Trip to Florida..recap part 1!

How do I start to tell the story of this trip, except at the beginning? I can’t skip everything that happened on the way can I?

I had gotten a call the night before I was leaving that Jeff was having trouble with his car, and I decided to go down to Columbia on Thursday morning instead of late Thursday afternoon so we could get his car in the shop and get it worked on while I was there. It also meant that I left home early enough to make a couple pit stops!

Can you guess where the photo at the top was taken?? Huh?? huh huh??!?

I stopped at Mary Jo’s in Gastonia! I was on a mission…for a whole BOLT of solid cheddar…and I scored!

I also found a few goodies on the fat quarter table, and a couple remnants that needed to come with me as well. And since I had time, I made it to Long Creek Mills, otherwise known as “the thread place!”

There is a certain color of tan/gold thread that I use a lot when machine quilting scrap quilts. It just seems to blend through everything….and it doesn’t shout out as “too dark” or “too light” and my supply was running low. These 3 cones should hold me over for a while!

You can also see I bought a bunch of pre-wound bobbins both in red, and a beige.

The red and purple solids were in the remnant bins, and the rest came from the FQ table. I had another piece of blue that I saved to welcome Lori with--- but that comes later!

I stayed Thursday night with Jason and Kim, got Jeff’s car business settled, and the next morning I was on my way to Florida! What was fun --- Lori was up and texting me on her way to the airport! I’d be driving just about as long as she’d be flying..and it was fun getting messages like “Made it to Portland!” “I’m now in Houston!”

I stopped for lunch and a leisurely stroll in Savannah. I love that town! I just found a place to park my car, put on my running shoes, plugged my ipod in my ears and walked the historic district. So worth it!

From there I headed further south, across the border into Florida….passing by Jacksonville – glad that that smoke is not as bad as it was in June!

Of course, by the time I was closer to St Augustine I needed another break…and I saw a sign for “ANTIQUE MALL” at the side of the road….that was all I needed to make an impromptu detour!

Quilts just are NOT as plentiful in Florida….let’s face it--- it’s just too hot there! But I did find some. Look at this trip around the world with the lovely 40’s and 50’s fabrics!

This one really caught my eye! Of course, I’m thinking of how it would work in strings, but this one was even strips. Tied. It’s a fun one with that solid red, isn’t it? Here is a close up of some blocks:

Did you notice how they tied IN the block with red yarn, but the red areas are tied with yellow?? I thought that was a fun choice!

This was my favorite of all! And while I’m taking pictures, my phone gets pinged..by Lori, saying she is still stuck in Houston. I sent her a picture of this one so she could guess where I was…LOL! It’s late 1800’s early 1900’s but the outer border/backing could be 30s…like a top that was tied later. ((YES, TIED!!))

AREN’T THE FABRICS GREAT?! I loved that there are plaids and stripes mixed in with the prints, and they are not all gorgeous ones..they are every day house hold type fabrics..

Lots of red polka dots and blue indigoes….but see that double pink in the far right next to that burgundy resist? YUMMY!

Even a bit of chrome yellow in there…/and look at that green/yellow/orange paisley! Wow!!

I thought the black button hole embroidery on this dresden plate was adorable! Machine applique is too perfect…I loved this hand stitched version! Again, this one is TIED! ((And these were all at different vendors…so are tied quilts more of a Florida thing for this era?!))

I didn’t buy anything…but I certainly oggled the handwork in this crazy quilt piano stool:

Isn’t it beautiful? As you can tell by the one gingham silk…it’s shattering…..I wish I knew the story behind it!

And by this time, it was time for me to hit the road again. I had several hours to go before hitting Orlando and getting to the airport on time to pick Lori up!

Her flight was delayed enough I was able to walk around a bit more. Luckily the Orlando airport has a food court and shopping area that is BEFORE the part where you go through security!

Isn’t she the cutest thing ever?! So tell me why the guy in front of her in the orange shirt is such a grump? LOL!!!!

It was 10pm by the time we got to Port Canaveral and found our hotel. We were both starving by this point ((And it WAS only 7pm Oregon time, after all!)) and we found a British brew/pub for a bite to eat and a catch up before turning in for the night….

Our adventure had begun!