Fabricville Show and Share

Yesterday could not have been a more perfect day for the Quilt Camp at Sea cruise ship to arrive in Halifax. Early in the day the weather seemed a bit hazy, but it burned off to beautiful warm sunshine - over 30 degrees Celsius. We went down to the the waterfront to see the ship.
It's ENORMOUS!

The annual Buskers Festival was also in town, and there were a lot of folks around enjoying the sunshine.

Theodore Tug Boat was busily hurrying off to somewhere in the harbour...

Fabricville did an absolutely stellar job welcoming the visitors. The store was magnificently hung with quilts of all sizes, shapes and genres. Members of the Mayflower Quilters Guild generously gave of their time to be on hand to greet, guide and escort visitors through the displays. Many locals and tourists came just to see the quilt show, and many shoppers came to cash in on the terrific specials the store was offering. Fabricville had organized buses to take the cruise ship passengers directly to their store and back at regular intervals throughout the day. It was hopping busy each time a bus arrived with a flood of excited, happy people.

The quilts were displayed on racks, beds, and hung everywhere throughout the large store.

Fabricville very kindly set up a display for me near the front door, with books to sign and surrounded by quilts. That gorgeous table topper under the book on the easel was made by Kathy Higgens and got a lot of oohs and ahhs throughout the day. My selvedge tote bag (you can see it to the left of the photo below) was a great conversation piece.

It was wonderful to meet so many quilters. Lorna from Mayflower was there, greeting and snapping pictures (including some you see here!) which she always graciously shares around. Thanks, Lorna.

No one left the store empty handed, as Fabricville gave out generously filled loot bags of sewing supplies. I don't think anyone would have left empty handed anyway, what with the huge sales the store was offering. I came home with 10 packages of Schmetz sewing machine needles, a new blade for my rotary cutter...and more fabric than I care to admit! :) Nothing I bought was more than half price - what bargains! Store manager Ellen really thought of everything to make this event a success - including the selection of Nova Scotian music playing in the background. I truly had a wonderful time, and thank Fabricville not just for inviting me to come along , but for their generosity in hosting such an event. I feel certain the "cruisers" will return to their homes with warm memories of the welcome extended to them by Fabricville and the quilting community.