A couple of weeks ago I went on a road trip/mini shop hop with my fellow guild members from the Twisted Stitchers. What a great time and what a fun group of ladies. Led by our enthusiastic, fun-loving new president, Linda (and her trusty, very loud whistle!), we were loaded onto the bus in both Ajax and Oshawa and on our way to the first quilt shop, Bolts & Bobbins, in Woodville, Ontario.

Since Bolts & Bobbins was having a big sale that day, we did have to wait in line for a while until we were able to actually enter the store to do our shopping since they were limiting the number of shoppers. It gave everyone in line a chance to chat and get caught up with fellow guild members while enjoying the beautiful day.

Once inside the sale section of the store, we were met by tables loaded with fabrics at 40-50% off. Elbows were flying (just kidding!) as everyone there scrambled to scoop up their favourites. I have become very disciplined with fabric purchases over the last couple of years so I showed great restraint by just quickly perusing the sale fabrics and then entering the main part of the store where regular priced fabrics were reduced by 10%. Only 3 fabrics filled spots in my stash so the credit card didn't get much of a workout.

I had to take a bathroom break while there and was enamoured by the sink and toilet paper holder...brilliant!

Linda called ahead to let the restaurant know we'd be late because of the line-up at the quilt store, so everything was ready for us at One Eyed Jack's in Lindsay once we arrived. Again, a great opportunity for some lively conversation, delicious food and lots of laughs.

Our next shop was Appleseed Quiltworks, just down the street from the restaurant. Sandra, the owner of the shop, walked over to the restaurant to introduce herself and fill us in on her store and its layout while we were waiting for our meals. Talk about customer service!

Appleseed is a bright, well laid out welcoming store with beautiful displays (I forgot to take pictures). Its tin ceiling panels, hardwood floors and central sales counter all evoke days gone by without looking old-fashioned. Again I showed great restraint and bought only Schmetz chrome topstitch needles (which I've been wanting to try) and a Bobbin Boat for my travelling hand stitching kit.

After our time at Appleseed, we got back on the bus, driven by our friendly driver extraordinaire, Derek, and empty seats were taken over by shopping bags full of fabric. The ride home definitely wasn't as loud as on the way there because we were all tuckered out from our day, and Derek got us all safely back to our cars. Thanks again, Linda, for organizing such an awesome trip for us. When's the next one?