Well ... I know I'm going to screw up some names so I'm going to start with apologies. I'M SORRY!! I don't remember everyone's screen name in conjunction with their *real* name.
Given the short notice of this Meet & Greet I'm pleased with the turnout! We had a total of 7 members and 2 guests.
ConnieQuilts (Connie) and her husband Wes (what a trooper!)
MoMoSews (Melanie?)
BarbaraSue (Barb) and her quilting daughter Penny (not *yet* on QB)
GrammaPatches (Maureen?)
Blanche (Blanche)
And your hostesses Tinker (Shirley) and DogHouseMom (Sue)
I think I might have Melanie and Maureen mixed up. Other than that, thanks ladies for using your names in your screen names to assist with the name challenged (me). Honestly, I'm terrible with names. I can assure you though that if you told me your dogs name, I would somehow remember that. Don't ask. It's a burden I bear.
Anyway .... We had four places on our agenda, all located in Princeton IL.
First up was Quilters Garden where shop owners Beth & Carol having gotten a heads up from me were prepared to demonstrate some new products for us. One of them was Shannon fabric which is similar to Minke. They demo'd how to make a 1/3 yard, 1 seam, 5 minute instant gift of a scarf. They also demo'd a new way to quilt Shannon - you spray baste the backing to the batting, then flip it over, then 1 strip (WOF) at a time, then sew each strip to the sandwich (the first piece is spray basted). Kind of a reverse quilting technique that looks incredibly time saving. A different kind of QAYG I guess. Pretty cool actually. They also demo'd a new item - clips in a "gun" to hold the binding on. Yup - got me one of them. Lastly they demo'd a way to make a luggage tag AND as a bonus we ALL got a free kit to make a Shannon luggage tag!! This was unexpected and very nice of these good ladies. They both went out of their way to make us welcome.
Their shop is small but quite nice. They told us about a shop hop coming up that they are part sponsors of, and an Alaskan cruise that they will be taking and teaching at. Upstairs was some of the most scrumptious yarns I've ever run my fingers through. I'm pretty sure that everyone bought something here. I personally got the binder clip, 2+ yds of a batik (EOB), 2+ yds of a multi color print (EOB), and 2 yds of 2 different flanels. And ... purchase $50.00 or more and you get a free pattern so I got one of those too! I had to remind everyone that there was a contest - find a fabric in your name badge and win a free fat quarter. Everyone forgot about it but in the end Barb found one of the fabrics in her name badge and got a fat quarter of her choice from the store. Yeah Barb!!
Next on the agenda was lunch. Shopping is hard work and we needed nourishment to continue. The ladies at the previous shop had suggested a sandwich place down the street so we walked down there. It was the kind of place that made great cold-cut sandwiches piled high with meat and all the fixings on great bread - and superb deserts!! Most of us enjoyed a desert - mine was "Fruits of the Forest" Pie and it was great!
After lunch we of course chatted and had a show and tell. Not all of us brought something for show and tell - oops - I'm one of them but I made-do with my name badge which I made on my brand new embroidery machine and it was also my first time paper-piecing. It was a dog, in front of a dog house, with Mom written on it. Dog. House. Mom. Barb brought an example of a small (not the smallest) "twister" wall hanging and a Log Cabin Mantle drape ... I love that drape - I'm a sucker for log cabin!! Her daughter Penny brought a baby quilt and another large quilt (I'm somewhat pattern/block ignorant - was it LoneStar?). Shirley brought a large quilt and again ... I don't know the pattern (and to be honest - they may have actually TOLD me what the patterns were but it would not be the first time I've been accused of not paying attention!).
Yeah ... I know ... at this point your all saying .. but Sue - where are the pictures? Well I can tell you that they're NOT in my camera because my camera was left on my desk as I rushed out of the house after madly searching (in vain) for a proper pin (not straight) to pin my name badge on with. In the end ... I used a straight pin. DOH!!
Next up was another quilt shop at the other end of town (so we drove <g>) called "Old Timers" or something like that. This shop was much larger with TONS of fabric in 5 different rooms (LARGE rooms). Not much in the way of batiks but it is print heaven!! Everything was sorted by manufacturer and then by individual lines and I was told that she typically buys all the fabric in a given line. Again, I think we all bought something here ... I got 3 different fabrics and a book with some really cool scrap quilts that I've not seen anywhere else yet. "Scrap Quilts fast & fun" by Patricia Willens. Can't wait to try some of these out - some very nice scrap patterns in here!
I made a three little side trips while there - one to a China shop where I bought a butter dish shaped like a swan - I NEED a butter dish (my 70's Tupperware dish has seen better days). Another to a pottery place that I saw while driving to the 2nd quilt shop (pocketbook intact), and the third to an antique shop 2 doors down from the 2nd quilt shop that I spotted when we were sitting out on the bench chatting. Inside spotted 4-5 antique quilts, all very nice, all scrappy, very pretty, and not very expensive compared to other antique quilts I've seen. One twin size (lone star I think) was $65. Another full size (Churn Dash - this one I know - POINT for Sue!) was $135. No. They didn't come home with me <g> but it was very nice to see them there and well taken cared of and displayed.
Most of us parted company at this point but 4 of us carried on to the Farm Market/Orchard. Myself, Tinker (Shirley), ConnieQuilts (Connie) and her husband Wes (see? a Trooper!). And lo and behold ... WES found lots of stuff to buy and even bought the ladies ice cream (except for me ... I wanted Brussels Sprouts (long story <g>)).
And that is pretty much that. We had a great time, It was wonderful to FINALLY meet other quilting people, help each other shop for fabric, tell quilting stories (I WILL remember "drunk driving in the ditch"), and just chatting about life, the universe, and everything.
I'm really looking forward to my next Meet & Greet wherever that may be, and with whomever it might be with. It would be great to see all of this gang again some day, it will be great to meet new faces. At this point I'm working with two board members to organize a Meet & Greet in other areas of Illinois in the Fall and Spring - so hopefully I'll get that chance.
Thanks everyone who came. To all of you who couldn't, we hope to see you next time.