Reject's Retreat 2022 Part 1

 It's that time again.  

Time to head out to Kansas City for the annual Reject's Retreat. 

 This year my friend, Kailie was joining us. 

 She and I decided to drive from MI to MO. 

 Hubby mapped out several quilt shops for us to stop at along the way as we progressed.  

He even put the times they opened up for us. 

 We started at Shipshewana. 

 Kailie had not ever been there. 

 First stop was Yoders and then Lollys.

Next was Betty's Quilting and Fabrics in Burnettsville, IN

The next stop was closed so we continued on the Chilothe, MO to spend the night.

We had a beautiful sunset on our drive there.

In the morning we went to Cuts and Bolts.  

They opened late and we just managed to catch them as we were ready to head out.

After that we were traveling on the the Missouri Star Quilt Company in Hamilton, MO\

This was the main shop.

Can you read the sign above us?

"Spends too much $$$ on fabric"

With an arrow pointing down, LOL.

This was in the Pennys building.

There are 4 shops inside there.

It was pretty incredible.

The iconic Hamilton sign.

There was a little Amish man selling fry pies near here too.

YUM!

Cheersing with our cherry fry pies!

On our way to the retreat!!

Next up our arrival and activities at the retreat!

~XOP~

Quick Trip to Shipshewana

 We decided to do a quick trip to Shipshewana while we were still able to travel.  
It was a fun day!  We ate a Jojo's pretzel (that neigher one of us should eat), shopped for lounge wear and slippers for me, bought some fabric (of course) and ate fry pies on the way home! 
 LOL  We did all the things.  
First stop was Jojo's.  
The BEST pretzels!

Gotta take a selfie or it didn't happen, right?

Obligatory horse and buggy photo.

My adorable lounge wear.

My new slippers

We were in the bulk food store and Chris asked me to look at a bag he had in his hands. 
 I SWEAR, it looked like a bag-o-maggots!  
EWWWWWWW. 

 Annnnd now you can't unsee it,  LOL  you're welcome!

These are the fabrics I bought too. 

 Some Essex yard dyed linen and some backgrounds plus the great rainbow low volume fabric.

I found a coat pattern and a marker.  The coat pattern is kind of a crap shoot since there were minimal measurements.  I was thinking that a quilted coat might be fun with this pattern.

I see a theme with this fabric, do you?  

It was a happy accident that they all coordinated.

Yoders had their Christmas and Halloween fabrics on sale and

 a line I have some of but wanted more of. 

 I did not have a list of the ones I have so didn't end up buying any.  

SAD!

Amazing fry pie on the way home!!

~XOP~

Shipshewana

 Chris and I spent the day in Shipshewana yesterday. 

 I just love going there. 

 It's only a 3 hour drive to get there so we can go and spend the day and drive home all in the same day.  It was good just to get out of the house and go somewhere.  

First stop, of course, was Jojo's pretzels.  I

 LOVE their pretzels. 

 I debated whether I should eat one being on keto, but decides WTH and just ate one.

  I did NOT regret it at all!

These  Are  Amazing!

We waited until no one was in the hallway and Chris snapped my pic quickly.  Cool wings, huh?

This giant  horse was new.  Had to take it's picture.

This donkey was new too.

Look at this little Chameleon.  SO cute!

My hair was so crazy yesterday too.  

It was a very windy day.

We went to the Yoder's Department store and then ate our packed lunch outside (in the wind).

I didn't buy a lot yesterday.  

This was my haul from Lolly's. 

The 2 more solid blues are going to become binding.  

The circle one I used in a quilt and fell in love with. 

 It was on clearance!! 

 So I bought it up. 

 Oh this will make it's way into a quilt soon!

My son roped me into making 2 more Spartan pillow covers.

I needed some more green for the Helmets.

I've used this one previously. 

I bought some Steam a Seam 2 lite at Yoders, but that isn't very exciting to get a picture of.
I did buy a Life is Good shirt with a fox on it. 
 It is so cute! 

 I think, for the first time ever, we spent more at the meat market than I did at the quilt shops 
(BOTH of them!!!)

It was a good time away with my husband.

~XOP~

A Little Trip to Shipshewana

We go to Shipshewana several times a year.  We have only been there once this year.  

I was getting anxious to go and spend a day there so last week we did.

I'm still excited every time I see the first buggy.  

I love the "buggy parking" lots too.

Their fall decorations are always spectacular.  Just look at those horses!

So many gorgeous flowers on this wagon.  It is truly covered (in flowers, LOL)

Loved this rainbow chair.  It was showing off the colors you can choose to get the chair made in.

I found a gnome friend.

Look at all these gorgeous quilt blocks for your house (or barn)

If we had a finished basement I would love to have something like this for the bar.  

I saw this dining room set and in my next house this is the style I want to have.

Hey a girl can dream right?  It was beautiful!

We went to E & S Sales (bulk food) and I found these

Until I went on Keto, I would not touch pork rinds but now they are a great crunchy snack.  

These were the BEST of all of the pork rinds I have tried.

Of course I went to Lolly's and Yoders but I didn't take any photos of my purchases.

Wedding stuff seems to be occupying all my actual time outside of work with things I can't share until after the wedding.  

So get ready for an absolute GLUT of photos after the 20th!  LOL

One week from tomorrow is the wedding!!!  

I will not be posting again, likely, until we are done with that.

~XOP~

Mother and father of the bride!

Shipshewana Travels

We also traveled to Shipshewana Indiana for the day. 

