My ASG froup is planning a trip to Gastonia, North Carolina in Sept. to visit Mary Jo's fabrics. Has anyone been there and can you give me some heads up for our trip? I'm the organizer.

I live about 45 mins away from Mary Jo's. You will love it :!: I try to limit myself to 1 trip a month or every other month. How many are going? They usually like for you to call ahead and give them a "heads up" so that they will have enough workers on the floor to assist your group, any other groups coming and the rest of the customers that day. The main floor is set-up by color and by theme. Plan plenty of time to look & look & buy & buy :lol: Anything specific you want to know?

Piedmont Quilter
Rebecca

Oh - Where are you coming from?

Bring plenty of $$ or better yet ..... an unscathed credit card!!

Mary Jo's is a quilter's dream come true. As Piedmont Quilter said, it is sorted by theme, color, and some designers. Be sure to have PLENTY of time to explore. Its well worth it.

Piedmont, my daughter lives near Winston-Salem, and I lived in Mooresville for a brief time a while ago. Where are you located? I LOVE North Carolina! :-)

Piedmont, my daughter lives near Winston-Salem, and I lived in Mooresville for a brief time a while ago. Where are you located? I LOVE North Carolina!

Lady Crafter -

I live in a little town in Stanly County called Stanfield. We are about 20 miles east of Charlotte, south of Concord, west of Albemarle and north of Monroe. Basically, right in the middle of nowhere :) I know Mooresville well, my DH is from Statesville - actully Troutman. I love NC too! We are 3 hours to the beach and the same to the mountains :!:

Piedmont quilter, I am from Statesville, NC. I now live in So. California. My whole family is still in NC, mostly in the Statesville area. That is where my parents were from. My sister lives in Harmony, My niece lives in Raleigh and Nephew in a little town called Bethel near Greenville. I come home about 3 times a year. I am hoping to get my husband to retire either NC or Virginia.

Have fun at Mary Jo's.

I love Mary Jo's and I also go to Long Creek Mills. It is about 5 miles from Mary Jo's and sells threads at incredible prices. I buy all of my embroidery thread for my machine there. $5 for a the large cones. He sells Maderia, Marathon, Robison Anton and so on.

I live in SC about an hour and 45 mins from Mary jo's I was going there Monday but went to Forest City NC instead. There is a wonderful fabric shop there too.

I go to Mary Jo's quite often.

Sybil

shavrg - Wow! Small world. Hope you can talk hubby into retiring down here. If you need for me to throw in my two cents - just let me know.

farscapegal - What shop is in Forest City?

Piedmont Quilter
Rebecca

My daughter lives in Gastonia, 2 blocks from Mary Jo's. I am going to Mary Jo's next Monday! I always make a whole day of it. Shop there all morning, go to lunch, and then finish the afternoon back at Maryjo's . Have you visited on line? www.maryjos.com I try to limit myself to about 6 times a year! Take your time looking, it is a little overwhelming at first. Have a great time! And of course, buy, buy, buy!





Ninnie

OMG my brother lives in Winston Salem and I have been there many times and missed this place!!!! How did that happen????

kwhite,

I don't know .... but next time you visit, set aside some time. Gastonia is west of Charlotte, about at hour + south of Winston-Salem. You won't be sorry!!

I have been playing on line and I am drooling all over the keyboard. Is is on the road to Biltmore? I saw a big sign on our way there and even though I threw a total tissy fit my brother would not stop. My husband and daughter backed him up. :(

LOLOLOL .... leave the family HOME!!!

I can't confirm if it is on the road to Biltmore. I'm sure Piedmont Quilter will be able to confirm that.

Funny ... all the times I've been in North Carolina, I've never gone to Biltmore, but have gone to Mary Jo's three times!!! :lol:

If I had known I would have had them drop me on the way to Biltmore and pick me up on the way back.

On the road to Biltmore? Depends on where you're coming from. Biltmore is in Asheville off I-40. Mary Jo's is on I-85. If you are coming from the south, yes you could go by Mary Jo's but it is still not a direct route to Asheville even from the south.

Lady - Mary Jo's 3 - Biltmore 0 - - - glad to see you know what is important. lmao

Piedmont

You could go to the Biltmore house, but another 1 1/2-2 hours.

It is called Schoolhouse Quilts. It is in the basement of her home but don't let that fool you. She has many, many bolts of gorgeous fabrics and everything you could possibly need for quilting and then some. She goes to quilt shows, judges quilts at the shows and teaches quilting classes. I love to go there.

Sybil

You take the Cox road exit off of 85 to go to Mary Jo's! f you go on line to her site she will give you directions and store hours and you can take a visual tour of the store and get an idea of what it looks like. People come from all over Europe to shop there. There are plenty of hotels, so come and spend the night. Sometimes when my cousin who lives out of state, comes we just go and spend the night and make it a 2 day trip. Can't do that too often, I spend too much money! :lol: :lol: When you go in the door you will pick up a slip of paper with lines on it and give it to the lady at the cutting table. Better get 2 or 3 :lol: This is for her to write down all the fabric that you buy. DH often goes with me and carries all the bolts. I love the trip back home, because then I can go over and over all the new pretty pieces that I have. My record is 100 fqs. So, go on line to her site and start planning! If you need any help I will be glad to meet you there! Any excuse to go to Mary Jo's!

