On the road again… Friendship Quilters of San Diego

Sarah came over on Saturday morning and helped me finish making kits for my next outing. I had everything packed before I went to bed.

That was a good thing because we set off bright and early for the airport on Sunday. Here’s the sun rising over Summit! Not a hill in sight?IMG_3923

Just a few short hours later, by the miracles of modern aviation and Southwest Airlines, I found the mountains…IMG_3924

Sheila and Andy met me at Ontario airport. I had a little while to sit in the sunshine and contemplate the sunshine and the scenery. The parking lot isn’t exactly beautiful but nothing can take away from the sheer grandeur of those mountains!

It was great to catch up on the family news before Sheila and I headed south to Poway. There are some more interesting rock formations on the way there. I’ve been watching a PBS series about the geology of North America. One day those rocks will be the inspiration for a few quilts…

I wasn’t just in California to hang out with friends…

Monday morning I emptied my suitcase of quilts on my bed so they could have a little time of rest and relaxation…

IMG_3925And then we set off to Paradise Sewing, our home for the next three days of workshops. Everyone brought their machines and set up, ready for some Walking Foot Quilting fun.IMG_3926It was a good day with lots of stitching.IMG_3927The six hours went by very quickly.IMG_3931

We finished with irregular polygons and spirals…IMG_3959

Definitely not in the ditch any more?

Time to go back to the hotel and pack up my quilts for the guild meeting. We met up with the ladies that dine for a good meal and then headed over to a local elementary school where preparations were well under way for the evening’s gathering.

The Philanthropy table was set up ready to receive donations.IMG_3935Collette was taking bookings for future workshops at the Programs table.IMG_3936All the board members were wearing hats… very becoming?

This was the Opportunity of the Month table with lots of opportunities to win prizes!IMG_3938

There was a short business meeting and then it was my turn. I remembered to take a couple of pictures before starting…IMG_3939and the one at the top…

But then I was carried away by my Lessons Learned While Quilting lecture and that’s the end of the photographs. The quilters lived up to their name. They were very friendly and laughed at my stories…

The evening finished with Show and Tell and the distribution of prizes. There were the Opportunity prizes and then lots of door prizes… The guild has a great way of getting door prizes. If it’s your birthday month you bring a wrapped something-to-do-with-quilting gift between ten and twenty dollars and then names are drawn until all the presents have been given away. There seemed to be a lot of November birthdays! And a good way to deter people from leaving early?

It was an excellent day in quiltie-land. I’ll have more tomorrow from my other two workshops in Poway.