April 25, 2011

With the one year anniversary of the PA Quilt (and Rug) Trails approaching, it is rewarding to see how far we've come to make this community project a reality. Eleven months ago, as an intern for Community Partnerships RC&D in Lewistown, PA,  I was instructed to make a quilt trail. The first month or so I spent researching quilt trails and driving around discovering many hidden jewels and beautiful vistas of central Pennsylvania. Although, at the time, I had been a central PA resident for twenty-two years I discovered lovely forests , rustic farmlands, sleepy small towns, museums, and charming down towns that I had not known about before.


Although Hunters Valley Winery is often credited as the first quilt of the PA Quilt (and Rug) Trails, there were actually two quilt square commitments within days of each other. The Sewing Shanty of Selinsgrove, with its beautiful inlaid wood quilt square, created in remembrance of a family member, was hung within days of Hunters Valley Winery.

Today there are four squares in various states of being created. One "Trail Rug" is to be hung this summer at the Tuscarora State Forest Ranger Station in Blain, PA. It is the first Trail Rug of any of the quilt trails throughout the nation!

Next year promises to be just as exciting with more squares, a newly designed brochure and the completion of an official PA Quilt (and Rug) Trails map. The year after? Book, photo contests, PA Quilt (and Rug) Trails official tours? Who knows the sky is truly the limit.