Best Sewing Vacation Ever, Part 4
All of my Monday BU classes were lectures. I started with a Gail Yellen class in the morning. Gail is fantastic. She has pushed the limits of the Bernina L-series sergers—I have an L860—and has designed some very creative projects with them. I already had been introduced to most of what she talked about in her lecture, but seeing her video setup was worth the price of admission. Marci and Becky were in that class with me.
Marci and I then went to a presentation by Christy Burcham, one of the Bernina execs, on the new line of 300- and 700-series machines. I am not an employee of the store and don’t do sales, per se, but I am called upon in my classes to provide information about Bernina machines so this presentation was very helpful.
After lunch, Ashlee and I went to another garment class. The presenter was Fabian Renteria, one of the Bernina educators. That class was full to bursting—more proof that garment sewing is on the minds of a lot of store owners.
My last class was Embroidery Stabilizer Bootcamp, presented by one of the staff at OESD (Oklahoma Embroidery Supply and Design). OESD is a heavyweight in the world of embroidery and this presentation went through the various fabric stabilizers and how to use them. I really needed this class. Unfortunately, I had to duck out 30 minutes early to get to the airport, but I am sure I’ll be referring to the handout frequently.
Two of my very good friends are visiting Montana from Tennessee. They were here last fall and decided to come back for another visit. I’ve been friends with Robert since I was 14 and he was 16 and we sat next to each other in the trombone section in high school. His girlfriend, Deana, sews and embroiders. Robert has been consulting for the Sacramento Mandarins drum corps this summer. When he found out the corps would be in Everett, WA, for a show, he and Deana decided to drive there (they flew into Spokane) before coming to Montana. When I found out they were going to Everett, I decided to change my travel plans to meet them there.
I flew into Sea-Tac, rented a car, and got a hotel room. Everett is far enough from the airport that I didn’t feel like driving up there after a long day. I met them early Tuesday morning and whisked Deana away for a day of fabric shopping. 😇 (Tuesday also happened to be DD#2’s birthday, so I stopped at her apartment in Seattle to give her a hug before she left on her vacation.)
Deana and I got on the ferry and went across Puget Sound to Kingston. There is a fabric store called the Quilted Strait in Port Gamble. I haven’t been there in a few years, mostly because it usually is closed when I’m driving past that area. I bought a yard of Kaffe Fassett wideback for another woven top, a fat quarter bundle of some sewing-themed fabric, and Amanda Murphy’s new book:
This is intended to be something of a doodling book, with patterns to follow to become comfortable with free-motion quilting designs, but I’m going to photocopy the pages and “quilt” them on the Q20. I think they’ll get into my brain faster that way.
After leaving that store, we drove to Bainbridge Island to visit Esther’s Fabrics:
Deana was busy collecting quilting cottons and fat quarters at each store. I bought a kids’ dress pattern to make for the store and a possible class. We also stopped for lunch in Bainbridge and had the most amazing turkey sandwiches ever.
We left Bainbridge on another ferry headed for downtown Seattle and
I love this sign. They also had a new sign warmly welcoming Joann Fabrics customers, which I thought was a lovely gesture.
I confined myself to a length of lightweight linen for my Remy Raglan, once I get that pattern sorted. Deana needed a little cart:
Satisfied that we had seen all there was to see, the two of us headed back up to Everett to meet Robert for dinner.
More fabric shopping tomorrow!