Vacation and a Sewing Haul

Mr. BTEG very badly needed a vacation, and I liked the idea myself of getting away. So the two of us drove down to what we call in Ohio, "Amish country," and spent three days there. I don't know that all of my non-US readers have heard of the Amish. They are a Germanic-Swiss group of people who started coming to the US in 1730 for religious freedom. Generally, they eschew a great deal of modern technology, and dress plainly. The largest concentration of Amish in the world, is in Holmes County, Ohio, and there are lots of Amish in the surrounding areas. Mr. BTEG and I enjoy going to Amish country for the delicious meals; the good food to purchase, such as cheese, dried meats and apple butter; and shopping for fabric, and tools. There's also a very fine handmade leather shop Mr. BTEG likes to visit every time we go, loads of antiques, and beautiful Amish-made furniture.

Here's an idea of what Amish country looks like, taken from the back of one of the restaurants where we ate. The area is very hilly, and covered with farms, Amish and non-Amish, and clusters of trees.

The back of our hotel had a lovely walking path with a pond. We didn't get to use it, for various reasons, but it added to the scenery.

Since the Amish make all of their own clothes, and also do a lot of quilting, there are sewing machine stores and lots and lots of fabric stores. A great many Amish don't use electric sewing machines, but there are some Amish and Mennonites, a branch-off of Amish, that can. Anyway, there is a Bernina sewing machine shop that I love visiting every time we go. I've always owned Berninas, and they use needles and feet specific to Bernina (and Brother, I think.) It's nice to pick up needles and other notions in person, and shop "local." They also offer sewing machine tune-ups, cleaning and repair. They had an open Bernina on display, and I thought you would enjoy seeing what a sewing machine looks like on the inside.

Happily, even though most of the fabric you can find is for Amish sewing, and quilt fabric, there are also some apparel fabrics at certain stores. I bought some lovely knit fabric, some gauze fabric, some quilt fabric for doll sewing, some nice quality hand towels, and some patterns.

I also grabbed a couple of useful notions. One is called a Bobbini, and it's a way to keep your bobbin with your spool of thread. The diamond shape squishes together and goes inside the spool, and the bobbin goes on the little knob at the top. I also bought some very small fabric clips, to hold pieces of fabric together while you're working on them. I'm showing what they look like on a Barbie sized dress that I have to finish very soon. I have so many projects that I want to work on!

I also bought myself my very own sunbonnet (which is not standard Amish or Mennonite wear,) and a Cat's Meow piece that looks like the store where I bought all of that knit fabric and the patterns and notions.

I don't know if even most of you in the US have heard of The Cat's Meow. It's a company that's been around for decades, based out of Ohio, that sells decorative pieces that look like well-known buildings, basic buildings, and scenes. I have Cat's Meow pieces that look like the hospital where I was born, and landmarks of downtown Cleveland, the town where I spent the first 24 years of my life, and the town where the BTEG family lives now (that's three cities, just to be clear.) I also have a few pieces for Christmas, one of Santa driving his sleigh, and one of two pine trees. The black cat is always somewhere on the piece; I even have a pin that looks like the black cat.

Mr. BTEG and I came back very refreshed and ready to tackle everyday life again. I hope you all are doing well, wherever you are at in everyday life.