Maximum Overload...

...yeap that pretty much sums up my PR Weekend...*LOL*

See for yourself:

And some totals:
38.5 yards were purchased and dragged home on NJTransit/SEPTA (13.5 more yards than I planned to buy!)
+ 14 pieces purchased with the bulk of them bought at JoMars!
+ Quite a few dollars spent

= A priceless experience!!!

I arrived in Philly around 11:30am on Friday morning because I just can't do early morning when I have a vacation day...checked into the hotel with LindsayT and met up with the rest of the gang just as Kenneth King's seminar was breaking up.

Lunch was at a local cafe where I met Kyle, a lovely young lady who lives just two traffic lights from me in New Jersey...to say that I was amazed was an understatement!  I've never met anyone who lives near me at these events.

(DeWahn, Trena & Elizabeth at lunch)

Then we headed off to the Philadelphia Museum where we got to see some incredibly made historical garments upclose and in-person.  My favorite was this Worth bodice that I would love to find some way to incorporate some of its elements into a garment:

Of course we all had to go and see the "Rocky" statute and the famous "Eye of the Tiger" steps...

(I have no idea who this person is but they kept taking

picture after picture so I finally gave up and took one)

(again with the tourists *LOL* running the steps, so instead of being

patient and waiting I just snapped a pic!)

After a wonderful dinner, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for a day of power fabric shopping!

Even though I live in Jersey and have been to Philly numerous times to shop at JoMars, I've never been to 4th Street/Fabric Row:

(Our first stop on 4th Street)

(had to get a picture of the street sign!)

But I will make it my business to return (you hear that Andrea!).  I didn't purchase much fabric during this stop...just these pieces...

left to right:  an upholstery piece from PA Fabric Outlet

a wool/cotton knit & a sheer linen piece from Kincus Fabrics

No, I reserved my funds for notions and trim shopping.  The woman cutting at PA Fabric Outlet asked me a couple of times if I was sure that I wanted 20 yards of each lace...ummm, yes! *LOL*  See it was 30 cents, 40 cents and I think 80 cents a yard.  I would never be able to find the lace for the hems of my linings for that price in NYC so I kinda stocked up!  I also bought some trim, a few invisible zippers and a roll of brown rayon hem tape.  Thanks Elizabeth for helping to hold all of this stuff in an incredibly L-O-N-G line!

The next stop was London Textiles which is in Cherry Hill, NJ and I'm telling you, it was an awesome warehouse to invade...cause that's what we did...invade it!!! *LOL*  The remnant boxes were spectacular and yielded up a dazzling array of fabrics.  The lengths were anywhere from 2 - 8 yard pieces and the more adapt diggers pulled up and shared with us all the treasures.  Here are my pieces from this haul:

left to right:  a grey/white herringbone knit, a white cotton pique,

a wool tweed and a printed stretch cotton

I will admit that I was saving my fabric dollars and enthusiasm for JoMars...and I wasn't disappointed!  My JoMars haul included a navy sueded silk (that was passed down the cutting line!  Thanks Jacqui!!!), an amazing floral cotton pique (that Elizabeth and I priced on 4th Street for $14.99 per yard and I got at JoMars for $4.00 per yard!), a ridged ivory polyester ($2.00 a yard); a black/white medium weight cotton embroidered border print ($4 a yd), an Anna Sui silk border print in shades of brown/rust/red/purple that Sheila bought in shades of blue and green and I should have gone back and bought some of too...aw the regrets begin! *LOL*  The last two pieces were purchased for quick summer dresses for work...

Tired and full, we headed back to the hotel for the evening.  I had a great dinner at a local Chinese restuarant with Andrea and Claudine...thanks so much ladies for sharing a meal with me!

I've been home for a few hours now...and I'm a good tired but I want to express my thanks for the organizers of the event, Andrea, Annette, Elaine, Karen, Kisha, Lee, Mimi...ladies you did an amazing job of coraling over 50 women around...making sure none of us were left behind and picking some wonderful places to leave my hard-earned money on fabric!  Your hard work is soooooooo appreciated!

And to all of the wonderful women of PatternReview that attended ~ first yes, I do wear jeans! *LOL*  And secondly, thank you for your wonderful compliments, for taking the time to say hello and for understanding just how overwhelming meeting so many accomplished sewists can be!  I know many of you "know" me because of the blog but it was nice to meet all of you in person...and Audrey I'm sorry I was stalking you but girl you have incredible fabric taste!

...as always, more later!