Found some cool stuff!

Went to Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, WA last weekend. It is touted as the largest Sewing Expo in the country, if not the world. Thousands of people there (mostly women!) over 5 days of sewing classes of various types and lengths plus hundreds of vendors.

I always buy a pair of Kai scissors - this year it was 2 pair - their new embroidery scissors plus a pair of thread trimmers. Bought a couple of wall hanging kits (this one and this one) and a couple of additional patterns, a Flynn Frame (I've been eyeing this for a couple of years), a big promotion of Floriani thread and stabilizer, and a new product (at least to me) for using in bags instead of batting, called Soft and Stable. I haven't tried it out yet, though so watch for a report back sometime in the future. Same with the Flynn Frame - it's not out of the box yet.

Also found this site before Expo and watched her demonstrate at Expo, so bought a couple of the feet to try out...haven't tried them yet, either!

Last year Expo took Mary Bridge Hospital under its wing for donations of pillow cases for the children they serve. Last year they brought in something like 2300 pillowcases, this year it was almost double that. I haven't participated yet, but this year I am challenging myself to an average of 1 a week...so 52 pillowcases! I'll keep you posted on my progress!

In addition to classes and vendors, Friday and Saturday nights are special evening programs with a major sewing celebrity. Last year it was Nancy Zieman and Ricky Timms. This year it was Martha Pullen and Alex Anderson. They all have stories to tell about themselves and share how they got started in their particular area. I particularly enjoyed Alex this year as I watched Simply Quilts for many years while it was on TV. Normally they don't allow pictures to be taken but this year both Martha and Alex said go for it! 

Classes that are available are different lengths of time from 45 minutes to several hours. I took two 2.5 hour classes - one on using a serger (I just bought a new Babylock Imagine) and one in which we made a Pendleton wool picnic blanket. Both of these were great. I came out of the serger class with a binder and samples of various stitch techniques!

Of the 45 minute classes one that I really enjoyed was 'Quiltigami' by Mary Jo Hinley. Unfortunately her books are pretty much out of print, but I was able to find both of them on Amazon. Amazing stuff to try someday.