Well, I’m back from the sewing expo and my head is swimming. I took four classes over 2 days this time, and a good time was had by all.

My good friend Nicole made the trip up from Charlottesville, Va, and showed up to celebrate my birthday with some serious girl time. Three days of shopping, sewing, and girl talk. Whoopee!

For those who’ve never been to the Expo, it’s a pretty gi-gundous show. It goes over 3 days and boasts oodles of hand-on classes, demos, trunk shows, fashion shows, lectures, and vending out the wazoo. Here was my agenda on Thursday, the opening day of the show:

• 8:30 AM: “Really, Really Broken Dishes” applique class with Kim Montagnese. She is a great person, designer, and teacher. She taught us to use Do-Sew to back our appliques and use a blind hem-stitch to mimic needle-turn applique. Great class. (Great person, too. I love Kim! She’s the one who took this silly picture of me.)
• 11:00 AM: Snack break and fashion show. We saw a lecture on how to open up a generic sweatshirt along the side seams and create a festive jacket. Looked cute and easy. And when they passes around a toddler version with yo-yo’s on it, I just about had a coronary it was so cute!
• 11:45: Wandering about vending floor. Made a point to get to Cotton Candy Quilts which had the Do-Sew for sale. Also picked up some really cute fat quarters with my mini-patchfolios in mind.
• 2:00: Lunched on a tuna croissant (standing up) while taking in another fashion show. Another sweatshirt-jacket take by Londa, but more upscale.
• 5:30 PM: Completely overstimulated, we head over to the hotel to check in, only to find that they don’t have our reservation. And I don’t have my confirmation number. Undaunted, we work it out and schlep up to the room. I grab a quick snack, then head back down to take the shuttle back to the IX center to get to my class. Whew. I’m getting tired!
• 6:30 PM: Take Barb Callahan’s Vintage Beaded Bracelet class. (Easy peasy. Just stitch buttons onto elastic! I know what I’ll be teaching next time we have a Young Jewelry Artist series during summer camp at Silverthorne!) Barb was a hoot, too. Hope I get to take a class from her again.
• 8:00 PM: We’re done early. My shuttle doesn’t come until 9:30. I make calls. Nicole tells me the shuttle will come early. I find out that my sweet baby girl is still running a fever. I wait until 9:15, and some complete strangers from Pittsburgh take pity on me and drop me off at the hotel. Thanks, ladies! You’ve done PA proud.
• 9:30 PM: Meet Nicole at the hotel bar. I’m hungry, damp and ready for a drink. Nicole and I share some Mediterranean quesadilla thingy, and I down 2 Great Lakes Brewery Porters.
• 11:30 PM: Exhausted and with a sore back, I hit the sack. Even the hotel bed feels good after standing on a concrete floor all day.

To read about Day Two, click here!

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About Jenny

Chief Craft Test Dummy, Craft Evangelist, Founder, Editor, bottle-washer, trouble-maker, and creative whirlwind.

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