Mary Jo's Cloth Store

My! Is it chilly this morning! 30 something degrees! I must say though, it's really nice to have sunrise at 6:30 back from 7:30. Of course I couldn't sleep in this morning, the biological clock got me up...sigh. And the dogs of course have no respect for this weird human practice of sleeping in anyway.

Yesterday we drove to meet some New Jersey friends who were at a conference in Charlotte. It's a 3 to 4 hour drive but we figured it would be nice to visit Charlotte if for no other reason than to say we've been there! It was very funny when our friends realized how far away Raleigh is from Charlotte. Then we remembered, it's only 3 to 4 hours from one end of New Jersey to the other....lengthwise! LOL

So....in order to take advantage of a perfectly good long drive, we drove another 1/2 hour past Charlotte to Gastonia, to visit Mary Jo's Cloth Store.

Not particularly prepossessing from the outside....

But OH MY on the inside! I had heard it was the place to go but I was completely blown away! 300,000 square feet of fabric. I was close to hyperventilating! I wasn't bold enough to take photos of the stacks, too many people shopping, but I got out the camera while waiting at the register. These photos do not do the place justice. To the left, under the hanging sports-team fabric panels were the cottons. Rows and rows and rows and rows of luscious cottons. Batiks, solids, tone on tone, landscapes, animals, dogs, cats, kiddie, 30's, retro, fruits and vegetables, Asian, paisley...and on and on and on. Not WalMart quality either...this is the real thing! It was a jaw-dropping display...and I think the most expensive cottons were $6 per yard! And as I listened in while browsing, it seemed like the clientele came from all over.
There was a loooong wall of notions, a huge bridal section, huge decorator fabric section, walls of trims, tons of Lycras for skating costumes etc, dressmaking fabric and patterns too. Even embroidery and cross stitch over in an alcove.Rolls and rolls and rolls of decorator fabric ahead and trims on the back wall. The big bridal section was to the right out of the picture and another big wall of trims, ribbons and laces.
I admit to being thoroughly unprepared!!!! And I have too many UFOs as it is! LOL But I managed to spend some money at least! Hee hee. New Omnigrip rulers, threads, bobbins, a new Grabbit, plastic pellets, thimble, awl....stuff. :)
A pre-printed wholecloth wall hanging, template plastic, fat quarters, and a Clover yo-yo maker. I really wanted one of those and the store had all the shapes and sizes. It was hard to buy just one! I also found gripper fabric for Tazzie's Sewing Machine Mat.I bought a yard of this yummy Christmas fabric for my Mom...after all, they did dog-sit for us. Ok...I confess....I have a yard of it for myself too!And this Asian fabric is hopefully will work for Julie McCullough's Cherry Blossom. It's a bit wild but I couldn't leave without it!We enjoyed the drive in The Tramp's Lexus . Comfortable and safe...and gets pretty good darned gas mileage for what it is. And we haven't had it serviced yet either. It's nice when things work out for the best!

And the real reason for the trip....we had a wonderful long dinner with our friends...and actually managed to get home before midnight!

So before this Sunday gets any older I need to tear myself away from this computer and get to work! LOL