Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival

This weekend is the Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival in Phoenix, so Kirsten and I and Kirsten's bff, Melanie, loaded up Mel's 2 little munchkins and fought our way through the hoards of other fabric crazed people and helped the economy just a bit.  This was Melanie's first time, mine and Kirsten's 2nd. We had already scoped out the map and knew where our 2 favorite quilt shops were going to be, so first we headed to the one that we only get to see at the shows, but they are also online and located right here in Arizona! Above All Fabric has the greatest selection of modern fabrics that they bring to the shows! I got a FQ bundle of All Star 2 by My Mind's Eye for Riley Blake. I also got a few 1/2 yard cuts from that same line as well as some other fabrics that were dying to come home with me.  Smart blogger girl Melanie (who has an amazing camera! And mad photo skills.) took some pictures of their booth and managed to capture Kirsten, who was watching her goodies being bagged up and Mel's fabric being cut and also the VERY patient ladies that were cutting our fabrics. I always feel a little sorry for the ladies that have to deal with me and Kirsten when we are on a fabric buying frenzy because we usually buy a few of the same fabrics and have to pass bolts back and forth and try to keep them straight on how much we each want of each fabric. Today was no different and we even got Melanie into the fray since she had already picked up a bolt that I wanted a cut from!  Anyway, it really makes our shopping so much fun and these ladies are super nice and I will definitely be ordering some Central Park yardage from them online when it gets in, probably MONDAY!!!! It's already on the truck and on its way, but didn't make it in time for the show.

Then we finished wandering through that building, scoping out lots of other vendors. We got to stop and watch some ladies with spinning wheels turning fuzzy stuff into yarn. Okay, so that's how I explained it to Melanie's 4 year old that I had kidnapped and was pushing in her stroller around the show.

Then we went to the next building, yes, 2 full buildings of vendors to peruse! In the next building, we found the Bernina dealer and got to take a spin on an Artista 630 and try out the BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator). OH.MY.GOSH!!! Can I just say I might consider giving up food to save up money for one of those (actually any Bernina with the BSR)!!!!!  I had actually spent a few drooly minutes with an Aurora 440QE at a shop a few weeks ago, but Kirsten and Melanie had their first experience today and we have all agreed that maybe we should stop buying fabric and start saving up for new machines.

But we didn't exactly start on that fabric fast yet, since our very favorite local fabric shop had a booth just a bit further on and we didn't resist a stroll through. 35th Ave Sew and Vac has the very nicest ladies that work there and we haven't gone a month without going to their store since we discovered them about a year and a half ago! They always have a fun selection and they generously put coupons in our local coupon magazines that come in the mail, so we get great service and also nice discounts. (incidentally, that's the shop that rang up my sale at $18,976,685.94 and practically gave the sales lady a heart attack! Kirsten and I just laughed and took a picture of the cash register!) Anyway, they had Dilly Dally by Me and My Sister (I love their designs!!!) on their shelves and I have been dying to get my hands on some of that, so 12 little fat quarters found their way into my bag! After I got home and looked it over, I decided I will have to visit their store very soon to get some yardage, too! (darn)

Oh, so do you want to see a picture of my pretties?

Since my stash has grown ridiculously fast since I have rediscovered the happiness that is sewing and fabric, I decided to start tracking my purchases/usage. Not to post regularly but just so I would know. And being the computer geek that I am, I set up an Excel spreadsheet so it can do all the math for me. So, those 3 pretty little piles?  Mostly fat quarters and 1/2 yards? Yeah, that's 14 yard of fabric right there. I feel a little gluttonous!!! Guess it's time to start saving for a new machine and work off my stash for a while!