This post documents my experience on August 14, 2010.
When I came across some information about a quilt festival, I can’t say that I was inspired to run out and check it out. Granted, it was in Wellington, so not that far away, but there was a $5 admission charge and I knew nothing about quilts.
But then I read on and my foodie senses began to tingle. The location of this quilt festival was on an elk farm. An elk farm that would also be selling elk goodies…
…and frozen elk meat.
Suddenly, it seemed like something I could handle.
So Julia and I went out to Bonnie Brae Farm…
…and we noticed the quilts immediately.
Over 400 quilts were hung…
…inside the barns and stables…
…and all over the outside walls.
Visitors were urged to look at all the quilts, especially since everyone was given a ballot to vote on their favorites (there were several categories). We circled buildings and strolled through barns, taking in the quiet of the festival in this peaceful setting – even with the good amount of people present.
It was hard not to be overwhelmed by all the colors and designs. Every which way you turned, there were more quilts to admire. In fact, it was hard for me not to take tons of photographs of the various quilts that caught my eye for one reason or another.
Here are some of those quilts that I found interesting…
(Click on these and other photos to open a bigger version in a new window.)
Elsewhere on the festival grounds…
…there was a handful of vendors…
…selling quilt-making necessities.
Fortunately, for us less-skilled festival goers, there were also small shops for…
…mini quilt-like gifts…
…various crafts…
…and Bonnie Brae Farm elk products.
A big draw for me was this building right here…
…the Venison Shop.
But, without a clear memory of what elk tasted like, I wasn’t sure if I would like it.
Fortunately, there were samples of summer sausage inside…
…as well as some elk meat products sold at this stand…
…where we bought venison sausage and elk bbq sandwiches.
There was also a second eating area…
…with chicken salad, fruit, coffee and desserts…
…and we took advantage of their delicious turtle cheesecake and velvet cake.
Throughout our exploration of the property, the elks’ presence was strong…
…and really hard to miss.
So we decided to take an elk tour for an additional $5…
…which we did in a tractor car.
There were two main stops on this tour. The first brought us to the female elk (cows) and their calves…
…but they seemed reluctant to leave the shade in that heat…
…or downright uninterested.
As we waited patiently with our bags of feed…
…some did make the effort to come over…
…for some extra grub…
…although they were typically more curious than hungry.
Next, we were taken to check out the bull elks…
…and they checked us out in return…
…at least for a few seconds.
We didn’t even get that much notice from the others.
They stayed where they were.
We understood completely as the sun continued to cook us in the open tractor car. By the time we got to the final elk in the above pic, we were an overheated sweaty mess, happy that the driver decided not to call him over.
Once we returned to the festival grounds and got off the tractor, I bought some frozen meat and we started to head out. We took a quick gander at some quilts on the way to the car…
…and the quilt-animal connection made a little more sense.