Rally in the Valley--Shop Hop Day One!

Today Kathy, Tiffany and I headed north for the Rally in the Valley Shop Hop.  With only three of us this year (some of the gals are out of town, one is working on the end stages of her master's degree and one just plain didn't need anything this year!) we made quick time and actually got to all of the northern shops and to two that weren't on our list.  Tiffany had never been on the hop before and it didn't take her long to be having a good time with us nuts!

The first shop on the trip was one that hasn't been on the list before.  It was fun to check it out.  After that we met up with Ros at 35th Ave. and got our BOM blocks (and did a little shopping) and gave her Tobacco Road and Swoon to be quilted!  I also passed along Monica's mom's quilt that she wants to figure out how to finish.  It is a baby quilt that is all stamped cross stitched that her mom made.  Then we hugged Ros goodbye (you were missed girl) and got on the way to the next shop.

Quiltz is in a new location since last year (round the corner) but we had been there once since the move.

This shop is one I love because it is on the road (out of town) to my mom's place.  It is also the one Carrie Nelson does stuff in and since I am a Schnibbles fan I like that about it too!

We thought of BJ as we went to her favorite shop too!  Below is the first mystery quilt picture I snapped from there--we are getting a clue for the mystery in each shop and it is fun to see what each shop does with the fabric choices.

Next up we headed to lunch at Arby's in Sun City and found our way into this shop.

This is their take on the mystery.

This shop has also moved since last year...funny though it had the same feel and organization of the previous shop so I finally asked them if they had moved (I didn't recall the name since I only get to some of these more northern shops each year on shop hop) and sure enough they had moved.

We bought a curved ruler at this shop...the Japanese lantern quilt uses the ruler (they also featured a cool log cabin ruler which I resisted buying).

This is Urban Pods and can also be made with the ruler.  Kathy wanted the ruler more than I did so I am sure she will be trying it out before I do.

This is their take on the mystery.  They look SEW different from each other!

About this point in the day I spaced taking pictures of the shops!  So next up was Bernina Connection.  This blurry picture is their mystery quilt in Christmas fabrics.  Love it!

Our last shop of the day was Etc.  This is the shop the PHXMQG meets at sometimes and it is seriously a modern quilter's dream shop.  The store is large and their is a huge selection of LOTS and lots of modern lines.  This is their mystery quilt.  The picture doesn't do this one justice.  Look at that awesome quilting too!

They featured a special ruler and some patterns that make this "Rock Candy" pattern and some others.  Loved it, had to have it.  So did Tiffany.  Enough said!

So here is the photo of my loot I took when I got home.  I bought red fat quarters and a few animal prints for my plan to finally join in on Bee in My Bonnet's Quilty Barnalong which I have been watching for awhile and thinking about doing...I found Quilty magazine *YAY--I made a trip to Barnes and Noble and JoAnn's last week looking for it with no luck.  I am planning on signing up for a subscription now that I have looked at two issues.  Love it too!

Then after my photo above, we realized I had left one of my purchases in the car so below is more loot, lol!

The greenish fabric below was purchased to back my embroidered elephant pillow.  Wish the design had been a little bit bigger, but I really like it.

I am all kinds of inspired to get to sewing right away tomorrow--and with the Packer game on too life should be good!