The Final Days...

Now we are down to the final days of The Great Fart...we left Lisa's Friday morning and started towards home - but we still had several shops to visit.  Our first stop of the day was in Cedarburg, WI at Ye Olde Schoolhouse.  This was a nice shop, but even better was the town itself!  Very quaint with tons of neat little shops and restaurants.  We decided to spend the day here and poke around.  We had a wonderful lunch then wandered around town for a few hours.  I wish I had taken some pictures to share with you, but if you ever have the chance to visit Cedarburg, you should do it.  Mid-afternoon we decided to head to Janesville - we wanted to be sure to hit Life's A Stitch on our way home.  After a few U-turns and some confusion as to where in the heck the shop was, I finally called.  Ahhhh...no wonder we couldn't find it - the Quilter's Travel Companion has the OLD address!  It was almost 5:00, so we were afraid we wouldn't make it, and that we wouldn't have enough time to shop (like we really needed to SHOP at this point in time!).  But the owner, Pat, was so sweet - she gave us the correct address and directions to get to her (we had driven right by!!) and assured us that she would be happy to stay open after 5:00.  The shop is in part of her home, and her husband wasn't home from work yet, so we had time!  And it was a great time!  Love her shop and she has three wonderful dogs that came to greet us!  One was a St. Bernard - loved him!  So we again were lucky enough to get our "pet fix" for the day.  Pat also bought some of my jewelry and we had a really great visit.  I definitely hope to visit her again some day.

Back on the road, we decided to drive to Rockford, IL - as there were a few quilt shops on our list to visit there.  We had a very healthy supper...ice cream from Cold Stone (YUM!) and hit the hotel room.  Not quite the cozy accommodations that we've had the last few nights, for sure!  We made sure that we were at Quilter's General Store at opening time, only to find a parking lot full of cars and a shop full of people!  There was a class going on downstairs and a sale main floor.  Perfect timing for us.  They had a 50% off sale on a lot of fabric, so a few things had to come home with me...

These are both Jo Morton prints that I always liked.  The cheddar will be nice in pumpkins for the Fall and hey...for 50% off, how could I refuse?!

Next we found Acorn Quilts, also in Rockford.  Also a nice shop, not really my style of fabrics, but lots of pretty batiks and friendly help.  We happened to run into someone that I knew there (such a small world!) who advised us on a great place for lunch.  She knows all the best restaurants, and has yet to steer me wrong.  So, off to Mary's Market we went for lunch.  It was soooo good.  Great sandwiches and yummy desserts.  I even brought home a dessert for the hubby.

Back on the road, we are now headed to our very last stop of our Great Fart.  Bittersweet, for sure.  Part of me is ready to be home, but we have had such a great, great time - I hate for it to end. 

When we arrived at Yellow Creek Quilt Designs in Pearl City, IL, there was a bus in front of the store!  Yikes!  Luckily the store wasn't too packed - many of the ladies were already back on the bus.  Vicki from YCQD had ordered some jewelry from me, so we dropped that off and buzzed through the shop.  Of course, we had to purchase a few things (because there was still space in the car to shove a few yards in around our suitcases!)  And then we were off towards home.

Unloading everything was a task in itself.  You should have seen us lug those huge boxes of fabric out of the trunk.  And...guess who had to have her nose in them immediately?  Yes...that would be Miss Callie!

She felt the need to hop from one to the other - sharing her fur along the way!

Here are some of my miscellaneous fabric purchases - I was specifically keeping an eye out for reds and blacks for my Barrister's block quilt...

I think my kitties missed me...and maybe DH missed me a tiny bit too!  Whew!  This week of shopping is catching up with me and I'm pooping out fast.  I thought Kim was going to spend the night - as she still had a 5 hour drive to get home, but she got a second (or third) wind and decided to go home.  She was probably sick of me by now!

So there it is...the Great Fart that I have looked forward to for years.  Now...I can't wait to do it again!!

Hope you all have a great day!