Ladies Day in Brown County, Indiana

Last Friday I had a chance to enjoy some great company and see some beautiful creativity.  My sister, Marti, my cousin, Marilyn and my aunt, Ruth took me along for a trip to southern Indiana to the 34th Annual Brown County Quilt Show. What a very nice day!

Aunt Ruth volunteered to drive so we all gathered at her house to climb into one car for the 60-mile trip down Highway 135, through familiar surroundings that we all have traveled many times over our lifetimes.  But I haven’t traveled this route for a while and sure enjoyed being chauffeured through those crossroad towns of  Morgantown, Trafalgar and Beanblossom.   We had lots to talk about, so the trip flew by and we were soon in the spring green rolling hills of Brown County. When we drove into the small parking lot of the Brown County Historical Society we knew we were living right when we took the last parking space.

The Quilt Show, complete with musical entertainment and quilting demonstrations, was impressive. Our resident quilting expert, Aunt Ruth, pointed out certain characteristics or answered questions about a quilt style or a pattern.  Marti was busy getting ideas as she is into the hobby, too. Marilyn and I were happy soaking up the amazing work and the creativity we saw as we wandered through the rows of various types of quilts.  We’ve both been with the family quilters before, so we are learning to identify certain stitches and techniques and it’s fun to see how much we can remember.  Regardless of whether we were the learned quilters or those with the limited knowledge, there is so much talent displayed in these works, we were all absorbed in what would come around the next corner.  Each display had new designs, new colors and a story to tell about the maker and some distinctive facts about how the project came about. Marilyn spotted the piece above, a Harley t-shirt design, that she thought might interest her daughter, Lisa. This one on the left is called Brown County Fall. I thought it represented so well the gorgeous hues of the area during that time of year. Creativity and craftsmanship were in abundance.  

Then, for the trip home, I soon learned that these ladies plan their lunch stop at Kathy’s Cafe in Morgantown. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and lima beans, oh my…. homemade cooking in the perfect diner atmosphere.  And, of course, it would be a sin to leave without taking a piece of wonderful pie home to the hubby.

After lunch we made a stop at a few shops down main street, which was a great way to let the food settle just a little.

You just never know when you start exploring what may turn up.  I wouldn’t have expected to find a shop filled with every imaginable kind of doll house and miniature furniture so detailed you could imagine the people who lived there.  I can’t remember ever seeing a washer and dryer, or a hospital bed and doctor’s bag in a doll house in my day. There was even a miniature quilt shop.  Then we walked a half block further to the bee’s wax store where you could take classes on constructing bee hives and raising bees.  Seemed like rather unusual businesses for a town of less than 1,000, wouldn’t you say?  Maybe not…

For a nice ending to this road trip,  we visited a while longer in Aunt Ruth’s living room back in Indy.  We especially enjoyed seeing some of her own quilting handiwork and the beginnings of her latest project. 

Thanks ladies, for including me in your trip to Brown County!