So my fearless job of hunting hackers sent me to the state of Ohio this week.
Usually when I travel, I often like to surprise the DW with fabric when I get home. My favorite LQS destination, of course, is
Birch Fabrics. I have fond memories of dropping in on the long drive home and asking Cynthia to give me one of everything that's new. Unfortunately, my traveling has taken me outside of California these past few months.
Welcome to Ohio
Here's a picture from where I had dinner (in Kentucky) looking at Cincinnati along the Ohio River:
Cincinnati Lies Across the Ohio River
I actually had no plans to even look up a LQS as I was busy with work, when during the day, the DW emails me "you're in Amy Butler country". (I later discover that
Amy Butler only does LQS appearances in the state of Ohio). Well, I wasn't going to drive 140 miles to Granville just to get a picture taken with Amy. I mean, it'd be nice trophy show off to the DW considering she has a picture with
with Anna Maria Horner at Fall Quilt Market, not to mention the picture with
Heather Ross, Lotta Jansdotter, and roommate Gertie. Besides, I didn't even have a car!
But then the DW emails me "now open in Cincinnati...
www.sewnstudio.com". I'm sure she didn't mean for me to actually go there, I mean, I don't quilt, I can't sew, and about the only thing I know about fabric is from all the packing labels when the UPS man arrives. And yes, I open A LOT of packing labels! Okay, I do pick up a few things here and there from osmosis - you know, all those
Pat Sloan radio talk show interviews on full blast and talking at the laptop on
#talknt Talkin' Tuesdays. But I just don't think a LQS visit is in the cards, after all, it is 6pm, I'm walking back to the hotel, getting excited to check out the Cincinnati night life. This is my first time in Ohio, so might as well do something downtown, right?
An Intriguing LQS
Then I thought, why not just check out
Sewn Studio's website on my new Droid phone, which then led me to
their blog, which then lead me to
their Twitter page (which I followed), which then led me to their
Facebook page (which I 'liked'), which then led me to
Fresh Lemon Quilts review of Sewn Studio. Wow, this LQS is really connected with with social media - that kind of operation has to warrant a visit! To top it off, they open 'til 8pm only on Thursdays, so it's just my (wife's) lucky day.
I figured it's worth a visit... But I don't have a car. I fire up Google Maps but it says the trip is a 2½ hour walk, and while I could take a Taxi, $35 each way kinda eats into the fabric budget. So I figured maybe I'd look at the recommended bus route on Google Maps. Yes, I'm contemplating taking the bus, in my slacks and dress shirt, to go buy fabric. The route doesn't look that bad, the #11 bus (which happens to be my favorite number) takes me straight there in about 30-minutes:
From Downtown, Take the #11 Bus to Madison Road - Oakley
I happened to have 7 quarters in my pocket and it looked like the stars were aligned for this one. Of course, I had no idea where I was going, but I did have my GPS Navigation on the cell phone to make sure I got off at the right bus stop.
You have to picture this. I was the only Asian I could find anywhere in downtown Cincinnati. I'm on a bus, with my work clothes on, using the GPS on my phone to find an LQS.
I finally get there and it was a quiet part of town (called the Oakley Design District) which was quite nice - lots of joggers and people walking their dogs. I recognize the store right away from the bicycle with the basket from Fresh Lemon Quilts review. Here's a picture I took on my phone:
Scaring the Quilting Ladies
There were 5 people inside quilting in the back corner workspace. I think they must've given me funny looks, some strange Asian dude in the quilt shop all dressed up taking pictures of the storefront. A really nice lady greeted me and I asked her if she was Stephanie (the owner) and indeed she was! Yes, I cheated and knew her name thanks to the Fresh Lemon Quilts review. I think Stephanie was more curious about me than I was excited at all the fabric choices with which to surprise the DW. I had to of course tell her "my story" (I didn't tell her I took the bus to get there - I'd lose all credibility at that point!), how
Little Bluebell is a super quilter extraordinaire, she is the Ken Jennings of modern fabric, and that she is the President of the
Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild, and she has a half a dozen friends who own quilt shops, yet I need Stephanie's help to surprise her with some fabric that she doesn't already have.
Lucky for me, Stephanie said
Little Apples by Aneela Hoey just came in and so I bought 2 layer cakes. Maybe we'll have to give one away! I also loaded up on some more of my favorite Sherbet Pip prints.
