birthday and the rag barn

Friday was my birthday,

and my sweet Love took the day off work :-)

Just as soon as Brandon got home from his class

and we had breakfast,

we all hopped in the van
and headed towards Alpena.

Thursday evening, I'd tried to talk him out of it;

told him I was the only one who would enjoy it
and we should just go to a waterfall or a river or a hike,

but he woke up Friday morning and said,

"Only the Rag Barn will do."

Who am I to say no to that??

So we meandered north east,

taking the Pig Trail, 

and stopped at yard sales,

bathrooms,

and for a picnic

at a park with a creek.

The drive was beautiful and the sky was gorgeous.

I brought a quilt along 

so I could hand sew the binding down

when the roads weren't too curvy.

(which wasn't real often ;-)

At the Rag Barn,

I slowly walked through the fabric side of the store,

making stacks of bolts and flat folds

here and there throughout the store.

(I didn't want to have her start cutting

until I had more of an idea of what all I was getting,
just in case I needed to put some things back...)

I was mostly looking for basics to add to my stash

(it's awesome having fabrics on hand
to pull from when I have a project suddenly come up!)

but I had my 'pull it all together' fabric for my next quilt with me

and got several pieces that will likely end up in the quilt, too.

When I had gone through all but one row of fabrics,

I had April (the owner) start cutting

while I finished shopping.

this is so ME! (why did I only get 1/3 yard??
because it was really crappy quality; that's why : / But it's soo cute!

She was super fast,

but not at all friendly,

even after I told her

that shopping in her shop
was my birthday gift!

Hmmph.

1/4 yd

Most of the fabrics I bought 1/3 yard cuts of,

though some I got 1/4 or 1/2 yards

(in looking at my fabrics now, 

I'm not real sure what my criteria was ;-)

1/3 yd

The exception was Carolyn Friedlander's Widescreen in black,

of which I purchased 3 yards,

and Widescreen in orange 

and a great mustard diagonal stripe

that I bought 1 yard each of.

I also bought 2 yards of a black and white striped knit.

and a great knit remnant 

which will be just enough for a skirt.

Fabrics ranged in price from $2.69 - $4.95 a yard,

which is crazy cheap.

1/2 yd (these were all $2.69/yd!)

You might guess, at those prices,

that most of the fabrics weren't designer,

but I spotted a few CF fabrics,

and several by Riley Blake.

 I love the feel and quality of the good stuff,

(especially Art Gallery!!)

but quilts are a lot more more affordable 

if I'm willing to mix in some bargain fabrics too.

1/3 yd

I bought a fun little panel

 (with coordinating fabrics for back and binding)

to practice my quilting on.

I feel like I need to up my game in that department,

and a panel is an economical way

(in both time and money) 

 to work towards that.

I also nabbed a handful of thread spools

and all together,

spent $103.77

I don't see us going back real regularly;

without meandering, it's a 2 1/2 hr drive one way

but it was a nice treat to get to go for my birthday :-)

Thanks, Love!!

(I also got a new rotating cutting mat to replace my current one that is completely bare in spots,
Turkey Turds (aka chocolate truffles. You can guess who those were from ;-)
one of those fancy cups to keep my water cold all day long,
a box of 100 gel pens (no 2 colors are alike!)
and a quilting book.

I got a really nice card 
and money from Mom & Bill and Gramma, too
but who knows when I will spend that
or what that treasure will be :-)

Thanks everyone!! XO