As you know if you read my last post, my BFF's Julie and Sheila and I went on a girls weekend to Columbus, Ohio to the Country Living Extravaganza. We had a GREAT time! We got to Columbus on Thursday evening but not before stopping along the way. We found this really cute shop (actually, it was a group of shops) right off the interstate called the Homestead Collection (exit 161 off of I75) in Findley, Ohio. It was tucked behind an antique mall and we found it by chance. We each dropped a bit of money here and we hadn't really gotten started on our trip yet! Whoo Hoo - the excitement is building and we are getting geared up! BTW, this shop was SO wonderful in fact, we stopped on the way home and left what little money we had left after the Country Living Fair here. Definitely worth the trip if you're anywhere nearby.
Oh yes, the stuff inside was just as wonderful as you might imagine. Have a look:
Here are Sheila, me and Julie (left to right) as we got ready to leave this wonderful shop.
Okay.... back in the car and on to Columbus! When we got there, it was early afternoon so we decided to go to the fairgrounds to scope it out. They wouldn't let us inside but a really nice guy, named Mike told us that the parking lot opened at 6:30 and the cars would start piling in. Not to be outdone by anyone, we thought we'd get up and head over there about 6:30. That should be plenty of time to get a good spot in line, wouldn't you think? Well, you'd think right. We got there bright and early and were the ONLY people there. No worries. We grabbed a quilt from the car, grabbed our yummy Mickey D's breakfast and copped a squat right at the gate. Mike (remember the nice guy) saw us and just about hurt himself laughing at us. It was all in good fun, we laughed pretty good at ourselves, too!
It wasn't too long before the rest of the crazies joined us in line (in truth, it was about an hour, at least) but while we waited, we got to know the gate staff quite well. The best part about getting there early is probably that we got to be the first to use the porta-potties. I have to go REALLY, REALLY bad before I'll step foot into one of those things normally but first in - not so bad.
As the sun came up, Julie worked a bit on my BOAF Friendship sampler (yep it's done, pic later).
The fair was wonderful, lots of amazing vendors and we bought a lot! Here are a few of the things I got.
This white cabinet now has a new home in my craft room - yep, I can fit more stuff in there!
I bought all the goodies to make this little chair pad and yep, that's mine, already done. It's punchneedle with wool yarn. Looks like a rug - it was so easy and fun and FAST to do. I will definitely be doing more of these but I've got to find a better (read less expensive) source for wool yarn.
I bought a pretty painted, wood hamper for our bedroom, forgot to take a pic of that and a paper making kit - nothing pretty to take a picture of for that.
I want to show you some pictures of the vendors - just a treat for the eyes.
We three had a great time. There is nothing like a bit of time away with really good friends to restore your soul.
Have you had enough yet? As I mentioned above, Julie finished her girl on my BOAF Friendship Sampler. I love how it turned out.
I also finished the SB Sail Away piece I've been working on with my SAL friends. I love how it turned out. I changed a few things about it. Besides adding the boys names, I changed the color of the house from black to blue, changed the color of the fish so they'd show up a bit better and I changed the last line of the verse to read "Come sailing home to me" rather than, "come back again to me". I also decided not to put any of the charm's or buttons on this one - I like it just the way it is.
You can check everyone's progress HERE:
As if all this weren't enough to make me a happy girl, look what I got in the mail from PATTI.
I won her blog giveaway a while back and the goodies were worth the wait, wouldn't you say? Look at that beautiful piece of fabric, the scissor fobs, the pinkeep - whoo hoo! the thread separator is just the coolest thing and look at the pretty patterns and floss I got! What a wonderful giveaway, Patti. Thank you so very much! I love everything but of course, the best piece is the one you stitched and finished yourself. A keepsake that I'll treasure.
Whew! I'm worn out. I hope you enjoy the pics - it's a lot to take in. I know. Have a great week, wherever you are and know that I appreciate your visits, your comments and your friendship! I am off now to catch up on some long overdue blog reading!
Peace,
Terri
32 comments:
Oh, look at those ARKS! And the pumpkins, and the whale and the STUFF.... What a wonderful, fun time you ladies must have had. And your Sail Away! And the needle punch rug! What a blast.