It is about a 3 hour drive for us. 

 It is lovely to go during the holidays as all the decorations are so beautiful. 

I loved seeing these horses made out of wood.

First stop was Jo Jo's Pretzels.  Man I love that place!  BEST pretzels ever! 

 Of course, Lolly's is right across from there so I had to go in and shop, right?  

I was looking for some solids for an upcoming planned quilt and

 knew I should be able to find them in the quilt shops here. 

 I was not disappointed.  I scored this at Lolly's. 

A little Swell Christmas may have hopped in my bag, 

as well as the cutest "Night Before Christmas" text print.  

Those stripes from Vintage Christmas were in the sale room...SCORE!

What they did not have were many of the Kona solids.  

So we went to Yoder's.  I was able to get the rest of the solids I needed for the top!! 

 I am excited for this quilt but it has to wait in line.  

Sad.

We went to E and S Sales too (well duh!) and there is a row of buggy parking. 

 I have this unnatural attraction for the horses and buggies.  

They make me absurdly happy for some reason.

If you know anything about by now you know how much I love cats.  

People used to make so much fun of me for that all through school!  

Now as an adult I just don't care.  

I love all animals but cats are my favorite (in case you didn't know, LOL).  

When Chris had me go into the Yoder's general store I was looking at axes, and bird feeders 

and such and when I rounded the corner I saw THIS!

Are you kidding me right now???  A GIANT Kit Cat clock in PINK???  YES Please!!  Haha, not really, I have no place for something like this but I really needed my picture by it don't you think?  I was not dressed for photos and just threw my hair in a pony tail but what the heck.  Who knows if it will be there next time we go, right?  I have a mint colored Kit Cat Clock that Chris got me for Christmas one year.  Our friend Maggie, who passed away, had an original black one and when we were helping her hubby clear out the house he let me have it to remember Maggie by.  You can see the actual size of the clocks all around the giant pink cat and me.  That orange tiger one was calling my name...

It was a super fun day and I can't wait to go back in the new year and visit again.  I just can NOT get enough of this place!  The only bad thing this trip is that there were no fry pies.  Mind, this was good for my weight loss but I missed having a cherry fry pie.

If you get a chance to go to Shipshewana you should!  It is so much fun!

~XOP~

The Traveling Quilter

I have determined that when we travel (in our camper or otherwise) and quilt shops are involved I will post under this header.  

Last weekend my husband, the kittens and I went to a new campground.

  It was called Eby Pines, located in northern Indiana. 

 If you are interested in our travels with kittens and quilt related content then come on along with us!

First up is the traveling with kittens part.  

These guys decided that they did NOT want to travel in their carrier. 

 So I decided to try letting them out and see how they did.  

Hubby was not thrilled at first but then this happened.  

Finn decided that the appropriate place for him to be was in his dad's arms, just like at home!  

At first hubby was not so sure but once he settled in things were fine.

Not to be left alone in the carrier, Cole came out and settled in on my lap for the 3 + hour drive.

When we got to the campground, we set up the pet tent and put the boys in that.

This allowed us to go in and out of the camper and not have them get out and get lost.

This campground had some quilt shops nearby.

Hubby even scouted them out for me!

First up was a little shop in Bristol called Lavender Patch.

We had to cross the St. Joseph river as we parked at a nearby park and walked to the shop.

The park was beautiful and the river was too!

I thought this guy was pretty funny!

This was the inside of the shop.  

They had some nice fabric.  

I bought a gold backing for the snake quilt and 

a pattern of a Christmas tree made from log cabin blocks.

We drove into Shipshewana, but since you have probably all seen my photos 

of Lolly's and Yoder's I didn't snap any new pics.  

I will have to do better about that in the future!

I did get a picture of the kittens enjoying the bed in the camper though.  It was later that night.

 We stopped at a shop in Middlebury called the Pumpkinvine Quilting.  This was a fabulous shop!

I managed to find lots of goodies here. 

Some older Scrumptious by Bonnie and Camille, as well as some rainbow for binding. 

We also stopped here, at the Corn Crib, The Quilt Shop.  

I have been here before and the shop is quite small.  I found a great airplane quilt pattern here.

They had giftware in the Corn Crib too and I spotted this amazing peacock Santa. 

 Hmmm...I wonder who might need this?

No trip to Shipshewana is complete without a few buggy photos.

I never get tired of seeing these.  

When we pulled up to E & S Sales there was a buggy 

with three little Amish girls looking out the back window.  

I wanted to take their picture so badly, but I didn't.

So on to my fabric purchases.  I found this unique fabric at Lollys.  I fell in love with the deer!

Most of this was purchased from the Pumpkinvine Quilting shop,

 with the exception of the gold which I got at the Lavender Patch.

I bought these fabrics at Yoder's Department Store in Shipshewana too. 

 I could not resist that top right fabric for my camper quilt. 

 I also found some "What Pet Should I get?" fabric.  

The cat fabric in that line is adorable!  

The pink and black are for bindings, the dot to go with the deer, the molecules for a science quilt, 

the whales for a friend and the brown tabby print because Finn!

On our trip home we just kept the boys out of the crate to begin with. 

 I think I am going to purchase a  window perch for the car and see how that goes, but mostly they just wanted to be together on one of our laps.  

Since that was not the best idea for the driver, and Finny got there first, Cole had to settle for being as close as possible to his dad and Finny while not actually in his lap.

Overall, a very good trip for us all.

I hope you enjoyed our travels and will stop back for more.

~XOP~