Shipshewana Shopping Spree

Shipshewana's annual Quilt Festival was this week.  Kathy, Deb, Gabrielle and I drove up Thursday and had a wonderful two days of shopping, quilts and sharing.

Our first stop on the way up was at Calico Point - now a favorite quilt shop.  They have a wonderful selection of fabrics and their prices are great - several dollars below the typical quilt shop.   If you're ever near Goshen, Indiana, make sure you look them up.

Additions to my batik collection of fabrics.  All but the pale lavender at the far right are from Calico Point.

We got to Shipshewana mid-afternoon, checked in at the quilt show to pick up our tickets for the evening's entertainment and checked into our hotel.  On the way back to town (all of 4 blocks or so), we stopped at several stores to investigate their wares.  We also went to Lolly's, well known for their enormous selection of fabrics.  After checking out most of the shops in downtown Shipshewana, we had dinner at the Blue Gate Restaurant - a favorite.  We ate and ate and I ate even more but their meatloaf is hard to resist.  Kathy & Deb made sure they got a side of chicken & noodles.

Thursday evening, we had tickets to see Ricky Tims.  He not only played the piano and sang, he told engaging stories about growing up, learning to quilt and connections to people throughout his life.  We laughed, enjoyed the music and had a wonderful time.  

Friday morning found us at the quilt show.  And I forgot my camera!  Fortunately, Kathy had her Iphone and took this picture of me beside my quilt.  She sent it to my phone and I was able to upload the picture for the blog.

BIQR Star was completed at the 2011 Beaver Island Quilt Retreat.  I love the way the black background contrasts with the batiks.  Note the red ribbon hanging beside it - 2nd place!  I was tickled.

There were 152 quilts entered in the show this year so it has grown by leaps and bounds in just 4 years.  There were also several quilts from out of state and Claudia Pfeil entered her Fire and Ice quilt that had been entered in MQS last year. 

Balloon Bouquet by Gail Lysett - this got my vote for Viewer's Choice.  What a fun idea this is and she appliqued all of those small circles beautifully.  

Shopping isn't limited to just fabric - what a concept.  We found time to use our coupons for "free food!"  Buy a pint of jam and get a free mini-loaf.  I got Sweet Pepper Jam - it was delicious with peanut butter on the sandwich I had at lunch.  I also got some pickled beets (yum!) and onion cheese.  That made a great grilled cheese sandwich for dinner tonight.  My other big purchase (using a coupon!) was a new purse.  I love the color and the funky stitching on the front of the bag.  Kathy bought a purse, too.  And while at Yoder's Department Store, Kathy and Gabrielle bought new sandals. 

My treasure trove of non-fabric purchases.  I splurged on the Corn Chips with flax seed (delicious) and honey roasted sesame sticks.

On the way home, we went through Middlebury and stopped at the Gunn Bros. Lots of quilters there, too.

I bought these funky dinosaurs to use in a Stack & Whack pattern.  We saw a Stack & Whack quilt in the show that had bright colors with a black background and it was spectacular.  

 It was a wonderful trip with good friends.  We had a great time, laughed alot, bought lots of fabric and ate well.  Put Shipshewana's Quilt Festival on your calendar for next year - June 26 - 29, 2013.  You'll have a great time.  


Cheers!
Margaret