ROAD TRIP

Last Thursday and Friday my friend Joan and I took off for parts unknown....at least to us. We left Virginia Beach and drove west to Charlottesville, Virginia. Our goal was to visit Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson; and then the Virginia Quilt Museum, a little farther north. And, of course, to see as many quilt shops as we could.

Monticello was interesting. It was actually smaller than I had imagined, but for the time period in which it was built, I am sure it was considered large. Sometimes the legend renders things larger than life. It was quite fascinating, and I will probably want to read more about the man now that I have visited his home. It rained the whole time we were there so we only saw the interior of the house and didn't spend any time on the grounds. We couldn't take pictures inside, and because of the rain, I forgot to take any outside. But enough about the founder of our nation, let's get to the quilt shops!
Friday morning we drove further west and stopped in Staunton, VA. We visited a wonderful shop there called Rachel's Quilt Patch. This shop was featured in the Quilt Sampler Magazine a year ago. It is absolutely charming! The shop is in an old train station. We met Rachel Brown, the owner, who happens to be quite a talented lady. She has an applique book out called Adoration Quilts. The quilts were on display and are really lovely. There is a cute box of ceramic magnets that coordinate with the book. Also, she has a new book, a child's Christmas story, called Small Camel Follows the Star. Joan and I both bought one of those and a little stuffed camel! So cute! Yes, we also bought fabric!

From there we drove on to the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg. I have to say I expected more. It is located in an old house, which was neat, (Joan in picture) and there were a few wonderful old Civil War era quilts on display. Not nearly enough! They also had some current Native American quilts on display that were very nice. No tour, no informational handout, again-no photos! The best thing they had was folded on a rack in an upstairs bedroom and it should have been displayed more prominently. The quilt was the inspiration for a line of reproduction fabric by Quilting Treasures. It loads slowly, but you must click on that link and see the design, fabrics and directions! I sneaked a photo of the actual quilt all folded on the rack. I know the Quilt Police will be knocking on my door.

Isn't it wonderful! I should have bought the pack of fat quarters at the gift shop! But I did pick up a few pieces at Rachel's and at another shop called Cottonwood.

That is all I have time to report on for today! More on Cottonwood later!