This weekend, I took a day away from the kids and work and went with my mom and three other quilting friends to Columbus, OH for the National Quilting Association annual show. I have been to this show twice before and it is always a good one. I dropped the kids off at daycare on Friday morning, and we were on the road by 8:30. We stopped at two quilt shops (Sulpher Grove, and Appalachian) before lunch, had great peanut butter pie for lunch in Waynesville, did two more shops (Fabric Shack and Quilt Beginnings), and wound up at Quilt Trends. We had a plan to end our day there for an HQ16 class from one of their national educators. It was a nice class, and gave me lots of information on ruler work, pantographs, and general tips and information. It was well worth it (especially since the shop offered it for free!). After dinner that night, I crashed, but was up and ready to go on Saturday.
We started at The Glass Thimble, a great little shop, and I found the new pattern from Lazy Girl Designs, another purse! I have a ton of purse patterns, but think I may hold on to this one for a holiday themed purse. Then, we were on to the show. As soon as we got there, I met up with Jill and Cathy to make plans to meet for lunch. They were shopping and I wanted to look at quilts first, so we went our separate ways until lunch. The quilts were fantastic. I remember the show being pretty good the last few years, but I think it was really a notch or two better this time. I took tons of pictures of my favorites, and really focused in on the quilting in them a lot more this year. Last time I went to this show, I didn't have my 6600 or my HQ16, so I have expanded my capabilities a lot and it played out in my attention to the detail of the quilts.
We had a good food court lunch with time to catch up with Jill and Cathy. It was nice to chat and chuckle with them. After lunch, we started on the vendors. We all stayed together for a bit, but then parted ways and continued shopping. I bought more than I had planned, but feel like I got some good deals. I bought a little fabric, several patterns, and lots of stuff for the HQ. That's my real focus right now. I was able to get some great threads from Superior at a discounted/show price, so I am starting to build my stock of cones. I tried to buy a couple good general ones and things for the quilts I know I am doing next.
We left the show and decided to make a mad dash for the northwest side Quilt Beginnings store. We arrived at 10 to 5, and rushed in, made a couple small purchases, and headed for our last shopping stop before home, the Eddie Bauer Warehouse Outlet. This is a great outlet that is more deeply discounted then their normal outlet stores and I did very well there. We stopped for dinner on the way home and rolled into my driveway about 11:00. It was a great trip, but I am still tired and catching up. No time in my sewing room today....maybe something tomorrow!
Here are the full set of pictures in a picasa album - I thought that would be way easier than trying to pick the highlights for the blog! Columbus NQA Trip 2009 It includes shop pictures and quilts from the show...I will have to post a picture of my purchases tomorrow.
We started at The Glass Thimble, a great little shop, and I found the new pattern from Lazy Girl Designs, another purse! I have a ton of purse patterns, but think I may hold on to this one for a holiday themed purse. Then, we were on to the show. As soon as we got there, I met up with Jill and Cathy to make plans to meet for lunch. They were shopping and I wanted to look at quilts first, so we went our separate ways until lunch. The quilts were fantastic. I remember the show being pretty good the last few years, but I think it was really a notch or two better this time. I took tons of pictures of my favorites, and really focused in on the quilting in them a lot more this year. Last time I went to this show, I didn't have my 6600 or my HQ16, so I have expanded my capabilities a lot and it played out in my attention to the detail of the quilts.
We had a good food court lunch with time to catch up with Jill and Cathy. It was nice to chat and chuckle with them. After lunch, we started on the vendors. We all stayed together for a bit, but then parted ways and continued shopping. I bought more than I had planned, but feel like I got some good deals. I bought a little fabric, several patterns, and lots of stuff for the HQ. That's my real focus right now. I was able to get some great threads from Superior at a discounted/show price, so I am starting to build my stock of cones. I tried to buy a couple good general ones and things for the quilts I know I am doing next.
We left the show and decided to make a mad dash for the northwest side Quilt Beginnings store. We arrived at 10 to 5, and rushed in, made a couple small purchases, and headed for our last shopping stop before home, the Eddie Bauer Warehouse Outlet. This is a great outlet that is more deeply discounted then their normal outlet stores and I did very well there. We stopped for dinner on the way home and rolled into my driveway about 11:00. It was a great trip, but I am still tired and catching up. No time in my sewing room today....maybe something tomorrow!
Here are the full set of pictures in a picasa album - I thought that would be way easier than trying to pick the highlights for the blog! Columbus NQA Trip 2009 It includes shop pictures and quilts from the show...I will have to post a picture of my purchases tomorrow.
Comments
We will have to put a mini-shop hop trip together for us to come to Indy for a day and see you gals!