2016 Row by Row Experience in Lancaster County

In 2015 I traveled to quilt shops all over Western Pennsylvania over two days.  My journey started about 3 weeks after the rowing started so I was behind from the beginning.   I think I collected around 20 rows.  I was overly motivated since I couldn't participate the previous year.  Yes I did manage to make a quilt but most of the rows are sitting in a UFO bin.  In the end, I was just happy to finish a row quilt even if I was too late to turn in at a quilt shop for a reward.  This year I lucked out.  The rowing started June 21 and I was scheduled to work a week long track meet at Millersville University in central Pennsylvania.  What could be better than being in the heart of Amish country to collect rows!  We left a few days early for the meet and I happily rowed from shop to shop, stopping at a few craft breweries along the way.  The brewery visits was my husbands plan for the extra days, although he did enjoy our road trip.  He even bought an Amish broom at one of the quilt shops.  We spent our evenings in a couple of local B&B's, The Historic Smithton Inn and Kitchen Kettle Village.  If you are ever in the area, I recommend both although we liked the Historic Smithton Inn the best.  The scenery on the trip was amazing!  I grew up in Pennsylvania and I always loved the countryside.  I think most people think the state is one big city after another but that can't be further from reality.

In preparing for my trip, I used the shop map on the Row by Row Experience website and also did some google searches.  The google search turned up a blog from 2015 with a trip itinerary and description of all of the shops.  This year I visited just enough shops to make the quilt, so no UFO's for this year.
In Stitches - Wolmelsdorf PA; Family Farm Quilts - Ronks PA; Family Farm Fabrics - East Earl PA; Zooks Fabrics - Intercourse PA; Old Country Store - Intercourse PA; Log Cabin Quilt Shop - Bird in Hand PA; Weavers Dry Goods - Litiz PA and The Quilt Shop at Millers - Ronks PA.   There was also a stop at Brubakers in New Holland and Obie's Country Store in Goodville.  Brubaker has an amazing collection of batiks and I couldn't leave without going to Obie's, just to say I was there.  Obie's is stacked floor to ceiling with fabric, quilts, placemats and anything fabric.  Definitely worth a look if you are in the area.

View from the 2nd floor at Obie's

Haul from the first day

Finished Quilt

I was able to turn in my finished quilt at Zooks Fabrics, the first to do so and my reward was 25 fat quarters and the compliments were a boost to my ego.