Birthday Outing and Adventure at Appalachian Piecework

A week ago my sister came to visit us on her spring break and to celebrate her birthday with us here in Virginia.

We started planning the birthday meal: (Sweet & Sour Chicken from Mel's Kitchen blog), the cake (Lemon Bundt from A Pretty Life in the Suburbs blog), and the outings (The Factory Antique Mall and Appalachian Piecework, which I've written about before when we've shopped there).

Come along with us to our favorite local shop, Appalachian Piecework: Right inside the door we spotted this shaving pony setup -- she was in the process of crafting wooden bracelets: Granny was feeling well enough to go with us this time and gravitated towards the baskets, of course! There were many different ones!

Here's the write-up describing this particular basket: Here's Laurie, the owner and folk artist, talking to us about her wares: Absolutely love this egg basket holding spindles! I gravitated to the antique quilts you see on the back wall. Laurie rescues them, mends and launders them, and displays them for sale. The striking red one had a price tag of $750: Quaint and primitive wool coasters displayed in a handmade basket: Another photo of the handiwork displayed throughout the shop...a special method of dying the wool was used on these: Laurie is at work on her loom, demonstrating her weaving. We all thought everything was so fascinating: The scarves were amazing. My sister actually took a weaving class years ago and learned how to do this...so she could understand the work involved and the prices attached! She gave me one of her woven masterpieces back when she made one, a beautiful purple scarf which I use as a long dresser scarf: Appalachian Piecework also carries Hannah's soaps, and here's the display for those: A spinning wheel was also in use in the shop: And here's the black wool waiting to be spun: I thought this custom order below was very special. A person had brought in a variety of old shirts which had belonged to her parents and which were then torn into strips as shown in this photo: Laurie was weaving them into a rug so the customer would always have this display item in their home as a memory of the parents' clothing. That's different!: Here's a picture of the four of us together before we left: What a very, very enjoyable excursion! We all loved it!

Time to head home to celebrate:

My sister, Betty, the birthday girl, is ready to blow out the candles: Let's light those candles! Granny is patiently waiting for her piece: Thanks for joining along on our outing. So glad that my sister spent part of her spring break with us!

~Deb

Comments

[Sharon]

Hi Deb!
What a fun day! I love the rug idea using the parent’s clothing. The picture of all you ladies is beautiful! And that cake... yum! Lovely pictures, have a very blessed day!

Sharon

[victoria]

Happy Birthday Bet! Looks like she had a wonderful day.
I have an old quilt made by my grandmother that was made from old clothes that belonged to her parents. It is very old and fragile but very special to have.
Your outing looked like lots of fun.

[Tammy C]

Looks you all had a fun time. I am jealous that Bet's spring break is later in March. Allison has hers the first week of March and everytime we have had cold miserable weather.

I will try the seet and sour chicken.

[Barbara J.]

What a fun outing y'all had in such an interesting store. I've just printed the recipe for the Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken. It looks really good. Glad to see that Granny could join you for a fun day. And happy birthday to Bet!

[Jackie Simpson]

I love the way you plan your birthdays and birthday meals! You show such love and care for one another. Granny looks wonderful! What a lovely picture of you four ladies at the end of your excursion! It's also a sweet picture of you lighting the candles on Betty's cake. All of these pictures and stories never fail to warm my heart!

[Chris]

What a fun outing and birthday celebration! The meal sounds delicious and that cake looks yummy! I spied several quilts in your photos and one of them reminded me of a Fig Tree pattern! :)
It sure was good to see that Granny felt good enough to go on your excursion! <3