Home again, home again, jiggedy jig!

After four long years, Mr. Painted Quilt and I went on a much needed vacation.

We left last Saturday and took the 11:15 ferry from Digby, Nova Scotia to St. John, New Brunswick then crossed over into the United States at Calais, Maine.

Calais is a small border town whose main attraction is Marden's, a kind of little bit of everything 'junk' shop.  One of Maine's best kept secrets is that inside this particular Marden's hides a HUGE fabric department with rows and rows of quilt shop quality fabric at incredibly discounted prices.  

How does $5.99 a yard or less sound?

I did manage to come across some Jo Morton by Andover fabric which I scooped up in the blink of an eye.

Did you notice the prices?

After an hour of shopping, we found ourselves back on the road again at about 4 p.m.  It was our intention to take a motel room for the night en route to Ontario to visit with friends who we haven't seen since moving to Nova Scotia five years ago but I think that we were both so pumped, the next thing we realized, eleven hours had slipped by and we were knocking on Lucie's door at 5 a.m.

Since Mr. PQ drove the entire way, he went straight to bed and Lucie and I sat up and talked for a couple of hours before I petered out as well.  We didn't do too much that first day but Lucie and I did manage to fit in some sewing while Mr. PQ went off to visit some of his old cronies.

It goes without saying that we had to visit a couple of local quilt shops where I naturally did my part to help the local economy.

I just couldn't pass up these gorgeous fabrics from Kathy Schmitz' new Sturbridge line for Moda.

We had a wonderful visit and I even managed to get some handwork done while drinking copious amounts of tea around Lucie's kitchen table, just like old times.  

Between hugs, tears and promises to get together again 'soon', Wednesday afternoon found us back on the road again headed back to Bangor, Maine via Vermont and New Hampshire.  We arrived on Thursday morning and for the next two days, Mr. PQ chauffeured me around from shop to shop without too much complaining.

I felt like I had been given a "get out of jail free" card.

Although I still can't get around without my walker or cane, I did manage to shop till I literally dropped.

Bangor and it's sister city Brewer across the river have most of my favorite shops including JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, AC Moore and a quilt shop and Bernina dealer called The Cotton Cupboard, only to mention a few.  I did boost the local economy at ALL OF THEM!

Believe it or not, I forgot my camera at home so all I can show you are photos of what I purchased taken once I got home and not some of the gorgeous New England scenery.

Large, bright and colorful shopping bags from Joanne's.

  

The world's smallest mini steam iron because I dropped and broke my mini travel Rowenta before leaving...

Two Creative Grid rulers, my new faves!

Some notions...a new seam ripper and groovy pins.

A couple of spools of DMC thread and some jute rick rack...

and a "Row by Row" license plate and pin from The Cotton Cupboard in Bangor, Maine.

And of course, more F-A-B-R-I-C!!!

I also spent way too much on clothing...boring but essential...and groceries!  

We brought two coolers with us which we packed just before leaving and the ice hadn't even started to melt by the time we arrived back home!

Some new Autumn decorating items also managed to fine their way into my cart but I'll show those to you when I start the transition from summer to fall mode.

It's great to go away but there's  so much truth to the saying,

There's no place like home! 

I'm sorry to say that I didn't get too far on the next step of my Mystery Quilt-Along but I promise to get back at it in the next few days.

So please, stay tuned!

Happy stitching!