The SS Recap

I kind of like the fact that the title sounds like a boat you'd take out on a three hour tour, and never return from. That's kind of like my Sewing Summit experience, I really didn't want to come home. Before heading to Salt Lake City, I'd been feeling in a slump. I wasn't terribly inspired to sew anything and even blogging had lost its appeal. Being surrounded by the creativity and excitement last weekend, really gave me a chance to think about, and realize how important sewing, and this community is to me. So, let the photo parade begin!

My trip started with a drive across the border. Living where I do, I can choose to fly from the Vancouver BC airport or the Bellingham WA airport, as they are about the same distance from my house. I generally drive to Bellingham and fly from there, since the parking situation is much less hassle, and the flight is usually cheaper! A cheaper flight means more stuff can come home with me ;-)

I'll get right to the exciting stuff, the freebies! Now I figured we'd be getting a few things, but never in a million years did I imagine we'd be getting so many goodies! 

Charm packs, fat quarter bundles, colour cards, thread, patterns, magazines, books, batting, scissors, totebags, pincushion kits, quilt design software! Ok, the quilt design software wasn't something everyone got, I won it for having flying fingers. Apparently I was one of the first 5 people to register!!  

As part of my flying fingers win, I also received 10 fat quarters from Joel Dewberry's Heirloom line! EEEEEKKKKK! After being at Sewing Summit and seeing all the Weekender bags, I know exactly what to do with my Heirloom fabric. Seriously, these bags are great. Apparently a whole lot of other people think so too!

1. So if my bag could have a theme song it would be, "Fat bottom girls" by Queen #travelhandmade #sewingsummit @sewingsummit, 2. The Weekender Bag with Crafty Chica Decals, 3. Amy Butler Weekender Bag, 4. Weekenders waiting for the flight home, 5. #weekender buddies.... Wow I don't think I would have finished if it wasn't for @busybean ... MY HERO!!!!!!!, 6. Reyna's Weekender, 7. Amy Butler Weekender Bag, 8. Weekender Bag, 9. Weekender Travel Bag

We all had the chance to meet and hear Joel Dewberry speak about his fabric designs. He was incredibly genuine and didn't seem to know that he's got an almost cult-like following among many of us. He talked about his newest fabric line, Notting Hill, which was designed partly because he and his wife were re-doing one of their daughter's bedroooms and she had requested a certain colour palette. How great would it be to have an entire fabric line designed just for your bedroom??!! *sigh* I was lucky enough to be seated beside one of his pattern designers,  April Cobb  during a class, so we had a chance to chat ( before the class started of course!!) Like Joel, she was a delight to talk to. April  also had on a skirt made from a newly released pattern. It was made up in an aqua/saffron print from Aviary 2. She paired it with the cutest orange polka dot cardigan. Did I get a picture? Uhmmm, no. Boo. It was cute.

When going to a new city, I like to walk around it and get a feel for it. I'm not one to stay in my hotel and not check out a few sights. My lovely roomie Bianca and I headed up to the temple. Oh my gosh, it's HUGE! I think the only way one could get a decent picture of it would be from space. I did however, manage this shot....

and a random shot of a wedding party. We were a little surprised to see seven different wedding parties on the temple grounds, it was a Thursday, after all! Knowing nothing about the Mormon faith, we thought maybe Thursday was a big wedding day? Nope, turns out it was the date - 10-11-12. 

We then went for a peek into the tabernacle, home to the choir. Wow, doesn't even cover it. Within seconds of walking through the door, the music started. It was pretty incredible.

Shopping also played a part of my trip. I mean, when doesn't shopping fit into a visit to a new city? Bianca had heard of a nice yard shop, so we hopped a cab and headed over. Nice was an understatement. The shop, Blazing Needles,  is located in a lovely old house in a quiet mostly residential area. They had a small selection of carefully chosen yarns, books/patterns and knitting needles. I loved their yard art, too! How cute is this? 

The shopping wasn't done, we headed to the new City Creek Center to go to Tiffany's.  I've been collecting Tiffany charms for a few years now. Every time I go to a new city, I buy a charm. Some people buy refrigerator magnets or t-shirts for their souvenirs, I buy charms. When I'm outside, I wear sunglasses ALL THE TIME, so the sunglasses charm seemed appropriate. 

Later, as we walked to dinner at The Blue Iguana, we walked past the Salt Palace Convention Center. Yes it's just a convention center, but it's a pretty neat looking building and hey, it's called a PALACE, so it must be fancy! Having read about 4000 Fancy Nancy books with my daughter, I tend to find "fancy" in everything.

At The Blue Iguana we had the pleasure of meeting some new friends. Nydia, Sylvia and Sarah invited us to join their table rather than wait 20 minutes for our own. Yup. They asked two complete strangers to sit with them. Could have turned out terribly. It turned out to be one of the best parts of my weekend. We all had such a great time together. When people tell you that Sewing Summit is all about the people, they are right. Yes I enjoyed the classes I went to, but the friends I made are a much bigger part of my Sewing Summit story. For the rest of the weekend, we were all pretty much inseparable :-)

Nydia, Sarah, Sylvia, Bianca

So. Will I go back next year? Yes. No. Maybe? At this point I can't say for sure. My husband and I are going to Chicago in the spring and we're packing up the kids and our little travel trailer for a camping trip down the California coast in July. We've got a wedding in Mexico in November 2013 too. For now, I'm holding onto the memories of this year.