THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 25, Number 28 Thursday, July 23, 2009 Freely Enjoying a Free Quilt Gardens Tour of Historic Elkhart County By Charles McKelvy A diamond design quilt garden next to an Amish barn in Shipshewana. At least 80% of the quilt gardens’ plants must be annuals so the quilt patterns and color combinations can be changed every year. The Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bu- reau has a serious suggestion for you aspiring tour guides this summer: load your quilters, gardeners The fl oral tour route also features huge quilt block murals like this painted applique outside a Bristol museum. and history buffs in the family “bus” this summer and lead them on the self-guided 2009 Quilt Gar- from Jackie Hughes, who ably serves as PR Man- dens Tour by following the acclaimed Heritage Trail. ager for the ECCVB. Yes, there are 23 garden/mural locations along a We found the visitors bureau near the Elkhart clockwise route that begins and ends in Elkhart and exit from the Indiana Tollroad behind the Cracker takes in Bristol, Middlebury, Shipshewana, Goshen, Barrel Old Country Store at 219 Caravan Drive, and Nappanee, and the best way to see them all is and we found Madam Hughes bubbling with excite- by loading the bureau’s CD in your player and fol- ment about the 2009 Quilt Gardens Tour. lowing their good, orderly directions along the route “This is the second year,” she said, “and all the of what LIFE Magazine calls one of America’s “most communities that the Heritage Trail touches have a scenic drives.” Quilt Garden. Our fi rst tour last year exceeded the The editors of LIFE selected the 96-mile Heritage expectations both of our visitors and of the partici- Trail around Elkhart County as among the “100 pating communities. They have lots of sweat equity places to see in your lifetime,” and the friendly folks in this, and it will really be apparent through the at the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bu- summer as the gardens mature.” reau (ECCVB) promise that “you will fi nd it a relax- Hughes said all 80,000 blooms on display in the ing respite from the bustle of everyday life.” various gardens of Elkhart County were grown lo- To take our own respite from our not-so-bustling cally at the Country Comfort Greenhouse in Mid- everyday lives, Natalie and I headed to Elkhart on dlebury, and she added that this year’s patterns are a recent sunny morning to see where the Heritage different than last year’s. Trail might lead us and to get our marching orders Quilt Tour Continued on Page 2 THE Page 2 July 23, 2009 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 In Case Of Emergency, Dial e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] email: Classifieds - [email protected] http://www.thebeacher.com/ PRINTED WITH Published and Printed by TM Trademark of American Soybean Association THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden 911 Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. of Shirley Shenk’s original design for a garden of 3,600 annuals planted in an 868-square-foot garden at the foot of the 19th century log cabin that houses the Quilt Designs business Shenk operates with her husband Dave. Jackie Hughes with two of the quilts on display at the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Lina Zerkle’s “Broken” is on the right and “Rooftops” by Diana Bennett is to the left. Quilt Tour Continued from Page 1 “It’s a real challenge,” she said, “because our gar- deners have to put in a garden in the pattern of a quilt in a limited space. This is a perfect blend of Fabric artist Shirley Shenk based her quilt garden at the who we are in Amish Country with a combination of Old Bag Factory on the design of this quilt she created. gardening and quilting. And while hanging out at the historic Old Bag “Everybody can enjoy a garden, and the peak Factory, you will also have a commanding view of time for our gardens is from mid-July to mid-Au- the mural Shirley Shenk designed because it is dis- gust. And on August 8 and 9 artists from around the played on the side of the former factory. Midwest will be out painting our gardens in a ‘Paint Shirley Shenk is certainly worth spending the Out’ event. You can watch them paint the gardens rest of this story with because her 2008 quilt garden that are designed to look like quilts and then you was a top 5 fi nalist in the Chicago Tribune’s “Glo- can buy their work if you’d like.” rious Gardens” contest, and because she used the Noting that the tour is available through Octo- design of one of her original quilts as the inspiration ber 1, Jackie Hughes suggested taking the drive “at for this year’s garden. your own pace. Be fl exible and come back to see how “It took one day for two of us to lay it out,” Shenk the gardens have changed with the season.” said. “We used wooden dowels and string and had Hughes said two women from Kalamazoo came to be mathematical about it. Then it took eight of us back for a second look last year, equipped with a to plant it on the Friday before Memorial Day. We ladder. “They wanted to get a better perspective of started at noon and ended at 8:30 that evening, and the gardens.” I am hoping for a late frost so the (mix of Gold and Natalie and I did just fi ne from eye level along Yellow Durango) Marigolds will bloom all fall.” the Heritage Trail, but we were happy to learn at Shirley Shenk takes a daily tour of the Bird’s Eye the Old Bag Factory in Goshen that sculptor John View Garden and is pleased to report “that there are Mishler is creating a periscope with which visi- changes every day as more plants come into bloom.” tors can get a more commanding perspective of the In addition to that colorful mix of Marigolds, Bird’s Eye View Garden designed by fabric artist Shenk planted a bright border of Bronze Leaf Scar- Shirley Shenk. let Eureka Begonias. Seen through John Mishler’s So by the time the Heritage Trail leads you to periscope, Shirley Shenk’s garden will truly look Goshen, you will be able to get a bird’s eye view like one of her original quilt designs. THE July 23, 2009 Page 3 Shirley Shenk’s Quilt Designs studio is located in the Old Bag Factory complex, 1100 Chicago Ave., Goshen, IN. Fabric artist Shirley Shenk of Quilt Designs created the Bird’s Eye View Garden at the Old Bag Factory in Goshen. Her business is housed in the 1837 log cabin in the background. Shirley Shenk’s mural from an original quilt pattern graces the Kris Shenk (right) holds the quilt her mother-in-law, Old Bag Factory as part of the 2009 Quilt Gardens Tour. Shirley Shenk (left) urged her to create after And speaking of quilt designs, Shirley Shenk has seeing a drawing she did of a tree. more than 70 original, unpublished designs to her And, yes, they do offer a reasonable lay-away credit. “I don’t enter competitions,” she said, “be- plan, and they want you to know that their quilts cause if I were to win, I would have to surrender my can be seen for free on their website at: www.quilt- designs.” designs.com. Her designs are truly works of art, and she has Mother and daughter-in-law create their one-of- attracted buyers from all over the world, including a-kind quilts in a studio over the showroom at a a serious collector in Goshen, New York. worktable with the dimensions of a queen-size bed. Shirley Shenk inspired her daughter-in-law, Kris Husband Dave, who does not design quilts, said the Shenk, to turn her artistic talents toward fabric de- work by his wife and daughter-in-law are so strik- sign after Kris showed her a drawing of a tree. ing “that it is dangerous to come into our shop.” Kris Shenk appeared right at that moment and Spending a pleasant afternoon with the Shenks said, “Shirley said this has to be a quilt.” And it was, is what the Quilt Gardens Tour is all about—taking and so now Kris Shenk exhibits her own quilts at the time to enjoy great gardens, quilts and the art- Quilt Design for your viewing pleasure and possible ists who create them. purchase. Quilt Tour Continued on Page 4 THE Page 4 July 23, 2009 Quilt Tour Continued from Page 3 one day. We hope to see you in Bristol, Middlebury, We also took the time to step back in time to 1896 Shipshewana, Nappanee and roads in between by crossing the nearby Fort Wayne Street Bridge sometime before October 1. over the Elkhart River. And just as we were cross- It’s free, fun and it’s fantastic, and the friendly ing it—wouldn’t you know—a 1922 Model T motored folks at the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors over a structure that was placed on the National Bureau urge you to contact them at: 574-262-8161, Register of Historic Places on September 15, 2005.