Button, button, who has the button?

Here are some more photos from this year's Spring Fling in Dover, Ohio.

Kim, who organizes this retreat every year, decided to change the format from  a day-long class to two half-day classes.  I taught in the mornings.  On Saturday afternoon, we went to a lovely tea at the Magnolia Manor in nearby New Philadelphia. The tea room was so charming!  I'm sorry I forgot to take any photos.  Most of the ladies wore hats, and we were treated to some amazing goodies.  (The group has already decided to return there next year.)  Besides having a tea room, the Magnolia Manor is also a B and B.

After tea, we went to the Warther Museum.  Mr. Warther was an amazing carver!  You can see examples of his incredible work here.  The photos don't begin to do his work justice.   You've never seen anything like it!

Mr. Warther's Swiss-born wife, Freida, was a button collector.  Oh my!!  She collected over 100,000 buttons.  73,282 buttons are on display of the walls and ceiling (yes, the ceiling!) of her Button House, which is on the grounds of the Warther Museum.

The buttons are very artistically displayed on boards.  I'm sorry about the reflections on the glass protecting the displays.  There was no way to avoid them.

Thanks, ladies, for letting me share these class photos.  As you can see, they were hard at work. Look for the yellow ducks on the tables. Those yellow ducks were everywhere!

Heaven knows what I was saying here.  It looks like I was chastising them--LOL!

I wish I had thought to take photos of the ladies assembling the mock-ups of their Jacob's ladder needlebooks.  I think they all enjoyed that.  Hopefully I'll soon have photos of finished projects to show you on my blog. 



It certainly was a delight to return to Spring Fling.  This was my third time teaching at the event. 

A Lady's Worke Box will next be taught October 6-7, 2012 at House of Stitches in LaPorte, Indiana.  Class registration has already started.  You must be present in class to get the kit.

No trip to the Dover area is complete without stopping, at least for a bit, in Ohio's beautiful Amish country.  Did you know that there are more Amish living in Ohio than anywhere else in the US?

We stayed at the Barn Inn on a previous trip to the area.  We enjoyed it so much that we stopped there again on this visit. 

Loretta and Paul, who own the inn, are wonderful hosts.  In the morning, they serve a delicious breakfast, tell about the Amish, and give lots of pointers about things to do in the area.  Some of their suggestions are "off the beaten track" and are not publicized elsewhere.  For example, we went to the home of an Amish family to look at baskets that the woman of the house and some of her children make.  The baskets are signed and dated by the maker.  Those made by the children also tell their ages.  We would not have known about this place had Loretta and Paul not told us about it.

Loretta is also quite a quilter.  Perhaps you remember seeing some of the quilts she's made and some of her antiques in my blog post two years ago.  Loretta told me that she's staying so busy now with the B and B that there isn't much time for quilting these days.

Here is just one of the quilts Loretta has on display.  This one is in the upper hallway.

Here is a view behind the Barn Inn.

And now, I leave you with some beautiful views of the area.