IQF Excitement!

Friday night, Jennifer drove over from Indianapolis to go to the show with me and enjoy the excitement of the show. We went to dinner at the local Mexican dive and then hit the Dip for ice cream. I spent about an hour prepping for things to take to the show and making a list of things that I wanted to look for.

I showed her my red snappers on the frame and decided to look at my Bottom Line thread to see what colors I might need to replace. Of my 11 colors, I guess that I tend to use the neutrals the most.



And some of those a lot more than the others. They were all put on the list.



Saturday morning, we got ready, packed up lunches and headed down to the show. There was plenty of time to see some quilts before I had to report to work, but my camera didn't cooperate and I couldn't take many pictures. It put a damper on my fun, but it didn't ruin the day. I ended up removing the memory card and it helped so I took pictures at the end of the day.

When I was done working my first shift, Jennifer and I went to eat and chat and then headed in to shop. I remember shopping on Saturday last year and it was just crazy with people all over the place. Yesterday, I didn't feel crowded at all and we were able to zoom through the shops pretty quickly.

I found the Notions/Gadgets booth and picked up my favorite thimbles, a Havel's seam ripped and another pack of my favorite pins.



Then, I picked up a soothing massage pillow that will be awesome to use at retreats and after I push myself too long at the quilt machine.



Jennifer and I also tried out the heavy duty foot massagers in another booth and after a few minutes there, my feet were fantastic for another couple of aisles!

I picked up a sampler pack of a new thread, Konfetti by Wonderfil. If it doesn't work on the quilt frame, I can use it for piecing. And we got these adorable little bags with our purchase!



And the Bloc Loc people were there! Cheri told me about these squares in October and I hadn't seen them locally so I was happy to pick up the 5.5" square.



We stopped at the Handi Quilter booth and I visited the Avante machine. I'm so in love with the set up! I can't wait until I can upgrade. I got a DVD of the company and the machines and will probably watch it later this week and several more times until I can upgrade. :) And after we stopped there, we hit the Superior Threads booth and I picked up my Bottom Line. I stayed away from the King Tut and Lava threads because I haven't been having the best of luck with them in my Mega Quilter. Until I figure out what the problem is with the cones that I have, I won't add anymore to my collection. But I did get a new color - a pale pink.



All in all, it was a fantastic time! And I think that I am going to head back down to the show now to see all of the quilts that I missed. I think that the quilt exhibits were so much better this year and I need to remember that I can't work 2 shifts and shop and see all the quilts in one day!

But the inspiration that I got yesterday was enough to make me want to just stay home and sew all day today!