Oh wow! I'm like Glenna -- look at those arks! lol! I love that whale too! Oh you should have brought all of that home too! Looks like you all had a great time! I can't believe you already finished that needle punch rug. You have to give me advice on what needles to buy and hoops and stuff. I've never done it, but I won a needlepunch kit from Brenda at With Thy Needle and Thread and now I have to try my hand at it! :D Wool thread sounds nice too. You'll have to keep us posted on whether you find a cheaper source. Love your BoaF Friendship Sampler too!
Yeowazzzzzzza! What is with the love of the arks...my favorite too!! I think it's all the animals on the arks. I am loving all the pics you took, and the wool punch needle...how cool is that? I've done a fair amount of regular punch but not the wool yarn kind. I'll have to try that out. And I love the pics of you, Sheila and Julie. It's so much fun to see pics of my internet friends. Love, love, love the Friendship Sampler. You and Julie are blessed and I know you know that. Have a great week!!! Hugs
Woo, you girls are serious about your fun! I'm a Noah fan, so the ark booth looks just about perfect to me. There's nothing like a field trip with the girls.
Sail Away looks wonderful, of course, as does your new chair pad and friendship sampler.
Wow! What a fun weekend! I had to laugh with you three being the first in line! Love that white cabinet you got and I'm sure there's more!
I love that big whale ready to swallow the man. Cool!
Your stitched pieces are lovely. I like how you changed the last line for Sail Away. Now, to see them framed!
Have a great week Terri!
Looks like you had a wonderful time. Don't you just love the the Homestead...I go there often...if you are ever there again I can give you directions to another shop you will want to visit and it's not far away...right off I75 too. I go to both often. Dianntha
Sounds like a great time! I love the whale! Your Friendship Sampler and Sail Away both look fantastic. Congrats on a couple of great finishes...as well as the little punchneedle chair mat. So cute!
It looks like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing all your pictures. I have been looking forward to it.
Woohoo, I am worn out just reading your post :-). Your trip looks like great fun and the rug is wonderful.
Love your finishes, congrats. I need to get back to Sail Away.
How fun...great photos! Love the mermaid, way cool!! Looks like you had a wonderful trip with your BFF! Great finish on your Sail Away and I love all the goodies you won on Patti's giveaway, what a lucky, lucky girl you are. But my favorite has to be The Friendship Sampler by BOAF....love it!
Looks like you all had a great time out. What fun.
I love the pics of you girls squatting, lol! Thanks for all the lovely pics, it looks like loads of fun. And congrats on your lovely finishes!
WOW! It sounds like you guys had such a great trip. That's just too funny about arriving so early -but hey, being the first to use the porta-john, makes it all worth while :-)
I just love the Jonah & the whale and the mermaid display. Your new cabinet will come in handy and your punchneedle is just beautiful! I have done a little (very little) punchneedle. One of Cross-eyed Cricket's ornament is Raggedy Ann and instead of cross stitching her hair, I used the punchneedle - it was really cute, but I don't remember it being easy. I guess I will have to try it again.
Hooray for finishing your Friendship Sampler! I am on the Friendship tour (thank you) and can't wait to stitch it.
Enjoy your week.
Now, that is one great girls weekend. I don't know how you managed to restrict yourself to a few things. I would have tried to have the care bulging at the seams lol.
Sail Away is beautiful. I love your changes.
WOW oh WOW! Like Melissa you gave me a good laugh about you three being so early. Me? I would have been there too! So don't know why I was laughing. Mr. Early (him upstairs) would have been - yup you've guessed it - even earlier. I'm so glad you had a good time and I love what you have shown us that you bought. You are also very welcome for the things I sent you - my pleasure entirely. Lots of Love Patti xxx
Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous...that's all I can say about your super beautiful finishes and the great country fair...I LOVE those Noah's Arks and I bet they were a pretty penny too!
