Wow- what a weekend! Last week I mentioned that I was taking a quick trip to Long Beach for the Long Beach Quilt Festival. This was a last minute trip and all happened because of a cousin who works for the airlines. So I grabbed a bag Thursday morning and my friend Terry (of PGD fame!) and we set out for the time of our lives.
The way it works with these kind of flights is you're on standby. Our chances of getting to LB were slim but we opted to give it a try. We were so surprised when we made it on the very first flight. Woo Hoo!!!
We made it to LB and after a much needed nap set out to get our party started. Hail to the Queen Mary there in the background!
In true Emily fashion I didn't bring my camera. No it wasn't forgotten, it was deliberate. I didn't want to have extra weight in my baggage. So all of the FABULOUS pics are from my cell. The pic above is from one of the special exhibits at the show. It was an amazing fabric village with little houses and trees. The details were unbelievable. Each one was done by a different artist.
I was certain I had more pictures from the show. Dang it! I did a quick google search and there are TONS on the wed if you're interested. :o)
The trip was short and sweet and on Saturday morning we gathered our things and headed back to the airport. The problem is- we forgot one small thing. Both of us had purchased a cute decorative hammer at the quilt show and had it in our luggage. Just so you know- the TSA doesn't like that. The regulation is 7" or less and our hammers were 7 1/2". Long story short we managed to escape being thrown in jail and opted to check our bags instead.
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| I can finally see the ocean! |
Well as luck would have it our bags got on the plane and we didn't. After reviewing our chances of getting on a flight we decided to extend our stay in LB until Monday. Of course we had no clothes or personal items because they were in our bags! We went to the rental car counter and batted our eyelashes for a deal. A cute little convertible (pictured above) that we never even lowered the top on because we didn't know how. :o) A stop at walmart for a change of clothes and toothbrush and we were set.
We agreed that we had seen all of the show and chose to do a little shop-hopping instead.
Armed with a GPS we visited:
Tranquility Quilt Shop
The Quilt Cupboard
Sewing Party
Quilter's Garden
Fat Quarter's Quilt Shop
Orange Quilt Bee
Quilt in a Day
Piecemakers
One of my favorite shops was Sewing Party. I had gone to their booth at festival and loved their selection of fabrics. They carry a lot of FreeSpirit and Japanese fabrics. None of the other shops we visited carried these prints so if that's what you like you have got to visit this store!
Fat Quarters Quilt Shop was another wonderful stop. This store is HUGE and definately has something for everyone. We spent quite a while in this store and enjoyed every minute of it. What was nice is that we got there about 30min. before closing and they never mentioned it once. They visited with us and were so pleasant. I could've stayed much longer but my wallet was empty and so was my tummy.
If you're in the area these two shops are a must!
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| Mr. Seagull with a lollipop in his beak |
All of the stores we visited were really nice and each differed just enough from the next to keep it interesting. A must for our trip was to visit the famed Quilt in a Day shop. Eleanor Burns was at Festival but that didn't stop us from going to the shop.
This shop has a HUGE inventory. In fact, they were having a tent sale that was full of bolts going for $4/yd (or $3.50 if you buy the whole bolt). Unfortunately we weren't that impressed with their customer service. Granted we showed up right before closing (they close at 4 on saturday!) but you would think since we were travleing and spending money they could've been a tad bit friendlier. We hurried as quickly as we could and then stood at the cutting table as the woman took her sweet time to cut for us. We were the only ones there and it took 20 minutes to get 8 fat quarters for Terry and 8 1 yd cuts of fabric for me. I think we were both just dissapointed because we expected more from this very famous shop. If I am in the area again I'm definitly giving this one a second chance!
On Sunday we decided to kick back and relax. I had brought some hexies to work on and Terry volunteered to help. After a few minutes I heard her sigh. I glanced over and she held up her work (on the right). Friends don't let friends sew hexies! We laughed so much on thie trip and really had a great time.
Our last stop on Sunday eve was the beach. We went to Seal Beach- one of my favorite SoCal beaches. It was gorgeous!
Monday morning we went to the airport again hoping for good news on a flight. Thankfully the guy helping Terry was super friendly and helpful. We weighed our options and instead of waiting it out decided to purchase tickets to get home.
It was a fun weekend and certainly an adventure but I am glad to be home. Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do with all this fabric I bought!! :o)
Also, I'm now on instagram @crazyoldladies if you want to follow.
10 comments:
haha, I just had a hexie misadventure last night myself - glad I'm not the only one. I got carried away and sewed too many sides of the piece I was working on, which curved my piece into a bowl shape. It is supposed to be a table topper. the worst part is I can't see the stitches to take them out! I wish this was a reflection on my lovely small stitches, but I think it has more to do with my eyesight! :)
What a great trip you had! So unexpected and so much fun. Thanks for sharing it with those lovely pictures.
I'm so glad you had a good time! Seal Beach is my home so I'm excited you took some time to hang out! I've never been to Sewing Party, but discovered them at the Quilt Fest as well and am looking forward to visiting.
Glad you got to enjoy yourself in our neck of the woods...Sewing Party is my LQS and love to go there just to look at the colors!
Toni
www.lifeinapinkbunnysuit.com
That was quite a trek you took! Sounds like it was really fun though. Quilt in a Day and Fat Quarters Quilt shop are my locals and I prefer FQQS. Michelle is really great and helpful and they have a nice mix of fabric styles. I have been 4 or 5 times to QiaD and my expectations were not met in the least. Quilter's Paradise is in the area (I like them) and also Grand Country Quilters which is a newer shop that is mostly Civil War fabrics I think.
I wanted to attend the show, but other commitments kept me from going. Maybe next year.
I love the spur of the moment attitude you had. So much fun can be had on trips like this without planning.
wish I would have known you were going to be in my part of town. How did you like the show...Long Beach is not one of my favorites.
How fun is that! I love that you chose to do some improvisational shop hopping.....making quilts out of scraps....or is that lemon aide out of lemons.
How spontaneous! I find that no matter what time you go, that is the attitude at Quilt in a Day
I went to Sewing Party for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I fell in love with it. I grew up in Long Beach so it will always be home even though I live in Georgia.
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