WEDNESDAY - APRIL 28th — Quilters and Friends — Ready for 3 great days of quilt shopping along with many other great attractions. This morning we'll travel eastward through Indiana taking us to some of the most spectacular scenery Ohio has to offer. As we motor along sharing many quilt ideas we'll soon be at our destination, making a stop at Lehman's Hardware where you will have time to enjoy lunch on your own as well as visit this truly Amish store — with over an acre of items for you to explore. Even if you don't need anything, it will still be a very interesting place to experience. Now ladies... what you have been waiting for...
your first quilt experience, will be at Hearthside Quilt Shoppe. Here they will have a "Quilt Trunk Show" featuring various patterns, old quilts and time for shopping. Our afternoon continues as we make our way to another quilt store — Zincks Fabric Outlet. Here you will find a large stock of wholesale fabric and some clothing. Following our busy afternoon exploring quilt and material shops we'll check into our lodging where we'll have time to freshen-up before heading out for the evening. Tonight we'll enjoy dinner at The Farmstead Restaurant, which features Amish-style cooking. Following dinner Loretta Coblentz will present us with a delightful quilt show before returning to our lodging for a good night’s rest.
THURSDAY - APRIL 29th — Our day begins with a deluxe continental breakfast and then we're off with our local guide to begin our scenic backroads tour — making stops along the way. Our first stop will be at a small leather shop where they make leather purses, belts and many other items of interest. From here we're off to Charm to visit the oldest quilt shop in the state of Ohio, where you'll find thousands of bolts of fabric, quilt supplies and finished quilts for sale.
Men, we also have plans for you — we're taking you to the local lumber yard. With merchandise in hand we'll board our coach and make our way to lunch at a local Amish home. Here you will enjoy a Haystack luncheon — the menu consists of building your own ''Haystack'' with crushed crackers, hamburger, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, sauce, diced peppers and onion, etc., along with a beverage and dessert. I'm sure you won't return to the coach hungry. This afternoon we'll spend in Berlin, which features many wonderful shops, but for the quilters you'll want to visit the Helping Hands Quilts Shop and Museum, which features over 3,000 bolts of fabric, notions, stencils, quilt frames and supplies. Also, in Berlin, is Spector's Fabrics. Our day will continue as we travel to Dover, Ohio, to Warther Carvings for a breathtaking tour of Mr. Warther’s carvings, which showcase 64 ebony, ivory and walnut train carvings created by the "World Master Carver." One of his most impressive trains is the eight-foot-long Empire State Express, which is the largest working ivory carving in the world. The train sits on a 4,000-piece bridge made of ebony and ivory. While here we'll view an impressive button collection consisting of more than 73,000 different buttons, all collected by Mrs. Warther and then sown in geometric designs — a truly magnificent collection. Our time at the museum will conclude with a delicious dinner in the beautiful Ivory Room where we'll be surrounded by Mr. Warther's carvings. After a very busy and interesting day we'll make our way to our lodging where we'll have a chance to unwind.
FRIDAY - APRIL 30th — With bags packed and material in hand we're off once again. Our first stop of the day will be Heini's Cheese Factory. Here you will view cheese making and have a chance to sample over 50 varieties to decide which ones you will purchase for the homeward journey. With cheese in hand we're off to Gramma Fannie's Quilt Barn located at Shrock's Amish Farm and Home. Here you will find their own line of patterns and kits along with top-of-the-line quilt fabrics, books and stencils. The next stop of the day will be the new Flea Market where you will find hundreds of vendors with a large variety of merchandise, including antiques, quilts, collectible and much more. While here at the market you can get a bite to eat before we're off to P. Graham Dunn, a family owned and operated business that makes inspirational pictures. Here you will visit the factory and sales room before beginning our homeward journey, bringing with us many quilting items along with great memories of our time in Ohio.
