1,246 Miles in Four Days.

This last Wednesday thru Sunday was Shop Hop in Western Washington.  Usually we have four or five seafarers for our voyage, but this year it was just Linda, Lauri and I...and Lauri was only able to accompany us for Saturday & Sunday.  Oh, and Cammie joined us for Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday.

This is a long post, so pour yourself a big cuppa and get comfortable.  Enjoy!

Day One:  Our first leg started with Cammie and I, setting sail at dawn and arriving at the northern port, collecting our navigator, Chicken Linda.  (Chicken Linda because she has chickens, as opposed to Sheep Linda who has sheep.  I also have two Sharons, one of which is "the wyfe" and the other is "Oriana"...who now goes by "Sarra" just to make things confusing.)  I didn't sleep particularly well the night before, but we needed to get up early for our journey to begin at 9 a.m.  We brought along our Pirate Booty--gold chocolate coins for the shop owners and workers to share.  There is only one other pair of hoppers that bring gifts for the shop employees as a thank you for all their hard work, whom we met on Sunday...but more on that later.  We run in and out of the shops yelling, "Arrrrr!  The Patchwork Pirates are looting!"  and we leave loot with them.  Sometimes we say we are "reverse pillaging" or simply "bribing".  As Jack Sparrow said, "What do you say to three shillings, and we forget the name?"  


With a pocket full of one dollar bills for raffle tickets (I must have bought 20 along the way), we went to the shops from Lynden to Everett, 12 in all, pausing briefly to ride the elephant in Anacortes.  When we first arrived at a shop in Lynden (not naming names...don't wanna get anyone irritated for causing trouble) there was a big sign that said something about the Tri-County Scavenger Hunt and had a question that needed to be answered.  Linda answered it correctly and they said, "Yep, you're right!" and that was it.  When we arrived at the second shop, there was another question on a dry erase board and a blue sheet of paper that you could get stamped at each of the participating shops in the Tri-County area, but we declined to participate.  We saw a question at the fifth shop in Bellingham, but still there was little information about what this extra activity was for.  Little did we know that this could have entered us into a drawing for a big treasure chest full of goodies that we didn't see until we got to Everett.  Wow...thanks for explaining the program, ladies.  We got to the end of the 12 shops on the first list, then returned to my house early enough to take the kids to karate, then home for dinner and some sleep.  

Day Two:  The next day, the three of us started out early by driving to Tacoma and working our way up the Olympic peninsula.  Our first stop was Parkland Parish, a former church, had set up its Quilter's Confessional.  This could have been dolled up even funnier had each shop hopper had to admit how many UFOs they had at home already, and how many they were creating on this Shop Hop journey...maybe even have each one enter behind the curtain to get their passport stamped and get the pattern kit.  


We then went to Lakewood, where an Asian-themed quilt store held a number of lovely treasures.  I picked up a charm to add to Emma's growing charm bracelet that she got as a gift from her friend, Rosie.  You may remember that our dear Rosie passed away four years ago from complications with diabetes.  This bracelet was given to Emma before she passed but it was broken and too small for her.  Emma made some basic repairs to it and added a piece of chain to extend the length, and has been wearing it for the past couple of weeks.  I would like to take it to a jeweler to make it larger and put a better clasp on it.  I thought she might like to add a few of her own charms to it, so I bought her an Asian crane with its wings outstretched.  


On to a shop in Port Orchard, which we got in and out of quickly...we have boycotted this store for several years, but if we are going to do ALL the shops, that means this one, too.  They were very nice and welcoming, so we have put them on Double Secret Probation and will visit them again next year.  Maybe we'll gift them with booty, too.  The last time we'd gone to them they were rude and were not following the rules of the hop by providing patterns to each hopper (we got one for our group of five) or three pieces of fabric (they ran out and refused to provide substitutes).  Clearly they've improved and we're willing to give them another shot.


Up the West Sound to Silverdale and Poulsbo, two very charming shops, and Kingston, a great place to shop while waiting for the ferry.  This is where we stopped for lunch at a non-chain burger place with fresh in-store-made fries (I hate to say "home made"...I mean, no one makes them at their home).  Unfortunately, I took the risk of eating at a place where they cook bacon on the same surface as the burgers, and my intestines let me know that was a mistake a little while later...


