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Travel Journal – Granville, Ohio

Last week, my excuse for not posting was getting ready for a quilt show, this week, I’ve been recovering from it, mostly trying to put all of my inventory out of the way for the winter.

My trip to Granville started out with a journey an hour in the opposite direction to the Kreinik Threads factory and outlet store.  I am pleased to announce that I will have a selection of their unusual metallic threads, silk threads and scissors at future shows.  I always like to stitch out samples of the things that I sell, and at the outlet store, I found a sampler set of some of each of their threads.  Over next couple of months, I will be “testing” and reporting on each thread here.  I bought some things to take to Granville, and some other things for myself.

Then it was on to the last quilt show of 2019 for me, the biennial Heart of Ohio guild show, held on the grounds of the Bryn Du Mansion.  The house and grounds has an interesting history, more may be read here.   I was most pleased to see that one of the buildings is being used for a community arts center.  I will be looking into getting involved there in the future.

While the quilt show was good, I had some great food over the weekend.  In Heath, Ohio, I recommend Bombay Garden (delicious Indian cuisine) and in Granville, Mai Chau for equally delicious Vietnamese food.  I do not want to wait two years for the next quilt show there to go back to those two restaurants.  I’ll have to find some other excuses to head that way sooner.

The show was a successful one for me, thank you to everyone who bought fabric and thread from me.  Welcome to my blog, too!  I had a few ideas presented to me over the weekend, and I am working on developing them more.  One of these ideas was coming to a guild meeting with some of my wares to sell.  If you belong to a guild that might be interested, please contact me to schedule for 2020.

Next week, more on metallic threads and those index cards – they just won’t go away!

 

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Travel Journal – Athens, Ohio

Over the weekend, I swapped my home base rolling Appalachian hills for another set of rolling Appalachian hills – those of Athens, Ohio.  Thanks to the presence of Ohio University, Athens has the atmosphere of a funky, revitalized old-neighborhood section of a major city.  I was fortunate to be a vendor at the first Quilt Fest at the Dairy Barn Arts Center.  Welcome to all of those who shopped my booth!

I love the Dairy Barn not only because it is a novel reuse of an old building, but also because it is just beautiful.  Much of the original brick paving is intact on the lane leading to the barn and around the structure.

I’m envisioning a series exploring a single print design on rectangles of  fabric in various shades of one color.  I’ve said it before, I can find inspiration in almost anything, even a brick road.

The Dairy Barn was part of the Athens State Hospital, the full history can be found here.  There is a graveyard atop a nearby hill were patients are buried.  I took a walk there, climbing 89 steps (give or take a few) to the top of the hill.  Cicadas and crickets sang a constant chorus, and a gentle breeze revived me as I reached the top.  I actually enjoy exploring old cemeteries, and I always wonder about the lives of the individuals as I read the names on the gravestones.  In this case, the mysteries are even deeper, considering the unifying tie that bound all of the graves there.

Getting back to the present, I’d like to recommend a few places to eat in Athens, should you venture there to visit: Avalanche Pizza, Purple Chopstix and Fluff Bakery.  I anticipate returning in future for future editions of Quilt National, and hopefully, teaching some classes soon.

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On the Road Again – To Quilt National!

Well, I’m not am exhibitor in Quilt National, but I am pleased to announce that I will be a vendor at the Dairy Barn Arts Center’s QuiltFest.  Hours are Saturday, August 31 from 10-6 and Sunday, September 1 from 10-4.

I will have my own hand-dyed fabric, embellishing trim packs, vintage textiles, Ohio Amish made sewing baskets and embroidery thread from House of Embroidery.  In addition to the creative supplies, I will be selling some of my fabric collage wall hangings and boxes.  Come on out to beautiful Athens, Ohio and buy some beautiful things!

 

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Shopping Spree

I just returned from my annual trip to the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo, and as you can see, I had a lot of fun!

The best find of the day was four back issues of Uppercase Magazine for $2.00 each from a local guild’s used book sale booth.  I really must subscribe to the magazine one of these days, though it is quite expensive for a quarterly magazine – however, if you make something, or want to be more creative, it is well worth the price.  Uppercase is an eclectic blend of artist profiles, inspiring ideas collections of interesting vintage items and histories of craft, design and manufacturing processes.  Highly recommended!

Other stuff that I couldn’t resist: a complete collection of House of Embroidery perle cotton threads, a Dia de los Muertos decorated spray bottle, a set of Tsukineko inks and supplies, a funky sewing machine clock, a thread stand from Superior Threads, several small packs of funky yarns that I have never seen before and a few more yards of fabric that will go perfectly with some collage series of mine.

Check back to see what I have done with some of my new “toys.”  I am taking the inks to my art journaling group tonight, and I will have more to say about the House of Embroidery threads later in the week.

 

 

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Warren County Historical Society Quilt Show

Thank you to the Warren County Historical Society for hosting this long running show, and thank you to all of my new and repeat customers!  This was my second year as a vendor at this show.  I really enjoy this show, as I lived in Cincinnati for a time, and Lebanon was a frequent day trip destination for me.  Not only was the quilt show enjoyable, but it was good to get back to favorite places like LaRosa’s Pizza, The Golden LambJungle Jim’s International Market and The Breakfast Club Cafe.  If you head to the show in the future and are traveling some distance, I recommend staying at the Shaker Inn motel.

Just a quick post today, I really am trying to get back on schedule yet again.  Here are a couple of photos of my booth from the show last weekend:

Lebanon Quilt Show 1
Lebanon Quilt Show 2