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Published: July 30th 2013
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Living Quilt in Nappanee
Hard to tell, but that is a buggy in the middle. July 30—Still in Indiana, I headed toward Nappanee to start the “Heritage Trail” with the Quilt Gardens.
The men reading my blog may want to skip this chapter--it will mostly about flowers!! The north central area of Indiana is primarily Amish and Mennonite country. These groups are known for many handmade items including their gorgeous quilts. Five years ago someone in the Elkhart County Visitors Bureau conceived the idea of making living quilts in the form of flower beds, which they call “Quilt Gardens”. Area towns submit ideas for a garden which is in the form of a quilt pattern. A panel of judges selects which ones will be featured. This year, 2012, nineteen patterns were selected. Civic leaders and volunteers in the featured towns begin planting the quilt flower beds in May. The tour covers seven towns in northern Indiana and runs from May 30 to October 1. Each "living quilt" had a sign next to it which had the title and a drawing of the pattern. In addition there was also a color code to indicate the names of the different flowers and where they were planted. There was also a map to follow to find the gardens
Living Quilt Sign
Every quilt garden had one of these. This is the one for Nappanee and signs on the roads. This was a very well organized event. In the photos I included two pages of all the quilt designs. You can look for the ones I put pictures of in this chapter.
My first stop and first Quilt Garden was at the Nappanee Heritage Center. Of the ones I saw today, I like that one be best. It is in the form of a square and featured an Amish buggy in the center. The garden crew had certainly done a good job of keeping the weeds out and the lines between the colors clear so that the pattern came across very well. Of course, the best shot I could get of it was standing on a park bench. To bad these things don't have a small tower or photo stand to get a bird's-eye view.
The Heritage Center itself featured a quilt display which they called “Pieces of Nappanee”. These quilts represented events and history of the town were hung through-out the museum. What a creative and unique presentation of history! There was also a museum of late 19
th century furniture and clothing which I found fascinating.
I stopped at the next
Living Quilt Designs
Page one of the approved designs for the 2012 Heritage Trail place indicated on the map-Amish Acres- but didn't see the quilt garden that was there. I'm not sure how I missed it, unless it was inside the village which required a ticket to get in. Anyway, I did take a picture of the red, round barn which has been converted to a theater. Wow! I not only got another round barn for my collection, but it was red to boot! (Doesn't take much to make me happy.)
The next garden was in the town of Wakarkusa, right behind its Main Street. There was also a mural of a quilt on a building wall next to the quilt garden, so I got two for one on that stop. They were both lovely, of course.
I drove on into Elhart which used to be the hub of RV manufacturers and still has a lot of RV dealers, shops, surplus and salvage stores. I stopped at one store and got a few of the items on my list to make some minor repairs to my “home”. Unfortunately, I still couldn't find one of the main items I wanted—a ladder to the roof. (Everyone kept telling me I would have
More Quilt Designs
Page 2 of the 19 quilt patterns accepted for 2012 Heritage Trail. I didn't see all of them. to get one from Coachmen, the maker of my RV, but no one knew if Coachmen was still in business.)
While I was in Elkhart I continued to look for more quilt gardens, but lost the signs to the Heritage Trail and bumbled around the city trying to figure out where they were. While I was wandering I saw a big sign that said “Coachmen, Recreational Vehicle Company”. I couldn't believe it! Well, I made a sharp u-turn and drove back to that driveway. Make a long story short—in about a half an hour I had an appointment in a few days to replace my damaged ladder!! I think God looks after me. This made up for the brake problem!
Finally, I found my way back to the Heritage trail and managed to see three more gardens in Elkhart, as well as take some pictures of some of the historical buildings/museums of the town, some of the downtown area, and a lovely garden center (with another living quilt) hidden behind construction and the city water plant.
By this time I was getting pretty tired, nevertheless, turned southeast to Goshen. (I've always heard the
Museum Quilt
This is a real quilt in the Nappanee Museum. phrase “land o' Goshen”, but never knew there was a city by that name!) The one quilt garden I saw there was in a fascinating shopping area built in and around an old factory that made flour and feed bags. I didn't explore much, but it had some interesting looking stores and might be an area to visit again. Instead of hunting the other two quilt gardens located in Goshen, I decided to head to an RV park in the area and quit for the day. I need to get some rest for the big flea market tomorrow!
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Jim and DeLores Funk
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Enjoyed your flower quilts
Just thought I would let you know that we are still in Nomads. Heading out tomorrow to Albuquerque, NM to visit past Nomad friends and then on to Sacramento, for our project. Enjoyed your blog on quilts and flowers. DeLores