Sewing Summit - Day 2

Oh where do I begin?! How about by telling you that breakfast was served in the main ballroom so we all could fuel up for the day ahead. A nice little buffet that allowed us to meet more people we may have missed the night before. (For the record, I'm writing these posts, each, one day late.)
After a good breakfast with some nice coffee, I made my way to my first class, Improv Piecing: How to Think Outside the Box taught by Jess of Urban Patchwork.

 It was a great way to start for me, she gave us a few tips and some scraps and threw us right in. It took me about the whole time to actually loosen up enough to feel I could get something accomplished. For me, it took that long to get past the idea of cutting straight seams first, then adding strips and instead, sew, then cut.  Bottom line, I'm not as afraid of improv piecing as I once was and while I think my test block is a little boring, I am happy it was created without a pattern or design. I just 'put it together'.

A little coffee break and then I was off to my next class, Photographing Your Creations: Simple Changes for Maximum Impact by Vanessa of V & Co. She's a little dynamo. Funny and self-depricating but quite confident at the same time and had great, simple tips for taking great shots. I'm eager to work with those tips down the road and see if my quilt photos are better for it. The funniest thing, however, she said she still doesn't know how to take a full on photo of a quilt and make it look nice.  I have to appreciate honesty but I think with all the other tips, I probably can't go wrong, you know? Here's a photo of Vanessa and I.

Then, lunch. Another opportunity to mingle and chat it up.  I took this photo with Amy of AmyLouWho fame (or Friday Sew & Tell) ((sorry folks, the link for her site doesn't seem to be working at the moment)).

Then off to my next two classes.

Creative Fabric Selection: Moving Beyond Fabric Collections taught by Jeni of In Color Order.  Look at her. Doesn't she look like she's about 12? I'm not usually one who thinks and likes "cute" but this girl is the very definition! Even her voice is super sweet. She was a love and the class moved right along. 

A quick education on color, some show and tell of her creations and lots of Q&A. Very eye-opening. Then, a gift for everyone in the class.  Let me tell you, we were all super, super stoked. Check it out.

 A Kona Solid Color Fabric sample chart from Kaufman.  Oh, love! Now I don't have to guess at the right shade online, I have it in front of me!!!!! (See all those exclamation points? I'm very excited about this one.)

The last class of the day was Marvelous Minis: Packing Lots of Punch into a Mini Quilt by Amanda of Mrs Pork Chop Quilts.

Let me tell you something, this woman can control a room. She had us moving right along with her in discussion and pushing those barriers we had in our own brains about what a mini quilt is or creating a mini. Even one of the event founders found herself interested and due to lack of seats, plopped down on the floor to listen.

By the end of the class, I (and I can safely say most other participants) were walking away thinking, "I can do that, no problem." Even now, I still think I can do it so I made myself go up to her and tell her she inspired me (way out of my comfort zone here) and I went further and told her I am telling her I have a 16" mini I designed but decided was too difficult to put together. I was using that moment, to be accountable and tell her I would complete it. She didn't say, "oh that's nice, let me know how it goes." Nope, not her, she's so freaking personal and easy-going she says, "great! I will cheer and say hooray and then I'll post about it."  She's actually started following me on Twitter.  This has immediately gotten a little scarey now that I've put myself out there but I think I'm up for it.

Class ended, we broke for dinner (at which time Candice and I linked up again and went out with another wonderful group of women).   When we returned, I went to the room set up with sewing machines from Baby Lock and started working on my next cathedral window mini.  I showed a few people the technique, milled about, learned what others were working on and how, and generally just enjoyed the biggest sewing bee (and only one) I've ever been involved with.

I felt my day was full and crazy but in such a good way. So much so, it took my brain quite a while to settle down and fall asleep.

Ahh, tomorrow, I will tell you of my 2 panel discussions and about our sponsors (and some more goodies).  Stay tuned.

Cheers!
Beck