My Experience at Sewing Summit 2011
[Note: 100 Quilts for Kids Link Up Party is Here!]The Sewing Summit. I had an excellent time. I'm sure you are a bit tired of reading about it, since after all, half of the conference was about blogging, and well, bloggers like to blog. But, I decided to write about it anyway.I had a great time meeting people that I consider to be friends, even though we have never met. I loved meeting people whose work I admire but who I hadn't corresponded with at all. A really enjoyed getting to know people that were completely new to me. I spent more time talking (surprise, surprise), learning, watching, and listening than I did picture taking or anything blog-related. It was a really nice break, and I enjoyed meeting people without ever asking if they blogged or not. And of course, when I got home and started looking through others' pictures, I realized that there were a ton of people I would have loved to meet that I didn't even realize were there. Ah! [Dana made my name tag. Isn't it the best?][Note: This ended up being a lot longer than I expected, which is probably why it took me a while to write. I came home feeling somewhat overwhelmed. Perhaps if I finish actually unpacking and get over my cold, that would help.]Things I loved:
All of the additional classes, tutorials, hand sewing circles, and swaps that went on throughout the weekend. Kati organized a Rainbow Charm Square Swap. I can't wait to start something with these, thanks Kati!!!
Driving to Logan to see my sister and her husband. Spending the night. Eating trout caught that morning in the Logan River by C. and watching Little Tiny go nuts over the cats. Did I mention it SNOWED? What? [It goes without saying that flying cross country (almost) with an almost two year old on a 6am flight with layovers is NOT one of the things I loved]. If it hadn't been snowing and my daughter wasn't asleep in the car, I would have pictures of gorgeous Cache Valley to show you.Getting to spend a little bit of time (never enough) with all four of my grandparents. A raucous dinner at Red Iguana with grandparents and siblings--one of the highlights of my trip, for sure! (Who need karaoke when you can just sing along with the mariachi band, really.)Hanging out with family at the children's portion of the LDS History Museum. They have an entire exhibit on quilts, and then kids got to sew, and play in the garden, and on a ship, and dress up in costumes and dance.
Quilt shops. More quilt shops in the Salt Lake Valley than within 200 miles of my house. And I would be lying if I didn't say swag. I came home with more than any one person should have. I had excellent luck, I won a stuffed to the brim bag for being the 1st person registered for the Sewing Summit (and I'm going to see if Aurifil thread really will change my life...), I was beyond lucky to go to a dinner hosted by Jennifer and Elena that had an amazing gift bag (thank you, thank you for including me!!!)... and I bought the fat quarters. And that's about it.
I loved hearing about all of the fun my daughter had with my sisters, as well as her cousins and grandparents. She was pretty spoiled...and kept an iron-clad grip on her pacifier. It was so much fun having my sister-in-law Mary attend the conference with me, and two of my sisters (who live nearby-ish) stayed with us too. And made just enough fun of us that they helped keep it real.
The Shop Hop--sixty or so women on a bus, looking at fabric and talking about fabric [and buying fabric] and laughing together? Yes, please! My sole purpose in doing this was to meet some people in a more relaxed environment. The back of the bus was definitely the place to be--Dana and I (so much fun to attend with a friend!) got to meet Holly, Rachel, Amanda, Amy, Valerie, and the list goes on and on (but my memory does not).
Friends--I loved Faith's write up of the Sewing Summit (and I'm using her pictures of the dinner that Jennifer and Elena put together below). It is hard for me to describe to people why I would want to fly 2000 miles to hang out with people I have never met. If you look at the smiles on our faces, I think it is apparent that we all felt the same way!
Finally, I was really impressed by how well organized the weekend was. I loved seeing the quilts a small group made for Amy and Erin; I wasn't involved, and I had to laugh that it took me a while to realize that the quilts echo the Sewing Summit logo. Smart. My favorite class was Bag Making 101 by Bari J. My favorite "new to me" person was Jess from Urban Patchwork. Amy and Erin are already talking about 2012... put it on your list of can't miss events. And now, I need a nap!!!
