Columbus NQA Quilt Show, Part 1

This post will be about the fun that we had in Columbus. Part 2 will be the quilts in the show and Part 3 will be the purchases. There were just too many great pictures and small stories to share to cram it all into one post.

Friday night, I didn't get to bed until midnight and Patrice picked me up at 6:30 AM on Saturday morning. Man, was I pooped! I was hoping to be able to catch a few zzz's on the bus. We got there before the bus showed up and Patrice and I walked around the lot a little bit just to get some exercise in before the bus ride. We finally got on the bus and got to our seats and saw this....

How's that for some in-ride entertainment? Patrice said that someone should have brought a DVD along for us all to watch on the way.

Once the bus was loaded, we were on our way. I tried to sleep a little bit, but everyone else was so excited to be going to the show and seeing friends that there was too much noise for some shut eye. We made it up to Columbus without any mishaps, and quite chilly, in about an hour and a half.

At the show, Cathy, Patrice and I just dove right into the vendors and shopping. We were able to pretty much keep up with each other and no one got lost. I had to take a picture of the Tammy Tadd booth. She is a fabric and pattern designer and we were watching her blog a while back. I ended up taking her off my list because there was just something missing on her blog. It just didn't catch me. But her fabrics are very cute!



Once we got to the end of the rows of vendors in the direction that we started, we decided to get some lunch and take a potty break. Imagine my surprise when I went into a stall with this toilet. Patrice was in the next stall and we were joking about the toilet having hydraulic lifts! I thought that it was blog worthy. I have never seen such a contraption. And I didn't see another one while we were up there.



We decided where we were going to eat and Patrice got in line and ordered and then nudged me and said that she thought this was Eleanor. I said, "nuh-uh, no way!" Then, the lady talked and all doubts were gone! It was Eleanor! I was very star struck. She turned and saw us and waved and said "Hi!" We all ordered and watched her go to the condiments section. I asked if the ladies thought that we should invite her to join us to eat and Patrice said sure and when I turned around, Eleanor was asking a lady who was eating alone if she could join her. It was still very cool though. This was the best picture that I could get while we were standing in line.



Once we were done eating, we wandered back into the show and back to the vendor booths. They kept making announcements for the Sack Sitting tables and I was joking about who would need them! After we hit the rest of the booths, we went back to a booth where Cathy got a kit that she was thinking about and then I said that since we saw Eleanor, maybe she was at her booth and we could wander back that way and see.

SHE WAS THERE!!! I bought a book quick (they were on sale for 25% off!) and we got into line. Patrice had my camera so that she could take my picture and she snapped Eleanor's shoes!



When it was my turn, Eleanor mentioned seeing us at the food court and she said that she liked my shirt! I was wearing the pink tie-dyed Real Women Quilt shirt! I was just tickled pink!



She signed my book and then posed for a picture with me. She is so sweet!



Then it was Cathy's turn.



At this point, all we had left to do was look at the quilts. We walked back up by the Sack Sitter table and I saw that it was only $2 to have a huge bag sat and so I left my bag and Patrice's bag and Cathy left her bags. What a load was lifted!

After we wandered around the rest of the quilts, we went back to the food court and got smoothies and sat outside to drink them and then we went back down one row of booths that was really busy the first time that we were there.

Then, it was back to pick up my sack to head back to the bus. Patrice took these pics to show that the sacks had been sat! Here I am giving them my ticket...



Here they are joking about how heavy my sack was....


And all as well with the sacks and we were on our way!

It was so much fun to go and take the bus and I can't wait to do it again! It also gave me a kick in the pants to get home and work on my quilts and get some ready for Lenny and Squiggy!