Ninnie


:wink: :wink: :wink:

Farscapegal, I love Forest City, but have never been to Schoolhouse quilts! Will definitely check that out.

Thanks for the info.


Ninnie

Ninnie the address to the school house quilt store is
399 Sunset Memorial Drive

She closes on Tues in the winter time but is there M,W,T,F from 9-5 and Sat 9-2.

Sybil

Oh...thanks for posting the web site...I don't know when I could get over that way...I would have to leave DH somewhere..I would take waaayyy to long for him to wait in the car!! :lol:

First of all, try not to be overwhelmed when you first walk in the store. You must get a "ticket" on which your purchase will be recorded before you begin having fabric cut. The store clerks are vey helpful and once you "learn" the system, it is very easy. My friends and I often go through looking for what we might want, then go eat lunch and come back and do most of the actual shopping. You will want to have a budget in mind or it will be so easy to spend too much !! Quilting fabrics are all in the same area and novelty fabrics are arranged by themes and others by colors (for solids, batiks, etc.) You will not believe all the fabrics you'll find in each novelty area (we always say that if you're looking for some thing specific and you can't find it at Mary Jo's, it probably doesn't exist). There's also a good variety of upholstery and clothing fabrics. There is a store that sells thread on large spools at good prices nearby -- the lady who gives out the tickets can tell you how to get there.

Hi, Ninnie!

Can you recommend a good place for lunch? My husband and I are going over to MaryJo's from Ohio in the near future. Can't wait to visit MaryJo's!

Right across Cox rd from mary jo's is an Olive Garden and another restaurant (sorry, can't remember it's name).

Mary Jo's has cotton fabrics, particularly novelty prints. They also have braids and tassels and beading and satins and upholestry fabric and more. There are two restaurants accross the way, but I can't remember the name.

have time money and some idea of what you want. On a trip home from Myrtle Beach myDH stopped while I shopped (5hrs) he is a keeper

:oops: Embarrassed to say, we have lived in Easley SC for 24 years and head for Penna at least once a year , sometimes three, and have never stopped at Mary Jos. When we have visitors from out of state, I never think about what a nice trip that would be for my family of quilters. We go past it and I know where Cox Road is located on I-85.
Thanks for bringing it again to my attention. Maybe this year my sister from Calif will be willing to wear out her legs and go with me. She is 76 and likes to remind me she is ten years older than me. Great seamstress and quilter. We have a van so we will have plenty of room for fabric :twisted: :D Yep, the devil might make us max out our charge cards. :roll:

I have been reading messages for a long time and, just today, decided to join. I live in Newport News, VA but DH is from NC and we have been to MaryJo's several times. If I am not mistaken, she started out in the back of a store and now I think she owns the entire shopping center. Everyone's comments are true--the fabric is so color coordinated. They are also very helpful on-line/over the phone. The sales people are most courteous and my on-line order arrived quickly. It is definitely a place to go, if possible, or visit her website and order.

Thank you Rhonda for the eBook. I can hardly wait to make my first block.

There are several places right near, A great steak house in the front of the shopping complex and also several places across the street, so you won't have to go far. We usually eat at the steak house , since Dh goes with me. You will need a partner just to carry all the bolts of material. DH is good about doing this for me, since they don't have carts in the store, just baskets, which you can pick up at the safme time you get your tickets. The workers are very nice and helpful , and they hava a large selection of books and notions also.
Go on line and take the virtual tour and you won't be quite so over whelmed when you get there.
You will have to post pictures of all your pretty finds when you get back! :D

Ninnie

Thanks about telling us they only have baskets , no buggies.
Neither of our darling husbands can walk that good.
Also like someone referred, check out stock and eat then buy

I live about an hour give or take from Mary Jo's - if I lived closer it would be bad news for my pocketbook!
I live in Asheville (home of the Biltmore House) its not far from Gastonia but not a direct route! We have some nice quilting shops but not like Mary Jo's!!

Thank you very much, and have a great day!

Hi
I live in Concord NC sew I go to Mary Jo's quite often you won't be disapointed it has every thing you can think of . & it huge have your long list ready
prices are reasonable
enjoy Sharron

Thanks, Ninnie! Saw the tour . . . very impressed!

Thank you, also, Sharron!

Mary Jo's is well worth the trip! Plan on staying quite awhile to be able to see all that is there. They don't use grocery store type carts, rather they use baskets. Many people "tuck" their basket of goodies under the cutting table as they cruse for more bolts. Enjoy, enjoy!

I tried www.maryjos.com but was told it isn't a web site.

JoanneS[/quote] I tried www.maryjos.com but was told it isn't a web site.[/quote]

Maybe you mis-typed it the first time. That's the web-site. Just checked it out to make sure it worked.

PQ

I tried to get in last night also. It seemed that their server was down, but is working now.

Try clicking this link:

http://www.maryjos.com/

Thank you LC - it worked today, and I saved it to Favorites. Good site!

You're welcome! Now .... put away the credit card !!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

I find the site difficult to negotiate, and is certainly no example of the store. The store is just plain FUN !!! I've never shopped the website.