Long Beach Quilt Show

               Long Beach Quilt Show 2012

  We Rode, we walked, we shopped, we were exhausted (both physically and fabrically)!  Lisa Shepherd (my sewing partner in crime) and I met the bus at Chocolat end Cotton early yesterday morning to ride down to the annual Long Beach Quilt Show.  It seemed to take only a few minutes, as we chatted and laughed the whole way down.  Once we arrived, we got our Show bags and our little orange entry bracelets and anxiously waited in line.  Once the gates were open, we had to do our parade wave to show our bracelets and then we were in!  We did notice a shipping office as we were taking the escalator down to the show floor.
     We both had our lists and were very diligent in trying to find the perfect fabric that we were looking for.  Lisa's list was longer than mine, so I graciously offered to help her look for her things too!

     Right off the bat, I found something that was not on my list - a button print that is a companion print to the vintage 50's girl's dresses fabric (see my post on July 14, Fabric Finds).  Could not pass that up!
     Next, I found a cute fabric, very instructional (and not on my list)

on how to iron a shirt.  #1 starts with Get our your ironing board, followed by #2 Plug in your iron, all the way through to #12 Hang shirt on hanger, it is ready to wear. (Remember, if you click on the picture, you can make it larger so you can actually see what is on there).

     Another cute fabric I found, vintage thread spools and bobbins. (Again, not on my list.  I thin I see a trend here).

     Cute sewing fabric!  I liked this one for 2 reasons - #1, it has a pink background, and if you know me at all, pink is my favorite color, although I am drawn to black and red fabrics), and #2, it not only had sewing things, it has embroidery things too!

     When I saw this fabric, I could not help but roll my eyes........and then I bought some!  I do not sew very much for either of my boys (22 and 24), but they both would love this and get a kick out of wearing a shirt made out of this.  what is a mother to do?!

     Next came the candy bar fabric.  If you look close, the names ae all a little 'off':  Sneckers, Kit Cat, M & N, etc.  While I do have a sweet tooth, I bought this to make pillowcases.  During the school year, there are a couple of classes that I sub for fairly regularly, and I have areading contest.  The winner gets a pillowcase (win win - I get to sew up fabric that I love, and they are reading).  I usually make a couple of different pillowcases and the winner gets to choose, and they always want a candy pillowcase.   I had run out of candy fabric, so I just filled my stash again!

     We shopped first for a few hours and then stopped and checked outrbags (no rolling carts allowed and fabric is HEAVY).  Guess that shipping office will come in handy for out-of-towners.  We ate quick bite and then went back and decided to look at quilts before we shopped anymore.  This was vary calculated on our part.  If we finished shopping and then looked at quilts, we could possibly have heavy bags to carry.  If we looked first, (remember, we had just checked our packages), then we would not be straining our muscles quite yet.
     There were many, many quilts to look at - modern, historical, art, etc., and we enjoyed seeing them, but the rest of the booths were calling us back (we had to be out the bus by 5:15).  We finished looking at the rest of the booths, went back and shopped at the 'Let me think about it first' booths, made our final purchases and headed out for the bus, with a quick stop for a Rice Krispie Bar along the way. 
     As we rode on the bus with a beautiful view of the ocean out the window (we came home along Pacific Coast Highway), I ran though my list.  While I found several pieces of great fabric, I did not find one single thing that was on my list.  Hmmmmmmmmm.  I guess that will be an excuse to go to some more fabric stores.
Have a wonderful day!
Happy Stitching,
Vaune