And in addition . . .

Monday Evening,

Just in case you thought I was incredibly noble about going to Pennsylvania without visiting any quilt shops, let me set you straight.  I did indeed go to a quilt shop and spent enough to keep the gross national product statisticians very happy. 

Last year I went to Intercourse and spent most of my time in Zook's where I did quite well.  This year I wanted to go to a different place, and I had heard that Burkholder's was the place to visit.  As can be expected, I didn't get going early because there was a shower to take, breakfast to eat, and company to be, but around ten o'clock, I took my trusty GPS, shopping bag, and headed out.  Fortunately, the GPS seemed to realize I didn't really want to go in a straight line so it took me by back roads over to Lebanon.

In case you didn't know, the dogwood tree is alive and well in that part of Pennsylvania.  We've missed it here for years now, and I didn't think I'd see it again.  The winding roads that took me through the countryside and farm after farm had hamlets with ten houses on either side.  Of those ten houses maybe four had at least one and some two dogwood.  They weren't young trees, either.  Most of them were pink, but there was the occasional traditional white to be seen.  I knew they were not the Korean dogwood that had been introduced to take the place of the dying dogwoods because these trees had the silhouette of those old trees.

photo from Google's Image library

Here's a photo of one I took from Google's images which show what a specimen tree can look like.  It has the typical horizontal branches loaded with flowers though this one's flowers are more white than the ones I remember.  In contrast, the Korean dogwood's branches have a more upright growth and the flowers have petals with a point rather than rounded.  Well, anyway I had a great time enjoying the flowering trees and lilacs; I hope they're still there and haven't been destroyed by the snow!  

The old stone barns and houses are also amazing.  The barns are huge while most of the houses were smaller and far more modest in scale.  It reminded me again of what was of greater importance in the lives of those who built the barns and houses.  Shelter for the animals and their grain came first, and the family could manage with far less space.  Did I really see arrow slits in the barns or were those slits for ventilation?  The latter is more likely, but I had a great time imagining the former possibility.  While I looked for suitable landscapes for painting, the white barns I liked the best were not in great places for me to stop for photo opportunities so I'll have to get those next year.

Eventually I did get to Burkholder's (although at first I thought it was a farm stand!).  My goodness, now that's a fabric store!  I think that if they don't have it, it can't be had anywhere.  Fortunately, I did have good intentions, and so I carried my pocket photo holder with fabric swatches tucked inside the slips for photographs and yardage requirements with me!  When I left home, I had two projects for which I needed some coordinating material.  When David told me he thought my star hexagon piece was too big for a table mat and really should be a quilt for our bed (more on that story later!), I added a third project in need of a variety of fat quarters (of which I have maintained I wouldn't buy any more).  I was doing very well ignoring the fabulous bolts of batiks, the splendid Orientals, and the shelves of designers' collections, but then I saw the sale shelves.  What a great way to get yardage for backings!  Once the dam was breached, that was it.  A few more goodies made their way into my cart.  Not many, but more than I needed. 

Oh well, I didn't buy a single book or pattern.  Wasn't I noble?