A New Appreciation

Last week I had the good fortune of visiting my aunt and uncle in Gettysburg, PA for a few days and while I was there I went "antiquing" for the first. time. EVER!  I know, can you believe it?  And as if I don't have enough hobbies already, I think I just found another one to add to my growing list :)  It was so much fun to spend the afternoon strolling through the picturesque little town of New Oxford, only a short 10 minute drive east of Gettysburg.  For those of you who ever think about visiting the area, this town is a must.  They have the cutest square complete with an amazing coffee shop and it's the "Antique Capital of the World."  There you go, what a better reason to visit!

Through total admission, I have to tell you there were ulterior motives for my maiden voyage into antiquing.  I was shopping for display items for our first show!!  Exciting, exciting!  I found out last Monday that Cherry Valley Designs had been accepted as a vendor at this NQA's national conference this June in Columbus.  We will for sure have more information as the time gets closer.

As for last week's antiquing, it was a success (even though success was found at the last stop).  But there was so much inspiration along the way and the most astounding discovery for me were the antique quilts I saw!  Amazing!  In the past I've read about people who collect antique quilts and I thought, "Never!"  Well, as the saying goes, "never say never" because I am just yearning to get my hands on some of the beautiful quilts I saw last week - they do have a wee bit of a pricy price tag ;)

It is just so hard to believe the time and effort people put into the quilts and I was just in awe of the hand stitching ... I'm pretty pumped because I can just run a machine to quilt my pieces, hand quilting ... eeks ... not me!

So ... what we picked up ... these three apple crates (south central Pennsylvania is big time orchard country) for $4.50 each - crazy, right?; the window frame for a steal at $8; and my sweet aunt gave me this cradle which my dad, aunt and uncle all used as infants complete with the antique wheels - I can't wait to refinish this and load it with quilts.

My aunt also has the most amazing green thumb and even though they live in town she turns her little quarter acre lot into a gorgeous garden.  These were just a few of the blooms blooming while I was in town.  Enjoy!