San Fransisco Fabric Shopping

For my birthday three weeks ago (has it been that long?!) my husband and I spent the day in San Francisco. We had a delicious time! We drove there then parked our car in a cheap garage and walked a few blocks to get our bus passes. The rest of the day we spent using public transportation.



It was so easy and convenient! I used the "public transportation" option on Google Maps on my phone and Google told us where to walk and how long until the next bus. It usually said something like: walk 1.5 blocks north. Catch the bus in 3 minutes. Get off on Stop X. Walk 1 block south to your destination. It couldn't have been easier! Using the bus system meant we didn't have to worry about finding or paying for parking, watching for traffic, or checking for one-way streets. We were able to sight-see on the bus as we were driving. If we saw something that looked cool, we just jumped off to check it out! We took the traditional bus, the electric street-cars, and the cute SF trolley all for the price of our one bus pass. I highly recommend this mode of sight-seeing.



Okay, time to get off my eco-tour bus and show you what I bought! First, we went to Britex Fabrics. They are right next to Union Square. Wow! Four floors of fabric and notions! This is the perfect place to spend my birthday! I found the quilting cottons right away and started digging through the batiks. I really want to join the Jewels in the Crown BOM, so I picked out jewel-tone batiks. These are all from Bali.



Then I moved on to the cute prints. I bought whatever caught my eye! Lots of kitchen gadget fabric. Yummy! The service there was fabulous. The ladies working the cottons helped me pick fabrics and chatted with me the entire time. Super-sweet ladies! All the bolts are organized by color. The prices were a bit high, so I got the minimum cut on most of the fabrics.



Next up was Mendels, close to Haight and Ashbury. The service there was nothing spectacular. The selection was low on quantity but high on quality! I think they cater more to the artist than to the quilter. A fabulous selection of faux fur and oilcloth. I stuck to the cottons though and was very pleased with my score. A bit cheaper than Britex but still on the pricey side.



We looked for one more fabric store but they had closed down, bummer. I was so super excited about my purchases though that it didn't even matter! I carried around my Britex shopping bag so lovingly! When I got home I weighed my purchases. Guess how much!!



5 lbs! I'm in love! BTW, my husband carried around my bag when I got tired of it and didn't complain once! What a guy!



After fabric shopping we did a bunch of other things like eat sushi, walk around Fisherman's Wharf, drink beer and wine, buy cupcakes, ride the carousel, eat fresh crab right on the wharf, and explore Chinatown. We found our "special word." We have a word that describes us and our relationship and we use it often and have it inscribed in our wedding rings:



I think it describes our trip to San Francisco too!