On to Port Gamble, a former logging and milling town that is now just a bend in the road and a tourist attraction.  Sad that a thriving industry town with homes that once housed families is now home to general stores selling tourist trinkets, information centers, and a museum.  I actually know a lady who used to live in one of those houses...and now it's a tourist destination.  The quilt shop is located in the horse barn.  After that, it was the long trek to Port Angeles, our furthest westerly shop.  It was a gorgeous drive out through the hills and along the coast, and we arrived at a cute little house full of fabric with a single car garage converted into a classroom space.  At the shop, we ran into a husband and wife who were doing the shop hop together on a motorcycle.  What a fun trip!  Of course, this can really limit you on how much fabric you can buy...unless you get the super-size saddle bags...or a side car.


Back on the road, we cruised east and finally made it to Port Townsend.  We realized that this shop was not in the cute downtown area--there was a shop on the main drag a few years ago--but about five miles outside of town, tucked back behind some other small businesses. It was sweet and charming, and I saw some fabric there that Lauri's MIL would have loved....but she wasn't there and I forgot to note what line the fabric was from.  Doh! 


Heading back into town and arriving at the ferries, we discovered that we missed the 2:45 ferry by about 10 minutes, so we got in line for the next one...about a 90 minute wait.  Looking on the old Google machine on my phone, I looked to see if the old quilt shop was still around but not on the hop, but it appeared to be gone.  However, I found another fabric store about 10 blocks away up the hill, so I suggested that we go have an adventure and find this store.  Now, when I say "up the hill," I really mean it.  There are sheer cliffs that are several hundred feet high, and you have to climb a lot of stairs to get to the top.  We set out hiking five blocks north and two blocks west, and came to a set of stairs with a lovely fountain at the base of it.  These funny little stairs were shorter than what we are used to since they were designed for women in the 1880s to climb with their high-buttoned shoes and very long dresses.  We took the stairs two at a time and found the shop a few blocks up and over.  It was a funny little shop...emphasis on little.  Two employees have been running the shop in the back room of a rug shop for the last three years, and is MUCH too tiny to be part of something like the Shop Hop.  With four customers (us three and a gentleman looking for velcro), the shop was full.  There wasn't even a full size table for the shop owner to measure out yardage--she'd measure 18", place a pin, then measure the next 18" until you got the yardage you wanted.  We also discovered that they also sold velcro at $1 a yard, but they measured the two halves separately...instead of just saying $2 a yard and you have to buy both halves.  Weird.  They did, however, have great prices on the couple hundred bolts they had in the shop and several at $6 a yard or less.  Quirky but fun!


We headed back down the hill and got back to the car just in time for the ferry to pull in and start unloading, and we headed toward Coupeville, taking pictures of the town as we sailed away.  We headed south to Langley and then North to Oak Harbor.  Across the street was a Chinese restaurant that claimed to have authentic Cantonese food, but I found it to be a rather disappointing Chinese dinner, then around the horn and back home.  Sleeeeep....


Day Three:  Friday...woke up and Linda and I set out to catch the weird, out-of-the-way shops...those that were scattered in odd places and required a bit more time to get to and fro.  We told Cammie that she was not invited this time, at which time she collapsed on the couch...there was great sobbing and shedding of tears when we left.  We went to the first Seattle shop, in a new location just outside of Ballard, then to Pike Place market area to catch the small one there.  We found a parking place at about 10 a.m. in a lot where the guy on staff gave us the "early bird special", a $14 parking pass for the day.  We climbed a bunch of stairs (in the pouring rain) to get from the waterfront to 1st Street, and walked about three blocks to the quilt store.  


Quickly getting in and out, we went back down the stairs and went six blocks down to the ferry docks and hopped on the Bainbridge Island ferry.  We caught it with just a few minutes to spare.  We sailed across and walked about six blocks to Esther's quilt shop, where I won a small door prize--two fat quarters and two cards of buttons.  NICE!  Since we missed the ferry we came in on, we thought we'd stop and grab a bite to eat before catching the next ferry.  We walked into the diner about half-way between the ferry and the shop.  We got a seat fairly quickly, and ordered lunch, asking if it would be possible to get in and out in about 30 minutes.  She said, if you order now, yes, I think so.  We got our food, asked for the check right away, paid cash, snarfed our food down, and dashed out of the diner--we knew that we were cutting it close.  We power-walked to the ferry, and getting in the building, found that the last cars were boarding.  The guy working there said, "You can hurry, but I can't guarantee you'll make it."  We ran...but there were three long hallways before you get to the ferry.  In the middle of the second hallway, the guy who was getting ready to close the gate saw us coming, so he held it for us...actually, I think the first guy radioed ahead and said, "Hey, two fat ladies are gonna run to the ferry...this'll be funny!"  Thankfully, we caught the ferry back (saving us another 45 minute wait), and we collapsed on the first bench inside the boat.  A few people were giggling when we got on board, saying that they had just done the same thing and thought they were the last ones on board.  


