Sewing Guild Meeting

What a wonderful day it  has been. It seems like I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off all morning and then this afternoon DH took me to meet Lynne at the interstate and we had a ball! First it was fun catching up the past month by th time I had "talked her head off" we had arrived at the Guild meeting and it was so much fun!

The lady giving the demonstration tonight was from N.C. and she is a Brother Dealer . Her demonstration was called Christmas in July and I liked her the minute she opened her mouth. She said that she had loved to sew since she was five and that now she made all of her Christmas gifts ! Yea- another me! Only more talented!

She had all kinds of projects . One was called a 30minute jacket and she said it was popular in 2002 and was in a Threads magazine. But she had continued on with them -using all different kinds of fabrics and playing with the neck features and the front closures .

She had two vintage potholders , but she had "repurposed them" . She said when she found them they were Big Stuffed Christmas ornaments, but she thought they were too big and she transformed them to the spiffy potholders. I am a sucker for potholders anyway! Before Lynne taught me to sew I crocheted and I still Loved potholders so all year long I would make them and share them with one of my very dear buddies until she finally said , "Linda, I have enough potholders to last me till I am old and gray"! I took the "hint" - but now she is old and gray -wonder if she needs anymore??????????? LOL

She had 3 BEAUTIFUL "tunic looking " creations that a lady who works for her made . She is from Pakistan and they were drop dead beautiful  and made from some kind of silk! She said the most wonderful comment that I fell in love with. She said the lady never uses any patterns -that God gave her This and she held up her hands! She knows that what she is working on is so many hands high and so many hands long! Don't you think that it NEAT!

She had a tree skirt that her Mom had made many years ago and she said she had patched it several times.It was a collection of black and red squares and made from some kind of velvet.and then lined.
There was a very interesting bag -the young lady who had designed it -designed it for Left handed people - the handle was what made the difference, but if you flipped it the opposite way -then it was for right handed people. She had also made a pattern for a "duffel-bag" . She said the ones on the airplanes had to be a size smaller or they would not be allowed as "carry ones". So this one looked like a regular duffel bag , but then she had fitted two grommets in each end with a cord that allowed you to pull up on it and it folded the sides in to be the allowable size!

She also had some embroidery designs that when you sewed them out they seem to use a satin stitch, but when you finish you go back and cut through the satin stitch and open them up. This one was a dove and it made the feathers look real.

She talked about there were 3 different sizes of napkins-dinner, lunch  and cocktail and they are 3 different sizes! I had Never heard that! She had table clothes and table runners that are popular now and she even said you could layer your napkins down the center of the table as a table runner and people who needed them could easily reach them.There were also clutches -one was an enlarged Envelope and stabilizer had given it body.

So, you can see -it was a wonderful presentation and I really enjoyed it. I loved her spirit and you could tell she really loved the craft! She made it so much fun to"tweak our brains"!

After that we had drawings for door prizes and then we had Sew & Tell and I got really brave and took those sunflower place mats that I had made a while back. I Almost chickened out at the last minute , but I took a deep breath and tried to find the back of the line - only every body else was doing that too and I ended up 3rd in line. I know my guardian angel was with me and I was so excited I was trembling-I remembered that Lynne had told me that nobody was there to criticize your work - just to share your project ideas to help inspire each other . AND - I actually had everybody laughing and I Love to see people happy and enjoying themselves so I considered myself quiet lucky.

I knew I had to do that tonight if I was Really going to do it because tomorrow is my older daughter-in-law's birthday. My DH has to pick up our youngest son in the morning at 4am to take him for back surgery AGAIN and he is going to drop off the gift then.

Then they had refreshments and I snatched a piece of blueberry crumb cake and it was Delicious! They had that tea again without sugar and then if you want sugar they mix up a sugar solution that you can add and it is wonderful. I really like that you can have it either way! Plus, it is not like adding regular sugar and you stir and stir and it still never seems to dissolve.

So you can tell I had a wonderful time . It is so wonderful to see what others are working on. It made me think of when Maria (http://maria-lifeontheblock.blogspot.com) &   Sue (http://suescharlottescottage.blogspot.com/)  from Australia go on their "quilting retreats"! It is that common bond that creates a magic and wonderful ideas get born.


Thank you so much for sharing my experience !
Love to all!