Most of the gals in my quilting bee sew and quilt a lot. Almost every day of the week, we put our machines through the paces. As with anything mechanical and computer technology, our sewing machines need to be serviced - just like our cars.
A trip to Hinkletown and the Lancaster area for sewing machine services and fabric acquisition was the day's highlight. We leave early - 7 am, and it takes a little over (2) hours drive to get to the quilt shop to drop off our machines. We then traverse the rolling hills of Amish country, going to various quilt shops in the area, plus Good's Department Store and Shady Maple Farm Market in East Earl, PA, for a quick lunch. Since we took (4) machines today, we knew it would be several hours before the shop calls us back to pick up the machines.
Today we covered/discovered two new shops to us: Log Cabin Quilts and Burkholder Fabrics. They were each different but both delightful. I was able to score some beautiful backing fabrics for some upcoming T-shirt quilts that are in the queue.
We top off the day by having dinner at the Round the Clock Diner in York, PA. It's been a tradition for several years running now.
I love bonding with my bee-mates on days like these. There is nothing quite like it. We all realize the art of the gathering (driving together) and that our moments are rooted in creativity, community, and connection on many levels. Since we all come from different backgrounds, ages, career paths, and upbringings, we also realize our common denominator by holding different threads of one weave, namely our love of sewing and the beautiful fabrics that create our masterpieces!