Back on the Seattle side, we stopped for a quick cuppa tea, then back to the car for the trip to the next location...Vashon Island.  Yes, this means another ferry.  Neither of us had ever been there before, so we didn't know where to catch the ferry or whether or not we could make it easily to the shop without a car.  We found our way to Fauntleroy ferry in West Seattle (which, oddly, is southwest of Seattle), and got in line to ride the ferry.  It was $20 to get there, but they let you get away from the island for free (that's darn decent of them).  The map on my phone said that they were just a couple blocks from the ferry, but we called the shop to be sure and they said, no, they're five miles in.  Had they mentioned that there's a bus that can pick us up and take us into town, I would have done that, but...they didn't.  Next time we'll know better how to do this, but it was an experience.  So we rode over, drove to the shop and spent a bit of time there.  They had several thousand bolts of fabric, stacked four bolts high...the top shelf I could *barely* reach with one finger and needed to borrow a tall person to help get it down.  Afterwards, we drove back to the ferry with the intention of catching the Southworth ferry and driving out to Shelton, but we discovered that we missed that ferry by just a few minutes and it was going to be 90 minutes before we'd catch the next one.  I made the executive decision to catch the ferry back to Fauntleroy and continue the hop to Des Moines & Kent, and that ferry was leaving in 30 minutes.  


Once on the other side, we made our way to Des Moines and parked in a spot in front of the neighboring Mexican restaurant since all the quilt shop spaces were taken.  I wasn't more than five steps from the car when an employee from this restaurant opened the door and cussed me out for parking there.  I knew I wasn't going to be there but a few minutes, and was actually considering stopping there for dinner since it was about dinnertime, but he helped make the decision for me to spend my money elsewhere.  The sign in front of his business, which I then noticed, was almost completely obscured by those tacky plastic banners that they hang out for Cinco de Mayo. Another hopper poked her head out of the quilt store and suggested that I park around back, but the alley to get there was blocked by a couple of pickup trucks, so I carefully navigated the streets to the insurance agency on the other side, which was closed for the day, and parked in their lot.  The signs there said, "No bank parking", but I wasn't going to the bank...so...it's all good.  I got inside the shop and recognized the helpful hopper as a fellow guild member, Deb!  I mentioned to the shop owners the way the restaurant was treating the quilt customers and she said, "That's so rude.  Their customers park in our lot all the time."


We got to Kent, where one of the shop workers was talking about wanting to join an online swap group.  I invited to join our swap group and gave her my business card along with the name of the group.  When we left, we and had enough time to run out to Maple Ridge and North Bend before the day was done.  The last shop was small and they had just joined the hop this year...they were a little discourteous, but I attributed it to a long day; they had a lot more customers than they're used to and I think they may have been understaffed and unprepared for the influx of traffic, and that they may have been just cranky and tired.  We left for home again to collapse in a heap.  Luckily, I knew that we didn't have to wake up quite so early the next day.


Day Four:  Saturday!  Our big day!  Lauri joined us and we left Cammie at home again (much to her disappointment).  We began at Bellevue, then worked our way through the small towns in the southwest valley.  First to Puyallup, then off to Buckley.  We ran into the same problem as last year when we arrived in the middle of the logging show parade.  The thing that made it more miserable was the monsoon-like rains that soaked our shoes, pants, coats, purses, and hair.  We had to park about six blocks away (again) and when we arrived at the store, several teenagers watching the parade had huddled into the shelter of the shop's doorway.  I shooed them away at the same time that the shop owner told them that they were still open for business and needed the space cleared.  When we left a few minutes later, new teens had filtered in.  I told them that they weren't so sweet that they'd melt in the rain.  They laughed...or maybe just humored me.  Back to the car...soaking wet...I turned on the heat to dry out.  I really could have used some waterproof shoes.  Note to self...

Then on to Orting, Graham, and Eatonville.  At that shop, I chatted it up with the shop's owner who knows my father in law.  Small world!  I bought the rest of the theme fabric from two years ago, a quilt that I want to try to finish this summer.  Yelm has a great shop with some 17,000 bolts of fabric...if you were looking for it, they probably have it.  Except for the grouping I was looking for--Moda's "Glace" line from 2009.  I had gotten the jelly roll some time back and made the Christmas quilt (seen in previous posts).  I found a couple of fabrics that match in color and I figured it would work well with them if I can't find any more of the fabric from that line.

