We live in Chester County which is right next to Lancaster County, PA, home of the Amish and quilts galore. Not know where to start, I took the advice of Quilter54 and visited some of the shops she did. Here original post:

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-122812-1.htm

My husband had the day off today so he took me on a 8 shop excursion around Lancaster County. We started in Intercourse, and ended in East Earl. The weather was stellar, the sun was shining, and the shops were open!

First stop, Zook's. Great place! 10% off of entire store except for the sale items that were an additional 30% off. Got some batting there. Near Zook's, in the Kitchen Kettle Village Shops, is Village Quilts, whose purpose is to promote the art of hand quilting. They have many many beautiful quilts hanging around 2800 sq. ft. of space. Loved visiting this shop! We also stopped in on our friends' open air shop, Paw Prints. Cute store! We have a Bichon and love seeing her likeness on so many products, even socks!

Second, third, and fourth: Bitty Kinna's, The Quilt Shack, and Log Cabin Quilt Shop. Didn't buy anything in these shops but they were fun to visit. Bitty Kinna's was small - I think their main offering is service and teaching. Quilt Shack has lots of creations plus fabric. Log Cabin was mainly a gift shop with fabric for purchase.

Fifth stop was Weavers Dry Goods. Gosh. It's off the beaten track but well worth the visit. The place looks small from the road, but when you walk in, it opens up and they have tons of name brand bolts! Must be a converted old farmhouse. The space goes on and on! I found a nice piece of fabric to go with the crumb blocks for a quilt I'm working on now.

Sixth stop: Burkholders. You feel like you're driving on a little country road going nowhere and BAMMM! There's a sign on the right that says Burkholders. We went past it and had to turn around and come back. On the porch and in the back office they had 1/2 bolts for $2.75 a yard. This place was really hopping. Lots of ladies were rifling through the carts of bolts on the porch. DH and I headed to the back office where we were the only ones searching through the bolts. I picked three that I liked. Again, lots and lots of fabric.

Almost Seventh stop: Ate in Denver. Mmmm. Nice treat! We were hungry.

Seventh stop: Another place that you can pass by if you're not looking. The sign for Sauder's was not very large, but my DH saw it in time to pull in. Again, an unpretentious house. You walk down into the basement and find rows and rows of bolts! Lots of discounted fabric. Upstairs, there is a large room containing lots of fabric sold by the bolt only. Overwhelming but well organized and fun to look through.

Last stop: We had to do it. The pics that Quilter54 took enticed the visit and cannot tell you the overwhelming amount of fabric in Obie's. The place is small, but seemed to have a huge amount of fabric! It was stacked everywhere! The aisles were tight and in one spot I had to turn sideways to get through. If I had more time, I think I would have enjoyed looking more thoroughly through it. Upstairs displays lots and lots of hand quilted quilts. The era of the store was from the time of the little country store with the pop machine that sold bottles on the porch and you could buy penny candy inside and find anything you might need on the shelves. DH loved looking at the architecture and commented on the gas light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. Yes, he did have a good time.

That was our fabulous day! Sorry, no pics. We forgot the camera, but will relive our adventure for some time to come!
DH and I haven't done anything together like this for a while and it was nice to be alone having a relaxed fun day.

Wow, well done on the reviews...and your DH really is a DH.

It sounds like a wonderful day. You visited some of my favorite shops.

I would love to do that one day...I have to get there first...I live in CA! But it would be a great day to do that.

WOW...I'm less than an hour away and hubby and I DO visit Lancaster County a lot because he uses a lot of saffron. It's more expensive around here where we live. His grandparents were PA Dutch...not Amish...and his grandma always used it on turkey, chicken and in her filling.

But I couldn't see him enjoying a trip like you and your hubby took. lol

We've been to Kitchen Kettle Village...we took friends with us...so she and I enjoyed the shops...the guys didn't.

My SIL sews so maybe we could do it together. She's a teacher so maybe in the summer when school is out we can go. And I think she has a good friend that sews too so maybe the 3 of us can go.

After reading your reviews I would love to vist a couple of those shops. Glad you had such a glorious day.

Glad you had a great time. I also like Old Country Store which is just a couple of doors away from Zooks. Great batiks at great prices there. Not sure when I'll get there again as I have no projects pending for which I need anything. How were the roads there? I know they got hit really badly with the rain from Lee. I guess not too bad if you were able to make it to all of those places.

Thanks for the great synopsis of your trip. I am going on a bus trip to Lancaster area quilt shops on Saturday, and on Sunday we are going to a quilt show in the Philidelphia area.
That's this weekend. You mentioned the shops we are going to and I am really excited as this is first quilting bus trip I have ever gone on.

Kat

Guessing your're going to the show at the Oaks Convention Center. I'm hoping to get there Thrs. but I doubt it. We're going out of town that night and I have to clean, pack, etc. Guess it depends on how much progress I make on Wed. Enjoy Lancaster - it's worth the trip.

Kat - have a fab time. Lancaster Co. is really pretty. Lots of silos - too many to count!

NJ Quilter - I hope to get to the Oaks show on Saturday. Wish I could go a different day. It will probably be mobbed!

Isn't Obies just a crazy place? Our group goes there for the day about twice a year. They have everything we could want and the ladies working there know where every item is (about half of what is there can't be seen by the naked eye!) SO blessed to live in Lancaster County!