Day 1 on the Road Back to Missouri

I'm headed home after a fantastic month in California with the kidlet.  We had such a nice time but I need to give Bre her bed back and reintroduce myself to my cat, Hilary.  So having packed the car the night before, I was able to get on the road by 5 a.m. but only after a teary goodbye.  I like to get on the road early to beat the traffic when leaving the L. A. area.  A very successful strategy this time.

I listened to the final chapters of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the way to Phoenix which was exciting and the drive itself was pretty breath taking in spots. I decided to go through Phoenix rather than through San Bernardino to check out a few more quilt shops and meet up with my friend Barb for lunch.

Since I got such an early start I was at Mulqueen Sewing Center in Mesa by 11:30 a.m.  My friend Karen recommended this shop and I'm glad she did this place is huge, probably 5 or 6 times bigger than your normal strip mall quilt shop.  After meeting up with Barb in the parking lot and getting a hug we walked into this huge shop which had a plethora of just about everything.

They are a Janome, Brother, Juki and Singer dealer with plenty of machines on display and some gorgeous machine embroidery samples.

I loved the Hoop Sisters quilt that was on display .

There was a large selection of fabric but I thought a lot of it was discounted fabric that may not have met with the expectations of many fabric snobs but they had a huge selection of $6.95 per yard.  

Their huge selection of thread and tons and tons of quilt patterns as well as bag patterns and hardware including this really cute little dog coin purse.  Notions were also in plentiful supply.

There were 3 long arms on display which I thought was pretty impressive.

Mulqueen's had  lots and lots of samples throughout the store.  It was just an impressive store all around.  Did I mention it is huge.  We talked to a gentleman and he told us about the store expansion that is happening so they are going to be even bigger.  How many shops do you know of that are big enough to have their own wrapped van.  I would definitely go back even though I didn't buy anything.  Oh by the way they are a Row by Row participant.

Then we headed to The Quilt's Ranch over in Tempe which was maybe 20 minutes away and another shop recommended by Karen.  Walked into this shop and I was immediately drooling over some of the indigo fabric they had on display.  Also got my first look at the new Bernina Long Arm machines.  Preeeetttty!!!!!!!    One of the employees gave us the lowdown about the machine and it was pretty impressive but no robot at this time. Oh and by the way I'm not in the market for a new long arm, Don't get panicky, Mom.

There were a number of striking quilts on display that had kits to go along with them.  I was drawn to their reflection patterns.  Their class room was big and there were several classes they offered that I would have signed up for if I lived in the area.  How about this cute cute Quilt Diva doll?

The store's fabric selection was very nice, high quality stuff but nothing I had to have.  Next time I'm in Phoenix, this shop will be a stop.

Next up was lunch at Garcia's and even though the food was mediocre compared to the great Mexican I'd had in California over the last month, lunch was a great success because Barb and I got to catch up on the last year.

The last 150 miles of the day took me to Holbrook AZ.   On the ride I listened to Miranda Hart's "Is It Just Me"  I LOVE HER!!!!  She is this fun English comedian/actress that Bre and I have been bonding over during my stay in CA.  We watched all the episodes of her show "Miranda" on Acorn TV while I was visiting.  I love my kid cuz she enjoys some of the crazy shows I do.  I also watched her in "Call the Midwife" on Netflix while visiting.  What an excellent show.