Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Sewing Summit Gossip

The sign of a good weekend?

My baggage gained 25 lbs! "Only" 42 lbs on the way to Salt Lake City, but 67 lbs (!!) on the way home. Fabric binging, people!!
Did I buy that much?

Did I REALLY buy that much??

Looking at this {yummy} stack it is kind of embarrassing, really...I need a 5 year plan!

Good times were had. I really don't know how to begin to make this post even a bit coherent. There is so much to say.

My impressions:

It is the oddest feeling to walk into a room of 100+ people that you "know"....but have never seen. The opening reception was a bit overwhelming for that reason. I walked through the sea of people and then would spot a purse I recognized...."OH! I know that bag! It belongs to so-and-so" and boom, a connection was made!

Out and about with my BF Samantha, who joined me from Toronto to take in Sewing Summit, we were lucky enough to find an awesome art show selling handmade items by local artists. As I was trying on a cool belt I hear a voice behind me say "blahblahblah Joel Dewberry blah...." My head whips around. "You know your fabric. Are you from Sewing Summit?" And sure enough- it was Amy from Amylouwho! Along with Dana from Old Red Barn, and then Diary of a Quilter's Amy and Leigh of Leedle Dee Quilts. All such wonderful, genuine ladies.

Art Market

Finally met that crazy Kaelin! And that girl spoiled me again with....drum roll....3 fat quarters of KJR ribbon Flowers. Eeep!!! Along with some amazing New Orleans treats! Love them!

KJR Ribbon flowers!!

I had brought her a little goody bag with some Canadian chocolate bars and an extra large eraser shaped like, what else, a plaid scottie! But me thinks I came out on top with that little exchange...thanks K! Enjoyed dinner with her and some other amazing girls- Angela, Cara, Candice, Cherie, Ali, Michelle. Good laughs!

Also finally got to meet my lovely Drunkard's Path QAL partner, Kate, in person! Had some fun shopping for fabric and hanging out over dinner with her and Natalie (another one of my very favorite blogging people!).

Fabric shopping

I also had a very intimate, special interlude in the washroom....ran into my new friend Becky who had a "special delivery" for me....a hug from our common Australian buddy, Shay! She decided to deliver it promptly.....

....in a restroom

Chance meeting......
....don't worry, I had already washed my hands!

Also met so many more of my favorite ladies.... so nice to put faces to the names (and quilts!).

Friends

More friends!

Saturday night Sam and I were lucky to take part in a dinner organized by Dana. She even arranged goody bags for the occasion! I gathered together some little fun personalized notepads to add in that I ordered locally (here):

notepads

And Dana spoiled us all with handmade pouches containing these adorable sewing machine silver pendant necklaces, made by Cinnamon Sticks! How stinking cute are these??? AND did I mention that she had gotten these for 40 of us???? Worn with pride all weekend long (and beyond). Thanks, Dana!

New bling

Speaking of shwag, man did we get awesome freebees! A huge tote, full of goodies, patterns and more upon registration!! And, in Jeni's color class, we got a free Kaufman Kona color chart! Whoo hooo!!! So needed for a Canadian girl who has to order all this stuff online!

Kona color card!

I can also now reveal that I was one of 22 ladies involved in the SSSS Bee- "Super Secret Sewing Summit Bee", organized by the ambitious and talented Ali of a2w, where we made blocks to contribute to quilts for Amy and Erin, the organizers extraordinaire of the Sewing Summit. These were presented Sunday morning to two very emotional, proud (and TIRED!) ladies who had worked so hard to bring all of us together. They really are the NICEST ladies, knew us all by name and made us feel like they had invited us all over personally to their house for a party. I was so pleased to be able to give them a little something back :) My block was one of the wonky ones on the quilt backs!

SSSS quilts front and back

SSSS quilt

So, what's a Sewing Summit without sewing??? We had open sewing time in the evenings, and Sam and I closed it out at 1 a.m. both nights. Had a blast! Here is what I pulled together using those lovely Baby Lock machines (a definite step up from my clunky cheapo Kenmore!):

Kristie and her innocent crush quilt progress
(above photo by Natalie or Greenleaf Goods) :)
Innocent crush quilt top

It was so much fun piecing this together in the sewing room with so many awesome sets of eyes coming over to give advice and support, taking photos for me to look at to analyze until I had the right balance, and cheering me on. Can I take you all home with me, please???

I could go on even more but I will wrap it up to say that it was a lovely weekend of making connections with wonderful people. It was so refreshing to be in a room (or 4) full of people who "get it." I am kind of on my own up here at home, I really don't have any friends I can get together with to share my passion, so all of my interaction is 99% online. Though I may not be able to do this annually, I do hope to make it back to Sewing Summit again someday!

37 comments:

randi--i have to say said...

i think it's hilarious that you came back with 25 pounds of goodness! i know you will put it to good use! :)

Elizabeth Dackson said...

Love all your photos, Kristie! It was so fun to meet you in person :) And wow, I'm wishing I had spent more time in the Sewing Room, seeing your lovely quilt top progress!!

Jessica said...

Thanks for letting us all know how it went! Glad you had a good time :) I'm jealous, I wish I could have gone!

Katie B said...

Ack! So bummed I didn't make it there to meet you in person. Maybe next time! Your Innocent Crush top is looking awesome. I finished my Innocent Crush quilt this weekend!

P.S. I sew on a clunky Kenmore too! Unite!

Barb said...

Wow, sounds like an amazing weekend! Wish I could have been there too. Did you get any left-over turkey when you got home?

