Deep in the Heart of Texas, Part Two

Here's the second part of Carolyn's report on her recent trip for teaching and sightseeing in Texas:

While I was in New Braunfels, I stopped at the local quilt shops. The first stop was the Quilt Haus.

Pictured with me are (left to right) Ruith, Lynn, Kellie, and Shirley. The Quilt Haus had a wonderful supply of fabric, notions, and patterns. What a fun shop!

The next stop was Sew Little Time. It is a cute little shop that specializes in BERNINA sewing machines. Pictured are Kathy and Laurie - we had a great visit!

I also did a lecture and a class for the New Braunfels Area Quilt Guild. This region has a lot of German heritage, believe it or not. The guild was a very nice group and made me quite welcome.

From New Braunfels, we drove to Fredericksburg, Texas. Fredericksburg is a tourist town known for its wineries, so we decided to check out a few. After a couple of false starts, we found one that reminded us of something you would see in Italy - it was beautiful. We ordered wine and went out to the patio. The weather was perfect, and a little music was playing in the background. Heavenly!

We were heading east from Fredericksburg and came to Johnson City. I had no idea that this was Lyndon B. Johnson's hometown! I should know my history a little better.

The very nice clerk at the hotel suggested that we go to the Pecan Street Brewing for dinner. What a surprise we had that there was a live band playing in the back room! Their photo is at the top of this post. When they were on break, we got to visit with them and found out the man on the left has family ties to the Johnsons. His grandfather and Lyndon were best friends as children. They lived across the river from each other. He told us other stories as well. If you are ever in Johnson City on a Sunday night, check out this band...they are a very good country band and play Sundays from 6-9 PM.

The next day we visited the Lyndon B. Johnson museum and then drove to the Johnson Ranch and did a tour of the "Western White House." Lots of interesting things to see, including Johnson's airplane.

LBJ had a landing strip built on the ranch. He also wanted the ranch to remain a working ranch, so they still run Hereford cattle. To this day, they brand the cattle horns with the letters LBJ.

Next it was on to Blanco, Texas, and the Uptown Blanco Textile Studio. Ruth, the manager, showed me around this beautiful store. It was an old mercantile that has been refurbished. I love all the refinished wood shelving; it is beautiful. They are turning the rest of the building into a restaurant. Be sure to stop, shop, and eat!

In Port Lavaca, our next stop, we stopped by Beefore It's a Quilt and Gifts. The owner, Jean, was in the middle of teaching a class. The ladies graciously let me take a picture of them. They were surprised to have a visitor from so far away stop in their little town!

We had a little extra time, so we went down to the beach at Port Lavaca. This is what we found:

I wonder if this Singer is related to the Singer who invented the sewing machine... If you know, please leave a comment!

Finally, we stopped at the Quilters Patch in Victoria, Texas. I had a very nice visit with shop owners Karen and Sherry. I was even able to show Sherry how to use the Add-A-Quarter ruler with the stitch-and-flip technique. It will come in very handy with their current Block of the Month project.

Karen and Sherry's shop was featured in the Better Homes and Gardens Top Shops Quilt Sampler for Fall/Winter 2015. It's quite an honor to be featured in that publication. If you have that issue, check out the shop on page 54!

Then it was time to head home to Colorado. I hope you enjoyed visiting Texas with me!

~ Carolyn ~