancaster was the shopping. We must have visited half a dozen Amish quilt shops, and we preferred these over shopping at the quilt show because of the prices. I don't believe I saw a single bolt of fabric priced for more than $6.49 per yard, and there were multitudes of fabrics available at $3.50 per yard or less. I brought lists of things I was shopping for to try and eliminate most of the impulse buying, and most of the fabric I bought was for specific projects coming up.

This stack of fabric, plus the flannel quilt kit that goes with the "Under the Stars" pattern and the bundle of pinks and browns constitutes the sum total of the fabric I bought. Another 50, yes, that's right, 50 yards of fabric added to the stash. On the bus ride home, Anita, our host extraordinaire, gave out a prize for the highest number of yards purchased; and I wasn't even close.

I also bought half a dozen or so cones of thread for my longarm, some needles, an 18mm rotary cutter and blades, a surgical seam ripper, one other pattern, and one book.

Some impulse buying was probably inevitable, and I also bought a couple of these Quiltscapes by Rebecca Barker. I first discovered her about eight years ago when I ran across an advertisement for her paintings in a quilt magazine. Her acrylic paintings depict the titles of old time quilt patterns. Of course the quilt pattern depicted in this photo is Ocean Waves. It is signed by the artist. You can see more of her paintings here.

This is called pan dau art, made by the Hmong tribes of Laos. The man I spoke with in the booth, who I am presuming is from Laos, evidently lives and works in the U.S. He said it takes his wife two or three days to create a piece this size, which is just over 7" square. This is an example of reverse applique, and the channels are so tiny that I marveled how the maker could tuck those seam allowances under and make them lay so flat. I am guessing the maker may have used silk thread for the applique, as you can hardly see the stitches. I'm going to frame this piece.