Road Trip Saturday

I'm a little bummed... I forgot all about Bonnie's Yard Sale Saturday that was on yesterday.  Checking the listings on her blog, I know there were some items I would have loved to have purchased from some of the quilters who participated.

But... it was an excellent day nonetheless. 

My two quilting girlfriends, Dianne and Katrina, had a road-trip to upstate New York planned for the day.

The girls picked me up a little before 9am and we hit the highway.

First stop, Joann's in Ogdensburg.  I wasn't really looking for fabrics (I definitely have enough in my stash) - but I looked and did find a couple more cheddars of decent quality to use for my bow tie blocks.  Basically I was looking for odds and ends, beads, fabric to make some summer skirts, cutting dies, etc.  50% off coupons come in handy!

There was no way I was leaving the store empty handed.  Katrina fell in love with my little iron that I took to the QOV bee last saturday and wanted to find a portable little iron for herself.  She found this for only $10.00

It's so cute!  I have no idea what the wattage is, or if it'll get hot enough to press seams really well, but for $10 it's worth a try.  I love the fact that the face plate is smooth.  Additionally, I found a larger pressing head for my portable iron, which I love and take with me often. 

I purchased some beads and a container to sort them and the meager supply of them I have at home.... there was a reason I was looking for more beads.

On April 18th Bonnie did a blog about stilettos, see here.  They were so beautiful, and obviously made an impression on me, because when we took Jim's mom to the dollar store last weekend, I found the poultry lacers in the kitchen section.  Honestly, I'd never seen them before.  A package of 8 for $1.00, I bought 2 packages.

So last night I sat down with the beads I had purchased and some that I already had and made these:

They turned out so nice!  Thank you so much Mary Tosch for allowing Bonnie to post the pdf instructions on her blog.

Granted I don't need 8 of these things, and still have 8 more poultry lacers and beads to make more, so I'm guessing some lucky quilters are going to be receiving a gift in the near future.

After the Joann's in Ogdensburg, we stopped into the Fashion Bug store, one I've never visited but definitely will again soon.  It's truly amazing how just an hour from home, in the US, the clothing fashions can be so different from what we have at home.  I loved the different designs and use of colours.  Needless to say, I purchased 2 pair of capri's, a pair of shorts and 2 tops that will be perfect for office wear this summer.

I had done a little research through various sites to see if we could find some quilt shops to hit on our way to Watertown.  Unfortunately, the internet does not have a large index of quilt stores in the upper New York area.  I even checked The Country Register for New York and couldn't find anything in the area we were going to be travelling in, which was very disappointing.

Luckily, I located a site (www.quiltvisionusa.com), which was very busy ie. full of ads and scrolling marquees - making it a little difficult to look at for long.  But down near the lower part of the page I saw links to maps.  Clicking on that you're taken to a page which lists a map for each state/province that they've developed one for.  You can view the map online and purchase one if you like.

I printed the location for Phoenix Fabrics in Hammond, NY.  Since we were leaving Ogdensburg and County Road 6 was right there, we thought, what the heck, lets go find it.

The drive was quite scenic, running along a river and through what we could see was amish country.  Susan has a quaint little shop (that we almost missed) and the poor lady really wasn't expecting much business to just "drop in" since she's in the middle of renovations.

We had a lovely chat about the difference in prices and some upcoming retreats (what they're calling a "quilt camp").  I also mentioned to her that I couldn't find her in The Country Register and that I'd located her shop on the 'vision' site.  I suggested she contact The Country Register as it has a very wide circulation.  More on that in a future post *hint, hint*

I couldn't leave without buying something, so picked up a couple beautiful applique wall hanging patterns and some Robert Kaufman blender fat quarters.

This post is getting a little long so I'll wrap up the balance quickly.

We headed to Watertown from there and checked out the larger (newer) Joann's store.
I did find some fabric to make some skirts, 3 to be exact.  As I was wondering around I saw they had the Accuquilt Go locked up in a display case.  I asked one of the sales ladies if they had any dies... since they have very few Cricut and Sizzix dies in a display.  One of the ladies asked another, apparently they haven't had time to put together a display yet.  She asked if I was looking for triangles or strips.  I asked her what she had in strips and she said she'd go look.

Well, lo and behold!!

The Studio size 2 1/2" strip die!!  It was regularly $75 and on sale for $56.  YAY!!!  I can use that in my Sizzix Big Shot Pro!!  I so wish I'd had this for cutting all those batik fat quarters for my log cabin blocks, but such is life... I have it now!!!

Now the girls have said they know where they're coming when they need strips cut!

I also picked up a couple of the Sizzix dies by Jim Holtz.... I'm seeing quite a few applique projects in my future.

The day ended well, the girls dropped me off at home and then they headed to a poker tournament.

A wonderful day of shopping and companionship and awesome finds! 

PS.  I forgot to add... I picked up a copy of:

I didn't even realize it was out!  As I was heading to the cash I saw it on the rack and just about shrieked!  And you know, the first page I headed to was our Bonnie's Turkey Tracks!  LOL