Great post Terri! Sounds like you had a blast and a very memorable fund trip. Love the displays you took photos of - love the friendship sampler and your changes to Sail Away make it special, unique and oh so beautiful. thanks for being such a great leader on the SAL. Enjoy all your new toys! Mel
Hi Terri! I looked for you at the fair...but I didn't see you! I thought it was even better than last year! I'm definitely going to look for that shop you found! Thanks for the tip! I just LOVE your finished stitching piece!!! I just may have to do this one! It's gorgeous! Oh..and your rug it beautiful too..was it your first one? Sounds like you've had a wonderful beginning to our fall season!(: ~Kathy
Oh my GOSH!! What amazing pics. The mermaid and the Jonah and the whale pieces--wow. Noah's ark. omg. Love your Sail Away, and the needle punch rug, AND the BOAF sampler. Gorgeous stuff!!!
Oh yeah, what a great time you three ladies had there! I wish I could visit Homestead. Beautiful pictures; and you take such a lovely pieces home.
And Patti is very sweet! She allways know how to surpise you.
Mmmmm, I remember you can do that also. So... you deserve it!
Looks like you girls had a terrific time! It looks like the weather was perfect for this! But were you all anxious or what? I really got a kick out of the squatter photos. LOL And love all the Mermaid and Noah's stuff. Knowing you, you didn't even post 1/10 of the great things that you ended up buying.
Love your finishes too - all three look great!
It looks like you had a wonderful time.
Your Friendship Sampler and Sail Away are both gorgeous, congratulations
Okay Missy, I'm setting here drooling with envy! What a great trip you gals had. There's nothing quite like a getaway with great friends. LOVE the picture of you setting in the dark - I could just picture that! Have a great week, Dawn
Hey Terri! Thanks for taking us with you! I had to laugh at the 3 of you sitting out there in the dark waiting. Just too funny! I'm so glad you all had a great time. I love get aways like that.
I haven't done punch needle since art class in high school. Funny how these trends come and go. Love the piece you did!
Your sail away is beautiful and I like the changes you made.
Have a great week!
Wow! What a fun fun trip - and all the goodies are amazing! Love that you totally camped out in front of the gate - that's hilarious! And all the finished pieces are to die for. I especially love that punch needle piece!
What an awesome trip, Terri! I love all of the pics of you and your buddies, specially the ones camped out waiting for the place to open!! Your chairpad is so pretty, you did a great job, and I love that white cabinet, too cool!!
Your friendship sampler is gorgeous, now how are you planning to get it framed? Want to send it to me, I have a pretty good framer now! I think I owe you a favor, you did such a great job of picking out a super molding for Bitter Flower Sampler! Ok, I know you won't send it my way, but know the offer is good for this or any other you have need!
It looks like a wonderful time! So glad to see all of your fun pictures.
What an incredible market. Would love to do that someday.
I'm so glad you've finished your Sail Away piece, and you BOAF friendship sampler. Both look amazing.
I'm so busy right now, I'm ready to go to the loony bin. Somebody just plop me in there, will ya. Still working on those needle cases. Slow but sure!
Take Care cute thing. What a great post this was.
Oh I wish I could have been there, I love the arks.
I was trying to figure out the name of the company, I bet they are high though.
Your piece is wonderful and you did a beautiful job on the colors too.
Debbie
My heavens, Patti, everything's so marvelous it's not possible to pick a starting place to comment! LOL! The arks, as everyone else has said, are just too cool. And the bird you made - wow! I'd love to learn how to do that. I'm a huge fan of that BOAF sampler - so cheery and sweet. Just a great post! :D
Ooo, the fun. I feel some severe jealously hitting me right now.
Thanks for sharing your adventure and your lovely stitching.
You and your friends are just too stinkin' cute! Looks like you had a fabulous time and I'm so jealous! Loved reading all about your adventures!
Terri,
I just realized today that I wasn't on your follower list anymore. Not sure what happened with blogger, but this has happened to me on others blogs as well. I've been trying to get my list back...glad I realized that yours was missing from my list. I went to the Country Living Fair also and it was amazing. This is the second time that I've gone...went last year too. Looks like you all had alot of fun!!
~Cindy~
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