Personalized Doggy Bandana for Skylar

Yesterday at Obies, I bought the fabric to make Skylar a personalized bandana.  Everyone thinks she is a boy - I guess they just think black labs are boys - I don't know.  I wanted to make sure that everyone knew she was a girl.   I also wanted to dress her up a little for the nursing home Dog Days parade next week.   The bandana is reversible and has a casing to slide her collar through.  It went together really quickly. 

I had no idea what she would think of it, but she hasn't seemed to be bothered by it at all.  I think it looks really cute on her!  :-)

Fabric Heaven in Goodville, PA - Obies Country Store

Today, I took Timothy (9 years old) on a "date" to Shady Maple Smorgasbord.  He's the only one in our family who had not been there, and he's been a bit miffed about it for quite some time.  I made a deal with him that I would take him there if he would be good while we visited a fabric store I had learned about at our last smocking guild meeting - Obies Country Store in Goodville, PA.

It's about a 5 minute drive from Shady Maple - just east on Hwy 23.  When I arrived, I have to admit that from the outside, I wasn't quite sure what I would find on the inside.

I was totally captivated from the moment I entered the store.  There was nice Christian music playing, and fabric stacked from floor to ceiling *everywhere*.  It was incredible!!!

There was fabric in every print imaginable.  I am so excited about the Disney prints.  I plan to go back in a few weeks and stock up on fabric to make things for our Disney trip next month.

There were stairs in the center of the store that led to a little gift shop filled with quilts and other hand-made items. 

There were quilting books, barrels of buttons, lots of trims, and even penny candy!

I wish I could have stayed for hours, but Timothy's patience wore thin after about 15 minutes.  I will definitely go back and bring Hannah (17 years old) with me.   The fabric was gorgeous, the selection was amazing, and the prices were great too - most in the $6.00 range.

Obies has been around for 150 years.   It is run by a Christian family who like to share God's love with each and every customer.   If you are in the Lancaster County, PA area, this is a must see place.   Their address is 1585 Main Street, East Earl, PA.  Their phone number is (717) 445-4616.

Dinner with the Amish

This past Friday night, Kurt took me on the best date I have ever been on.  He took me to Strasburg Railroad for their Dinner with the Amish evening.  Every Tuesday and Friday evening, they offer this.   You are served an incredible dinner in the dining car, and a real life Amish family is in the dining car as well.  In fact, Kurt and I sat with two of the boys.  Daniel was 12, and Gideon was 7.  Daniel was absolutely delightful.  After dinner, he shared with all of us about his school and a little about his life.  His father also opened the floor to any questions anyone had about their Amish life.   This photo was taken after we got off the train.  They live on a farm close to the station, and were walking home.  What an incredible experience!!!!

Auction Fabric and Finds

I have been bitten by the auction bug!  Jonathan loves going to auctions, and has gotten me interested in going as well.  We went to an auction together this past Saturday, and I hit the jackpot.    I spent $8 and got everything you see here, and much more.  In one box lot, I got a beautiful 2-yard piece of denim - which was worth more than the $8 I paid for everything.  I also got a quilting frame/hoop that had never even been assembled.  I got a pillow form, a full size quilt batting, lots of beautiful quilting fabric, at least 20 packages (many unopened) of seam binding and rick rack, and more.  I got a lot of macrame stuff that I will sell at our garage sale in a few weeks.  If you've never been to an auction before, go to auctionzip.com .  You can type in your zip code and it will list all the auctions coming up in your area.  Most of them have a listing of what they will be auctioning - including photos of the items.  It's *sew* much fun!!!