On to Olympia!  We were in and out of the shop fairly quickly and then down to Tumwater and Centralia.  Then...the motherload...Chehalis!  I love this store.  While it has a measly 11,000 bolts, the staff is spectacular!  I went up to the counter and said, "Hey, I made this quilt top but ran out of the fabric.  Any chance you have some of it?"  The gal said, "Yes, I think we do."  She proceeded to lead me around the store where she found a dozen bolts from that series.  I selected 8 of them and got half-yards of them and a big chunk for the back.  Back on the road for Castle Rock, Kelso, and Longview's two stores .  The lady in one store at Longview, like a few others, said that she was anticipating our arrival with our gifts of chocolate, but then seemed a little disappointed when we all left without buying anything.  Sorry...I blew my budget at Sister's.

Finally, we went to two more stores in Vancouver.  The first was not where we remembered it...the doors were shut, the store was empty, but the signs were still up.  Looking up the address, I realized that I had gotten directions for the old store, and apparently they moved recently.  Got out the ol' Google machine and we found them, and happily, just two blocks away.  Unfortunately, they were set back from the street a bit and it took three passes to find them.  Afterwards, we used that same Google machine to find us a Mexican restaurant and we found one just a couple miles away.  When we got there, the restaurant had changed names, but we decided that we should try it anyway.  The service was less than stellar when they brought me the wrong dinner.  I ordered something called a Blanco Burrito, and they brought me Pollo ala Crema or something.  I handed it back and told him what I ordered, and while Lauri and Linda were enjoying their dinner, I waited for the replacement.  They brought it and it was some chicken in white sauce on rice with lots of onions and green peppers. Still not a burrito.  I stared at it for a few seconds too long and the server ran off.  I took a couple bites (I was starving) but it was so oniony that I knew I was going to hate it in the end.  It still wasn't what I ordered.  He came back and I said it still wasn't right and he looked at me like I was nuts and said something about how there were so many chicken dishes on the menu....  Dude.  Really?  So I told him to go get me a menu.  He returned a minute later and I flipped to the page and pointed to it.  Blanco Burrito.  He took it back and studied it like he never knew it was on the menu and went back to the kitchen.  The manager came over and saw that Lauri was done with her dinner, Linda was nearly done and I had no plate.  He asked how things were going and I told him that I hadn't gotten my dinner yet and that he had gotten it wrong twice.  He stormed off to the kitchen (presumably to chew someone out) and a few minutes later, the correct meal came out.  Sadly, I think they forgot to season it.  It was flavorless and not quite hot in the middle, and like the previous wrong dinner, the chicken was overcooked...it was so dry it was crunchy.  And then they still charged me a portion for it.  Horrible.  So bad, I went on Yelp and created a profile so I could write a review.  


Day Five:  The final day, and I only needed to get to three more shops.  OK, four, but we had to cut out Shelton due to its distance from I-5.  We were going to stop there either before or after Olympia, but it would have been a two-hour round trip, and that's if we only spend a few minutes at the shop.  Too far.  Too bad....  First stop:  Bothell.  This shop has pretty good prices, lots of bolts in their discount pile, and the shop is pretty close to my house.  Then Woodinville--where we met one of the ladies who gift sweets to the other shops.  She confirmed our suspicions that we are the only ones who do this, and we need to up our game a little.  They do the hand-made cards that say thank you and sign their names.  We did the hand-made booty bags, but we'll have to make some little cards with our names on it.  More ideas for next year!! 


We made two more stops--Duvall and then a repeat visit to Everett for Lauri and Cammie, who weren't there the first time around.  We handed in our finished passports for the drawing and went to lunch at the BBQ joint.  Wish our previous dinner had been that good.

Finally home...the loot.  Doesn't look like much, does it?  It's actually about 45 yards...that should make about four large quilt tops, but of course, these are for at least eight different projects.  In the brown bag are all the patterns from the 52 shops we visited, in front of that is the theme fabrics to fill in the bits that aren't included, borders, sashing, etc.; bugs and birds are the colorful half-yards in the front center; some koi fabric for something for Emma; behind that some monster fabrics to go with the monster blocks I got from friendship block swaps; the Christmas fabrics from the Moda line in the back right; a pile of bright Kaffe Fassett (who I call "Coffee Faucet"); and some blue sea glass fabrics for a future project.

I've got an appointment tomorrow, but I hope that I can spend a little time making some quilt blocks, design something for the Moda Christmas borders, and chop up the birds and bugs for the swap.  Oh, and sometime I'll have to come up with a plan for the Girl Scout outing on Tuesday.