The first shop we went to was the Fabric Cobbler and the owner popped on the bus to let us know how young she is and how hard she works and the special package they put together to sell us. She was just a ball of fire and might have been a bit much for those ladies who aren't morning people. However, a lot of people seemed to be spending a lot of money. I scored some awesome Doctor Who fabric and kitties in Halloween costumes. Such fun. I take my hat off to this young woman. She had a smart computer system that can check you out at the cutting table which saved a ton of time. The shop was a bit crowded for 50 people but OMG did she have wonderful fabric.
The second shop of the day was Peace & Applique in Rochester. I love the old building that houses this cool store. Check out the coolest chair ever.
I am constantly amazed at the creativity I see in so many quilt shops. How cute is this cat chair!?!?
I was a little disappointed in this store. They knew for months that we were coming but they hadn't figured out the discount they were giving us. Huh? Anyway, I found a couple of cute patterns.
But as far as I'm concerned the best part of that stop was the lunch. Razzo's opened for us and made a great lunch. There were a couple kinds of pasta, salad, delicious bread sticks, and cannolies. So good.
Then we were off to Staunton to Itchin to be Stitchin and another store right down the block Mini Mall Quilt Shop. I headed to Itchin to be Stitchin first. It is in an old bank building and they use the vault to display the sewing machines they have on sale. Gotta love it. It is a bright cheery store with some very unique patterns. I bought a cute little pattern and headed down the block.
Jodi from the Mini Mall Quilt Shop left a message on my voice mail earlier in the week that she was going to discount regular priced fabric by $2 per yard. Score. I found some black backing fabric and a couple of Christmas fabrics on the sale table. There were a bunch of treats provided which looked delicious. Helen wasn't too pleased with me when I told her she had 15 minutes left and she hadn't even made it to the other shop. Sorry!!!!!
Keeping on schedule we departed for our last shop of the trip, Jackman's. The St. Louis traffic was bad so we were a few minutes late getting to the store. Have to say my shopping was done. I think this was the only store I didn't buy anything but many of the other women were still enthusiastically spending money. We did our part for the economy of all the little towns we visited. Jackman's is a wonderful store with tons of samples, great lighting and plenty of help. They got us in and out very quickly.
Most of the ladies, finished shopping about 15 minutes early and we had a long drive ahead of us so I asked Juanita to finish up. I know she wasn't too happy about it but we still had a dinner stop and a 4 hour drive home so I was anxious to get on the road.
We stopped at a strip mall with a couple of dining options for a quick 45 minute dinner break and then we were on the road home. We arrived back in Branson West about 11:15 p.m. exhausted but happy. I think the trip went off pretty much without a hitch. Since this is the last bus trip mom and I are planning, I think it was a nice swan song. I hope all the ladies who joined us agree.
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