Plattsmouth Revisted

Lights. Camera. Road trip!

My quilting buddy, Leola, invited me to come along on a road trip to Plattsmouth, NE, a sleepy little river town of about 6500 an hour's drive from Lincoln.  Some of you may recall an earlier post about a pilgrimage my little quilt group made to the Seams To Be Quilt Shoppe in Plattsmouth almost a year ago. http://pasqueflowerponderings.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-little-piggy-went-to-plattsmouth.html.  This incredible quilt shop boasts over 6,000 bolts of fabric and 12,000 fat quarters (18" x 22" fabric cuts).

Well, I come to you with a heavy heart to report that Seams To Be seems to be going out of business.  It's a sad, sad day for quilters and fabric lovers in Eastern Nebraska.  I received an email invitation to the Going Out of Business Sale -- so off we went!

We arrived in Plattsmouth about 9:50 am Thursday to find LONG lines of quilters at both the front and back doors of the shop, which was scheduled to open at 10:00 am.  It was like Wal-Mart on Black Friday!

A newspaper photographer with a wide angle lens was taking photos of the hundreds of little old ladies who had descended on his fair city.

Police cars kept circling the block.  I can almost imagine their radio communiques (think Barney Fife and Andy Griffith):

"We seem to have a growing group of women and a handful of grumpy old men-- I'd say at least 250 total -- gathering outside the quilt shop.  Most look to be card carrying members of AARP.  They just keep coming -- in vans and cars and pickups and SUVs."

"Any sign of violence?"

"No. It seems to be a peaceful assembly."

"Any out of state license plates?"

"I'll check that out, pronto!  We don't want any of them outside adjusters in our town!"

"Ya mean outside agitators?"

"Aww -- You know what I meant!...The parking lots are all full -- the plates are mostly from Omaha, Council Bluffs, Lincoln, neighboring counties and some locals."

"Well, watch out for those city folk from Omaha."

"Any placards, chants -- like We Shall Overcome, that sort of thing?"

"Nope.  They're just milling around, gabbing and laughing and hugging each other.  Another 30 or so showed up just now!"

"Well, keep an eye on the situation.  Let me know if things get out of hand --- and keep 'em on the sidewalk  Don't let them take to the streets."

"Roger that."

When we finally gained entry, and scored our fabric finds (and batting, and thread and buttons), we lined up at two cutting tables.  I waited in line for the cutting table 1 hour and 20 minuters -- only to move to the end of another long line -- to pay -- where I stood in line at least another hour.  Fortunately I had friendly people with pretty piles of fabric in my section of the line.  While standing WAY back in the payment line, I happened to spot some decorations for sale--cheap.  The wooden movie director's board pictured above was $3.00 -- a fun new "toy" for my creative grandkids.

My other great find was this cute little blue snowflake teapot.  It will be a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law (hope you're not reading this blog post, Kathy, it will spoil the surprise) who lives in northwest Minnesota where there are LOTS of snowflakes every winter.  She and her hubby go snowshoe hiking.

A also bought a few fat quarters (I thought I showed remarkable restraint given the 12,000 tempting options), and a grab bag with some colorful fabrics I'll use to make a baby quilt ... someday.

When Leola finally made her way through the payment line (she was about 30 people behind me) we headed for the nearest eatery (and restroom!) only to learn that the sandwich shop, The Chocolate Moose, had sold out.  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chocolate-Moose-Cafe/50011180410. Hordes of hungry quilters had devoured all their sandwiches, muffins and scones.  All they had left was one bowl of soup and three pieces of cheesecake.  So we headed up the street to Mom's Cafe.  Mom never sells out :-).

To Terri and friends at Seams To Be -- we'll miss you!

TTFN
LeAnn aka pasqueflower
http://www.etsy.com/shop/pasqueflower
http://pasqueflowerponderings.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pasqueflower