Diva and Friendship Shop Hop - Part 1

Before we moved from Ohio, the Divas and Friendship groups generously sponsored an Arizona shopping spree for me.  Judy made this specially-designed wallet to hold all of my loot (and a handy dandy map!).

After layering up my vintage batik HST quilt top at the retreat, I realized, of course, that I didn't have the thread I needed for quilting.  Since my deadline for this piece is next week, it seemed like the right time for the first installment of my shopping spree!  Most of the shops in my area have multiple weekdays with late hours plus they're open on Sundays but I thought I could squeeze in a trip to Quilter's Ranch in between work and the pool.  Quilter's Ranch seemed like a safe bet because they are a Bernina dealer (large shop), they offer a lot of machine embroidery classes and carry quite a bit of thread.

Here is my haul for the day. I felt somewhat shopped-out after the Amish quilt stores but I couldn't resist the Laurel Burch dog fabrics.  I will probably cut the panel horizontally and use them for two different wallhangings.  I also picked up the thread I was looking for and a potential batik for the binding.  Since the Divas had been so generous, I decided to splurge and also get the queen sized Supreme Slider.  I have heavily used the small one plus I'd like to support this quilt shop as my primary shopping destination.  They have so many things I love, they are probably closest to home and they are near guild meetings.

BTW, a neighbor down the street had two frogs this week (son of Bob?).  More to come, no doubt!

The Diva's

A couple of the photos are a little "furry".  Need to work on picture taking skills but they they really were nice pictures so I included them.  My apologies.

Karen's Hexagons

Laura's

Lori's Minions

Kathy's Mini Masterpiece-no one would fess up to buying her the pattern!

Lynn's Arrow Quilt

Syd's Ninja Quilt

Amish Land - The Quilts

Judy's Halloween Quilt

Jan's X Plus Quilt in Progress

Prudie's Uplifting Quilt

Retreat with no surrender

Some words on the subject of retreats.

We did have fun. Big fun. So many things started and completed.  I believe Susie will add the pictures.
 Fran was working away on clothes for her ultra fantastic grand daughter. Also cutting plaids.
Dianne slaved away at a beautiful winter inspired piece. She finished it and the back.
Judy was determined to start and finish the quilting for Marie's Scraps. 13 bobbins.
Mary Anne was worried about her beloved who was having some health issues but in a very safe place for that. She worked on her 10 year project.
Gwen was working but my memory fails me here. There were tons of bright colors, in fact the theme of the weekend could have been bright colors.
Prudie was working on something lovely and we all were thrilled when Laura brought the quilted Bra quilt back to her. Look for it in the Farm Park, with luck by the milking room. I believe pillow cases were finished as well.
 Karen has to be the most single minded person I have ever encountered and worked on a magnificent hexagon piece that glowed like the sunset.
 Laura, in her precise way, pieced a two for one quilt. One for Grandma, one for grand daughter?
 Susan had the most delightful Princess quilt in the works.
 Our newcomer, Rita, was quiet and reserved but smiling by the end of the weekend when she knew we would do no real harm.
 Suzanne did row after row of fancy machine stitching on a lovely quilt and had started a new piece.
 Lisa did her first foundation piece and it was a great success. It was done with scraps from a magnificent set of primary fan blocks.
  Syd just worked and worked switching from one project to the other when she got bored. In the end she had a smashing, off center, 5 colored Beach Blanket. As 3 is the usual number and since there was limited fabric she was thrilled to have to graph the the thing out. You know Syd... She also made headway on Moonglow with no roof top escapades this year.
 Jan made her famous little duffle bags n (8 at least) some inspired by some fabric Dianne brought to share, In true Diva fashion, she showed Fran how to make them resulting in a smiling Fran. She also cut enough pieces for about a million other blocks, pieced a 4x 6 block unit of those together, made 3/4 of a darling pink quilt. Pillow cases too, I think, Plus she and Dianne found time to salute the moon.
 Lori, How did she get anything done with everyone giving her the third degree about her new home and of course, telling her how much we missed her. She did friendship blocks. The ones she missed AFTER she moved. Talk about dedication. MoonGlow came out. So did the scream "who does this Jinny Beyer think she is?". Kathy offered to phone Jinny and that calmed her right down.  Minions were everywhere. The Minion beach blanket that Lori made blocks for at the winter retreat was bordered, I think anyway, and a fantastic backing was constructed , pinned up and ready to quilt at home.
 Lynnee worked on a crazy zigzaggy piece and managed to get that top done as well as a good bit of a friendship quilt.
Susie worked on quilting a darling Halloween piece as well as some Sue Spargo wool work.
 That leaves me,Kathy. Geeze Louise, I had to come up with something to hang at the Wildwood show so I found a small paper pieced thing that nearly kicked my ass. I pinned up a quilt as well and did a bunch of 4 patches for Syd. Thank goodness she had those because everything else I had was soooo tiny. When will I learn?
 Those of us in Friendship group did our Judy blocks and turned them right in to her. She said Mary Anne did the best job.
 Of course there was shopping and eating. We have a pattern now so not much thinking is required.
 We could see a wedding going on next door at the restaurant and there is nothing as amazing as a bunch of women yelling at the bride,"Save  yourself, run" and such. The commentary of the picture taking on the grounds later, was priceless. Laura saved Fran from accidentally photo bombing the thing.
 We always have a great time together.The fact that the hotel had set our rooms to around 62 degree gave us all some of the best sleeping weather we have had in months.
 Jan and I took Lori back to the airport although I felt she should call the Amish Uber. We were in no hurry to see her go.
We are looking forward to our winter retreat and spending time with those not with us in the summer.
 I need another nap.

The Skimpy Post from the Summer Retreat

Even though I've only been in AZ for a couple of months, it was really great to come back to sew with my fellow Divas.  Syd planned the event.  Jan and Kathy had thought of everything--from picking me up at the airport to bringing a sewing machine and all of the bulky supplies.  It made my trip so much easier.  What did I do to deserve such great friends?

I was impressed that the hotel called us out by name.  Such a welcome!

Susie is doing such a great job blogging all of the photos so I only took a handful.  This was the white board just before we made some sort of significant edit.

Here's Prudie's bra quilt.  It is really beautiful.  There was some peer pressure regarding a men's underwear quilt as a sequel?!?

As is so often the case, we tried to help Dianne with her quilt after she was overcome with fatigue and had to retire to her sleeping room.  Despite the fact that she got an award for Most Improved By Late Night Help, she chose to eliminate the armadillos, Super Heroes, snakes, Halloween frogs and other charming additions from her quilt.

Here is the top, minus our *ahem* improvements.    Her inspiration was this free pattern.

After all of their hard work, Jan and Dianne took a break for a yoga salutation.  Kathy managed to photo bomb them in the process.

Thank you, Divas, for a wonderful time as always!  It was great to get away.  After five days away, this home body was ready to go home.  A dust storm in Phoenix tried to thwart my goal but, luckily, I made it home without a detour through Tucson.

See you in the Spring, Divas!