Sunday, September 28, 2014

Friday, September 26, 2014

Those Mesa Ladies September

 Wednesday was my favorite day of the month
as I met with
Those Wonderful Mesa Ladies
for our September meeting.
Jamie's latest finish.
The ladies always bring the cutest 
Show and Tell !
 Love her border fabric
The always beautiful
Christine Cook
You may know her as cc.quilts on Instagram
 Christine is expecting a baby boy #4
in the next few months
and brought along this one to finish binding.
 The backing is a soft navy polka dot minkee
 Many of us are grandmothers making quilts for our grandchildren.
Steph brought two baby quilts to bind.
 Left Over Tater Tots
cute name!
 Love her printed labels
 For The Love of Aqua
Also made from leftover scraps.
 Love love love the blue against the crisp white.
 And especially love her creative border
Vicki and Janet 
treated us to the most amazing gourmet lunch.
These ladies can cook!
We meet at the church
where everything needs to be brought in
 and yet the ladies decorate 
as if they were hosting at home.
Even though we are not known for rain in Arizona,
the umbrella represented our recent
 Record Breaking Downpour
that made National News :)

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Shop Hoppin'

When I lived in Utah
I used to go on their quilt store Shop Hops each year 
with my girlfriends.
But, now that I live in Arizona,
this is the first time I have attended the
Maricopa County Hop
Theme: Rally In The Valley
What an experience!
I was invited by my friend Denise
who coordinated 4 car loads of ladies.
Denise was amazing.
She had printed out Maps and Instruction Binders for each car.
These ladies have gone together for several years
and are quite experienced hoppers.
Judi stocked her trunk with cold drinks in a cooler
and boxes for each one of her riders to stash their purchases.
W.O.W.
I learned a thing or two :)
Some of the stores on the list 
were quite a distance from my home in Chandler.
Consequently, I had never been to them before.
Fortunately Rally In The Valley lasts 9 days
so there is plenty of time to drive from here to there.
We started with the store that was the farthest away for us
Arizona Quilts
in Surprise, AZ
is 55 miles away, and an hours drive.
A nice store with some beautiful quilts.
I especially liked this version of
Lori Smith's
Quilt Block Sampler
Our next stop (and my first time to visit) was
Sun Valley Quilts
in Sun City, AZ
Lots of fun things here too,
and everyone found a lot of quilty goodies.
With Denise's great directions and instructions
we managed to reach 7 of the 11 stores the first day.
I felt
Sew Blessed 
to be invited along with these wonderful ladies.
On Monday I was able to finish up with the last 4 stores on my end of the valley.
Rally In The Valley 
runs through Saturday the 27th
if you would like to join along.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Rally In The Valley Shop Hop Quilts

 As we traveled throughout the
Phoenix Metro
with the
Rally In The Valley
Shop Hop
each store gave us a portion of the pattern
for this years featured quilt.
After visiting all 11, you have the completed pattern
designed by Diane Ebner
I always think it fun to see the same pattern made up
in various fabrics.
Below are from 6 of the stores:
3 Dudes Quilting
Phoenix, AZ
pieced by Jeff Carr
 Arizona Quilts
Surprise, AZ
 Sun Valley Quilts
Sun City, AZ
 Quilters Bee
Peoria, AZ
 The Olde World Quilt Shoppe
Cave Creek, AZ
 ETC
Mesa, AZ
There is quite a distance between the 11 stores,
so we split up the driving through out 2 days.
This was the first time I had been to several of these stores
and it was really nice to see the offerings throughout the valley.
The Rally In The Valley continues through September 27th!

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Shop Hop with 3 Dudes Quilting

 Rally In The Valley
is this years 
SHOP HOP
theme
11 stores are participating here in the 
Phoenix Metro
I went with a group of girlfriends on opening day Friday.
We piled in cars and drove through out the valley
and made it to 7 of the stores.
Of course we had to start at our favorite Local Quilt shop
3 Dudes Quilting
Owner Raymond Steeves
greeted us at the door 
as we entered.
 The back class room is filled 
with quilts made with
Triangles On A Roll
3 Dudes featured product for the Shop Hop
 Patterns by
Niser Holland of Scrappy Quilt Designs
and 
me :) Cactus Needle Quilts
Plenty of product available for sale
 Kits too!
Ray showed a short video
I helped him make
where I demonstrate
Half Square Triangles
made with Triangles On A Roll
 Once the video was over 
we rushed to get our cards stamped
did a little shopping
ate some freshly baked cookies
and then were off to the next store.
The Shop Hop 
runs through 
September 27th
Plenty of time to visit all 11 stores
The featured quilt for this year.
A portion of the pattern is given at each store.
This week I will finish visiting 
the last 4 stores
and will share pictures of their happenings too.

Monday, September 22, 2014

S'More Favors

 Saturday was my daughter's 
Bridal Shower
and I had the opportunity to 
provide the favors
as a "Thank You" for the guests who attended
Aubrey and Kevin met at a 
Church Camp Out
and immediately fell in love.
He took her back up to that same campsite
in the Arizona mountains
 to propose.
I thought it only appropriate that I make
S'More Favors 
to honor their union.
 Layers of
Graham crackers
Chocolate 
and 
Marshmallows 
Yum!