Discovering Anna Griffin
I was actually thinking about
our new dog Daisy and how she needed a doggie quilt. I then I took a closer look at Fifi & Fido by
Anna Griffin which was a perfect print for a dog quilt:
Fifi & Fido by Anna Griffin
I really, really liked it in person. This fabric seemed "merely interesting" when looking at it online, but in person the colors looked so much more appealing and not "dull" nor "muddy" as some online photos of yellows and greens can look. Also, the fabric was very smooth and felt thicker than I expected. Of course, later I actually read the description:
The posh patterns of the Fifi & Fido Collection take animal prints to a whole new level with fine fabrics for the pampered pet. From "hound"stooth to herring"bone," the retro print fabrics in both pink and blue palettes offer the perfect conversational patterns for creating pet beds, clothing and accessories for you and your furry friends.
I'll have to make it a point to look at other
Anna Griffin decorative fabrics, as I was very impressed. And it cost me the same per yard as all the other modern fabric. This goes to show why vising an LQS in person is such a different experience!
Buying the Fabric
My favorite part about buying fabric is when it actually gets cut from the bolt. Something about that piece of fabric feels alive once it is freed from its bolt'ed shackles. Of course, Stephanie had to keep asking me "one yard, right?" just to make sure I hadn't gone off the deep end and really, really did intend to buy 1 yard of each print. I don't blame her, I think I'm crazy, too. (I'm really glad I didn't tell her I took the bus.)
I Should've Bought More!
The rest of Sewn Studio was a pleasure to walk around. The fabric shelves had plenty of precut fat quarters with pretty labels. I added 14 FQ's of
Carmen by Anna Griffin to surprise the DW. Everything was modern, no fuddy-duddy traditional fabric here! Sewn Studio even carries
Cloud 9 organic fabric, and I did make a pitch for Birch Fabrics organic fabric, too.
The Shelves Look So pretty
So Cozy I Wanted to Take a Nap!
As I was paying for my new stash, I heard the quilting ladies in the corner say the words "bias" and "binding" and was tempted to go investigate if they were talking about continuous bias binding (one of the quilty things I learned by osmosis), but I figured the-only-Asian-in-Cincinnati thing combined with the dude-in-the-quilt-shop-buying-10-yards-14-FQ's-and-2-layer-cakes thing was scary enough for them.
So I bought the fabric... yes... mission accomplished?
But the Story's Not Over - I Have To Get Home
I really, really wanted to take a taxi back, but I kept telling myself I spent the taxi money already. No problem, I'll just take the bus back, right? Well, one minor problem. All I have in my pocket are $20 bills from the ATM. I figure I'll just go to the nearest eating establishment and buy a drink and get change.
So I walk up to a local brewery/pub, when a vagrant lady asks me for spare change
to ride the bus. I said I didn't have any change (which was true!), but felt kind of guilty carrying around a new smartphone, a boutique shopping bag full of fabric, and bunch of twenties in my pocket. But what was I supposed to say, "only got a $20 lady, you got any change? I need to ride the bus, too". So now I thought it'd be awkward to go into the pub, buy a drink to get spare change, and then have to walk about out past the vagrant again. (Remember, I'm the only Asian for like 50 miles, I swear I didn't see any anywhere.)
Plan B It Is
Before I got to the brewery, I had looked up the nearest Starbucks on Google Maps which was 1.2 miles away. Now, there was a CVS nearby, and I figured I could get change there, but the lady was kind of following me (I couldn't really tell and didn't want to turn around and make it look like I was looking behind my shoulder). If I went to the CVS, I'd have to backtrack to get to the bus stop and pass her a third time. That's it, I'm going to Starbucks - 1.2 miles away and past a long stretch of residential houses. No problem, I like walking, in my dress shoes, with a bag full of fabric, answering emails at work on my phone. A few different 30-something ladies with dogs walked by me with friendly smiles but I know they were thinking "TOURIST!"
I finally made it some place with not only a Starbucks but lots of shops and food choices. I have no idea where I am, but I took a picture to virtually mark my territory:
I had dinner at Longhorns, a steakhouse chain I like. Not too expensive so I don't get any trouble on my corporate expense reports, and I really like the food. During dinner, I used my smartphone for browsing and sending emails until it ran out of batteries. By the time I was done eating, it was 9:30pm and dark out. I'm not really quite sure where to find the bus. I feel kind of sheepish asking the waitress "umm, where is the bus stop, ma'am?" especially after she already admired all my fabric and asked why I was eating alone all dressed up nice. I said I was on a business trip and she said "no one comes on business trip this far out from town". It was at this point, I regretted not starting the conversation with my Jackie Chan accent when I first walked in, but I just told her I was on a mission to find this new local quilt shop. I'm sure she thought I was gay.
At least after dinner I had enough change for the bus fare. Turns out the bus was just around the corner - lucky for me Sewn Studio was on Madison Road which is a really long main street so I couldn't get too lost.
Trip Summary:
- Bus fare: $1.75 x 2
- Dinner: $36 (expensed)
- Wonderful modern fabric: $232
- Cool LQS experience + DW's expression when I get home: priceless!
Another state, another LQS story
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