A-quilting you will go in Northern Indiana

One of the joys of touring is finding some strikingly original piece of artwork that will occupy to perfection some niche in your home. One such "find" is a quilt, hand-made by an artisan in northern Indiana's Amish country.

Many Amish and conservative Mennonite women do hand quilting in their homes in tandem with other farm life responsibilities: cooking, gardening, canning, making clothing, housecleaning and raising large families. They view quilting as a relaxing activity, often enjoyed in early morning before the children awake or in late evening by the light of a kerosene lantern. Often, quilting is done in groups, especially to raise funds for charities.

You'll find quality quilt shops in Nappanee and in Goshen, as well as at quiet crossroads along country lanes. Driving these peaceful back roads, you'll encounter squat, black horse-drawn buggies clip-clopping their way to town, creaking slowly past neat farmsteads and century-old, weather-beaten barns. In adjoining fields, Amish farmers, who originally settled this part of Indiana because of its rich soil, use traditional horse-drawn plows.

Goshen is a quiet, appealing town in the heart of one of America's major settlements of Amish and Mennonites, with an estimated 17,000 Amish in Elkhart and LaGrange counties. Goshen is surrounded by pretty, rolling countryside sprinkled with Amish farms (often next to homes of "English," as they refer to those who don't belong to their sect).

Head for Goshen's Old Bag Factory, a marketplace for working artisans, where Shirley Albrecht Shenk and husband, Dave, operate Quilt Designs, an inviting shop in a two-story 1837 log cabin that was originally a homestead for a pioneering family of 13. The cabin was dismantled piece by piece and reconstructed at its current site on the grounds of the Old Bag Factory. The shop is a showcase for Shirley's repertoire of more than 75 original design quilts and wall hangings.

Shirley grew up with the tradition of quilting; her grandmothers, mother and sister all were quilters. Over the years Shirley's unique sense of design and color surfaced as she brought together the quilting traditions of her Mennonite heritage with her own contemporary vision. Today, Shirley's work is exhibited at some of the nation's most prestigious juried art shows, including Houston's International Quilt Festival.

"Quilts are often viewed as quality heirlooms," notes Shirley Shenk. "They are art that can be enjoyed now but that also can be passed down to children and grandchildren.

"Many customers come in and say they are redecorating and will return as soon as they figure out their colors. I personally think that's backward," she says. "Think how much easier -- and more fun -- it will be to decorate around a quilt that touched your heart than around a paint chip."

Drive to Nappanee, home of Amish Acres -- the "Plain Folks'" version of a theme park -- to visit Martin's Quilt Shop. A mother-and-daughter team, Bertha and Mary Alice Martin, started one of the region's earliest quilt shops in northern Indiana back in 1977. Both have been quilting since childhood and their home is along a quiet country road where you'll likely encounter more buggies than cars. Step inside the farm's rustic carriage shed that serves as a showroom and you're greeted by a vibrant array of meticulously created quilts in a variety of colors and patterns.

Find fiber art also at Little Helpers Quilt Shop (just off U.S. Route 20 at county road 1000W). Drive up to this tidy white building as young Amish children -- those "little helpers" -- wave friendly greetings. Inside is a large selection of beautiful quilts carefully crafted by the Amish women in the area.

A quilting exhibition, "Expressions in Fiber Yesterday & Today: The Contemporary Quilts of Diana Bennett & Lina Zerkle," opened earlier this month at the Midwest Museum of American Art (through Feb. 24). Located in downtown Elkhart, Ind., in a beautifully renovated neo-classical-style bank building, the museum is known for its holdings of original paintings by Grandma Moses and Norman Rockwell.

The contemporary quilt artists chronicle how expressions in fiber have existed for women though the ages. In addition to displaying quilts, the museum offers lectures and films on a variety of related social, historical, expressive and technical topics.

While you might associate quilts with long winter nights, they also can help brighten long summer days. The new Amish Country Quilt Gardens Tour features nearly 60,000 annuals planted in colorful arrays of quilt patterns at 12 large-scale garden sites. In addition, 10 buildings in local communities display outdoor murals featuring artistic interpretations of quilts. Pick up a self-guided driving tour of these colorful new attractions.

If you go

Information: Northern Indiana Tourism, (800) 262-8161, www.AmishCountry.org; Indiana Tourism Hot Line, (800) 884-4612, www.enjoyindiana.com.

Mileage: Goshen is about 125 miles east of Chicago.

Quilt-buying tips: Look for workmanship to be as fine and intricate as you can afford. Look, too, for hand-quilted pieces, as more and more are being supplanted by machine-stitched quilts. Amish women regard the evenness of stitches as vital to the beauty of the piece.

Also consider design. Quilts that are of an original design are more likely to become collector's pieces than quilts made from patterns and kits.

Look for a pleasing color effect. Think of a painting and how colors move and blend. A quilt can have the same effect. If two or three colors are used in a blended manner, it will be more versatile than if it utilizes only one color. Conversely, the monochromatic neutral quilt is one that will work into various color schemes over the years. But, if color is not making the statement, stitching takes on more importance.

MikeMichaelson is a travel

writer based in Chicago and

the author of the guidebook

"Chicago's Best-Kept Secrets."