In the middle of January, 2009 – not that many weeks ago! – we became the new owners of the Amish Country Quilt Show in Holmes County, OH. The show is now in its 9th year and is planned for March 19-21 in the town of Walnut Creek – in the heart of Ohio’s Amish Country. The area is simply breathtaking and the food is – well, it’s better than home-made!
In previous years, the show centered around the retail quilt shops in town and the hub of it all was Gramma Fannie’s Quilt Barn, the show’s original creator. Now drawing thousands of visitors, the show’s new home is inside the Holmes County Expo Center and, at the time of this writing, it had grown from the 7 exhibitors it had in previous years to 34 at last count. So what’s happening? We open Thursday morning at 10am and the big event of the morning will be quilt appraisals (at $45/quilt). Then, throughout the rest of the show, in addition to shopping we’ll have free demonstrations, an old-fashioned quilting bee and technique classes taught by Holly Anderson and Shirley Stutz. Unfortunately, we don’t have the final class information yet but are trying to get that nailed down as soon as we can.
If you enjoy looking at the creativity of others, you will love the quilt displays. The traveling Hoffman Challenge Quilts have already arrived and will be available to view throughout the show. They’ll be joined by the winning quilts from the 2008 Ohio Amish Country Quilt Shop Hop. The Shop Hop is a fabulous and fun local event and the winning quilts are incredible. We also have already received over 70 entries in our own quilt contest so far. Every single one of these quilts was made with love and a passion for the art. All of the quilts are truly priceless and we are honored that their owners trust us to share them with you.
If you live in the area or are interested in a weekend trip, I hope you’ll visit us at the Amish Country Quilt Show. And if you have any questions about the show, feel free to call us at 800-249-3154. Until then, happy quilting!
Joyce