I tried to post on Facebook everyday of our trip but no success. So I am going to break this down into daily posts to get it all in without boring you! To start we departed Richmond on Thursday morning at 7:30 from the Meijer parking lot. We were all pumped and loaded with cash! Our first stop was breakfast and shopping at Cracker Barrel in Crawfordsville, IN, then on the bus again for about 2 1/2 hours to Rochester, IL. Now the time has changed one hour giving us more time to shop! We went to a cute quilt store “Peace & Applique Quilt Shop”. It was very nice, only one bathroom though for >50 women!!! They had beautiful fabric and I picked up several ideas for our panels. One fabric I loved for a jacket was $37 a yard! Needless to say- I didn’t get it! They were very nice to us and had samples of homemade chocolate for us from the candy shop down the street and gave us all a free fat quarter. Then onto Hannibal Missouri, where our hotel was and 2 more lovely quilt stores, but another 2 hours and 45 minutes on the bus.
While on the bus, we played games, watched movies, and had plenty of snacks provided by Pam of Cruise Adventure. Nancy Delucio won a 16 piece fat quarter bundle from the next quilting store “Bits & Pieces” in Hannibal, and her daughter won $72.50 in the 50/50 drawing on the bus. Everyone won something during the course of the trip. Lots of things donated by MODA fabric. To wrap up the first day we shopped at both the quilt stores in Hannibal. The other store was my favorite “The Hickory Stick”. They stayed open late for us, gave everyone a really cute pin cushion, and had specials for us like the 3 yard quilt bundles and a free pattern for $25. Needless to say they probably sold out. Due to the pandemic they were extremely glad to see all of us. Again more new ideas! After shopping we all went different places to eat. Several of us went to a locally owned restaurant on the river. The food and service was excellent! We had awesome shrimp, homemade fried green tomatoes, and wonderful salads. Then back to our rooms to survey the damage and pass out to get ready for the big day Friday at Missouri Star.
Keep watching for part 2 of our trip. If you didn’t get to go this year, maybe you can go with us another time. Pam and I are planning another trip for April 2022 to the Paducah Quilt Show.