Kelly O. said...

haha! as a fellow Canadian having to shop online, pay shipping and buy yardage in Canada for WAAAAAY more than my american friends I can totally see why you brought back all that fabric!
I too feel lonely here in my neck of the woods. wish I could've gone to sewing summit! someday... maybe we should do a Canadian Sewing summit!

Lindsay Conner said...

Awesome loot and it looks like you had so much fun! I loved seeing all the pics :)

Jacey said...

It was so great to meet you! Your pictures are lovely; I wish I had taken more!

Little Island Quilting said...

Oooooooooooooh, I've been waiting for this post. It looks like you all had a fantabulous time. Move it to the East Coat next yr and I would b seriously tempted!
And guess what arrived in the post...squeal. Thank you!

Little Island Quilting said...

East Coast...not Coat!!!!!

felicity said...

Thanks for the wrapup! I am in awe of your fabric acquisitions. Wow!

Poppyprint said...

Hey, what a great weekend!! Love your photos and your lovely new quilt top. There's nothing like a fabric haul - wow you done good!

Lee said...

Great post! You put your impressions into words a lot better than I did - I felt a little overwhelmed while writing my post. : ) It was wonderful meeting you!

Rosa said...

Wow,sounds you had a fun weekend,that`s great.

Kristy said...

WHAT FUN!!!! I want to go next time even more now!!! :)

The Little Shop of Stitches said...

Thank you for such a great report on your weekend! I read every word, wishing I was right there with you. Glad you had such a wonderful time.

bethanndodd said...

Looks like a wonderful time! The quilts you helped make for Amy & Erin are fabulous (and so thoughtful!!). NO doubt they will be cherished.
Smiles~Beth

Little Blue Mouse said...

What a great big stack of fabric, that should keep you going for a while!

It looks like you had a fabulous weekend.

Shay said...

I'm guessing that's about 80 yards of fabric goodness there Missy. We're all expecting sewing greatness to emanate from that pile.

You and Becks are cracking me up. And It's so not fair that two of my favourite people got to hug one another before I got to hug either of you.Thanks ladies for the great pictures (and why am I not surprised these are taken in a bathroom? At least Becks waited until you pulled your strides up)

It looks like you had the best time ever. I love that quilt of yours. Gorgeous.

Riel Nason said...

That looks like it was SOOO fun. Love your haul of fabric. Definitely looks like a good enough reason to miss the Jets game. LOL.

Jenelle said...

Looks like you had a terrific time! And really, who could have resisted that lovely stack of fabric you brought home. ;) If it had been me, it would have been worse!

Holly said...

That looks so incredibly fun! Thanks for sharing for those of us who were back home in Canada celebrating Thanksgiving over the weekend!

AnneMarie said...

SO wonderful to meet you!! Great take on the weekend....it seems we are all speechless at the good times, friends and fabric!

Tanya said...

Sounds amazing! And don't you feel one bit bad about that fabric...those of us who couldn't go need to live vicariously through the shopping of others!

ann said...

So glad you did us Canadians proud but I'd be a liar if I didn't admit to being uberly jealous . You know you could state your over baggage in kilos and it sounds much better . Gotta love your Jets tshirt...way to represent...and I don't even watch hockey (shhhhhh they'll my CDN birth certificate). Sigh, maybe next year I can swing the summit, only if I lie and tell my principal I'm sick, ok not a real lie, I'd be sick with envy if I don't get to go. I'll stop rambling now.

Kate S. said...

It was so fun getting to hang out with you in person - thanks again for taking us shopping, love my (small in comparison) fabric haul :) Hope you had safe travels home and no issues getting all your fabric across the border!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing. This sounds so fun!

Natalie said...

Ooh, I love the giant pile of fabric! I'm impressed with your haul :) I had so much fun meeting you (and fabric shopping with you-- there's nothing quite like fabric shopping with friends who sew!). I do hope there's another meetup in our future!

leigh said...

Such a fun weekend! It was really fun to meet you :)

Stephanie said...

Sounds like a fabulous weekend! Love the Jets shirt at the end :)

amy smart said...

Kristie, it was SO MUCH FUN to meet you! You are even more fun in real life than you are on your blog.

Although it looks as if you have enough fabric to last you a little while, please know that I would be happy to be your "fabric mule" again any time. :) Big hugs!

Sarcastic Quilter said...

OMG, your post has me fully remembering the feel of the whirlwind this weekend was. It was great to meet you and I hope we have more opportunity to chat in the future. :D

Love your goodies and the top!

Emily said...

I'm so glad that I got to meet you in real life this weekend!! And those notepads nearly made my die of cuteness! :) The whole time you were working on that quilt I was scheming about how I was going to sneak it home with me... unfortunately for me that didn't work out though. :) Here's to many more meetings of lovely online quilters!!

Angela said...

Kristie it was so fun to meet you in person! Kaelin had been talking about you for months, so I felt like I knew you just a bit from her. ;) You two are a match made in heaven!

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had lots of fun! Good for you! I wish we could have something like that around Jackson, MS because I can't travel up there. I love my sewing classes at my dealers' store because I love all of the ladies and I love visiting with them while we sew. Sewing is the best relaxation! Got to love free fabric!!

Jan Price
Pearl, MS
Babylock Ellegante Owner
janprice50@yahoo.com

Dana -Old Red Barn Co. said...

I so enjoyed meeting you and Samantha!!!

Lynne said...

Sounds like great fun! (Everyone was so young - were there no oldies there at all?)