AQS Quilt Week in Lancaster, PA

I’m lucky enough to live about an hour away Lancaster, PA and some of fabulous quilt shops there. Friday, my husband and I made the journey to see AQS Quilt Week and do some shopping and getting inspiration. There’s a lot going on in our personal lives and we both needed a nice day trip. My mom babysat our little man so we didn’t need to worry about pushing a feisty toddler in a stroller through a crowd. It was a very good decision to leave him behind.

Driving through Amish country is always a pleasant trip and there was plenty of parking near the hotel hosting Quilt Week. There was a large crowd due to the snowstorm we got on Wednesday and shoveled out on Thursday. It seemed like every quilter in the north eastern United States was there Friday.

I’m having a few health issues (I hate being vague but I’m just not ready to share those details yet), and I don’t do well with crowds in the best of cases – I’m an introvert with anxiety, but it was worth any struggles I might’ve had. I was so awed by the beautiful quilts, I only remembered to take one picture of a favorite.

I did a bit of shopping, a few kits just happened to jump into my hands and beg to come home with me. My husband, horrible enabler that he is, is more than happy to support my habit. He jumps at any chance to make me smile and was so glad to see things catching my interest.

I saw this kit at one of the first booths we stopped at, and it immediately caught my eye.  I held off until we did a lap of the entire show before I would allow myself the purchase.

We made our way down the road a few miles to another hotel hosting vendors, and wouldn’t you know it, a few more wonderful items came home with me – one picked entirely by my husband. He’s a keeper, that one.

 

Another owl quilt kit begged to come home with me.  I’m happy to answer those calls.

 

Do you see a theme?  My husband picked this out for me.  It might take a little bit to work up the courage to begin stitching on this.

Amazing lunch at Lancaster Tap Room – my handsome husband loves his beer and I was happy enough to let him choose where we should eat. While I don’t enjoy beer, I had a strawberry mule to wash down quite possibly the best fried chicken sandwich I’ve ever had.

We stopped at the Log Cabin Quilt Shop in Bird-in-Hand on the way home, which is one of my favorite quilt shops. They have everything my little heart could desire. Bolts upon bolts of fabric, precuts galore, and all the Moda fabric that makes my heart skip a beat. I was after a jelly roll and charm pack of a certain fabric, but struck out. I guess I’ll just have to make another trip back.

 

I didn’t leave empty handed, though.  I have a project in mind for these, more on that soon.

There was a huge crowd of quilters, most in town because of Quilt Week. The crush of people was a bit too much for me, so today was quite possibly the quickest trip I’ve ever made to that store. They also had a trailer out back that was serving up free soft pretzels with each purchase.

All in all, it was a great day.