When I Retire I Want To Live In Beaver Dam, Wisconsin!

O.M.G.  I love Sewing Weekend!!

I tried to figure out when I first attended Sewing Weekend at Nancy's Notions in Beaver Dam, WI.  I have souvenir pins going back to 1996 but I might have gone a year or two before that.  I don't know when they started giving the pins, but I have a big pile... this year's pin was an adorable little red 'beetle' car that looks kind of like a VW. See it in the little announcement for 2017?

This year I agonized over what emphasis to take, quilting or sewing or embroidery or warehouse shows or a mix... what to do, what to do? 

I scheduled myself for some sewing, some quilting, and of course, Nancy's class.  Hers had some of everything.  It was a great time. 

Sewing:  This was probably Sandra Betzina's last trip to Wisconsin as she says she is retiring next year.  She says she's 75 -- but boy she still can give a class to make your head swim.  Lucky for me I have most of her books so I can hit the index and look up anything that I need.  I ordered her Power Sewing Tool Kit books 1 and 2, because they were mentioned in the seminar, and they were on sale, and looked like a good value.

I will use this book as a backup resource for all the notes I took.

Nancy showed some of her new McCall's patterns.  One of the jackets was in a reversible knit fabric that she said she got at Joann's.  That was a surprise.  (She said you have to support everyone... she's too nice!)  It was a stripe with a dot, and I really liked it, so I went on line and ordered some.  It was a three yard minimum, but I'm sure I can use it.

Reversible knit fabric

The display for Nancy's class, here we are waiting for the star to appear!

Quilting -- I got to meet Mary Fons!!  She is adorable, perky, funny, and she did a great presentation on contrast in quilting.  Boy just when you think you know everything along comes Mary to teach you new tricks.  If you get the chance to see her somewhere do not hesitate... she wrote a wonderful PowerPoint (as you'd expect, because she's first a writer, see her blog Paper Girl.) and one of the slides said "Kill the mango" or something.  It was about three colors she was using to illustrate that contrast is relative, but it broke us up laughing.  Well, we laughed all morning between revelations.

Later in the warehouse Mary was sitting in a booth sewing.  We stopped to chat and while we were talking about the Klutz Glove from Fons & Porter, a nice lady came up with a big bandage on her finger.  She started talking about how the glove would have saved her finger because she lost a huge chunk of it.  Eeeuww!

I started turning green, as did Mary, and I was literally backing away from the conversation... My friend Suzi, who's a nurse, was deep in discussion on the whole thing. Much to my chagrin.  I said to Mary "I have a book signed by your mom and Liz, it would be so great if you signed one for me too". 

She graciously agreed and we successfully ended the gory descriptions of the injury.  Thank the Lord!!   And now I have a matched set of autographs, one from Marianne Fons and Liz Porter, and one from Mary Fons.  It's a dynasty...

Embroidery - Nancy was showing a new set of tee shirt embroidery patterns that she and Eileen Roche wrote called Simple to Chic T-shirt Remakes.  They were gorgeous.  I would have picked up the DVD but I haven't done the first one they did together and I've had it for two years.  I want to get back to that though.  I really dislike crew neck tees on me.  I always prefer vee neck shirts or a semi-wide scoop neck for myself.  This embroidery software does it perfectly and makes it easy.

I shopped a bit, but not as much as in years past.  I'm happy with all my purchases and cannot wait for the next nice long weekend so I can unpack and start working on some projects!

Quilt-embroider-sew on!

Sewing Women Are Awesome

If you are reading this blog because you read Rita Farro's blog, all I can say is THANK YOU and I am so blown away by Rita's generosity!  She is awesome in so many ways.

As you can read in my previous post, I won a sewing machine at Nancy's Notions Sewing Weekend Friday night YaYa Sisters event.

I know that the machine was from Babylock and Nancy's Notions, and suitable thank you notes are making their way to them at this time.  My mother always said writing thank you notes was part of our jobs as kids, and I continue that whenever possible. 

But it just seems so perfect to have won that machine at the 'hands' of Rita and Mary Mulari.

I have sewing sisters who meet on a regular basis like Rita does.  Mine meet on Friday nights at the home of one of my aunts (unless said aunt happens to be on a jaunt somewhere).  We have supported each other through loss and illness and celebrated with each other the birth of grandchildren and eaten cake for birthdays.  Girlfriends are true treasures.  If you don't have some, you can probably pick some up at a fabric store or yarn shop near you.  Really!

I like that Rita and Mary both appreciate that and encourage it.  And they both encourage sewing for joy and with love, regardless of your skill level.  And the more you do, the better you get at it.

My oldest granddaughter is the proud owner of the brand new Babylock machine I won last Friday.  She is 13 and a half, very creative, loves to craft and she knows how to sew.  She makes jewelry and wall art and is my best shopping buddy in fabric and craft stores. 

About two years ago or maybe more, she made a placemat using both my sewing machine and my embroidery machine.  She did it all herself.  We guest blogged on the American Sewing Guild blog.

 

She is always up for trying new things.  She tested all the fancy stitches on my machine on scraps of fabric just to see what they do, sometimes using pages from the telephone book to anchor her work because she thinks outside of the box.

This is one of my favorite things she's done, a fabric collage which she glued up on foam core and hung on the wall as artwork.

After I gave her the new Babylock, we went into the 'resource center' and kitted up a sewing box.  I believe in using good tools, so I gave her a nice pair of 8 inch scissors, a small pair of scissors, every size sewing machine needle I had, several spools of basic colors of thread, a box of quilters glass head pins, a box of finer pins, a pin cushion, various measuring tapes and small rulers, and a yard stick, among other things.

For her first project, she's making a pair of PJ bottoms with some cotton fabric she bought for that purpose (as in, she picked out, I paid for and I was supposed to sew!) the last time we were at our local quilt shop.  Black with spider webs... very cool.

I also let her pick out a whole stack of five inch squares from my scrap bin so she can practice her straight seams.  I cut scraps of quilting fabric into usable sizes rather than keeping big piles of miscellaneous stuff.  She is excited to be able to come away from the practice sewing with a potential quilt top!

Passing all this on to a new generation is invigorating and inspiring.  I can't wait to see what she does.  Whatever it is,  I will love it!  I hope to channel my great aunt Mary, who always emphasized the positive when she was teaching me sewing, and never made me feel like I'd done something terrible if I made an error.  She's say "OK, how should we fix that?" and fix it we would, or find a work around, or even start over.

That's what I love about Rita Farro and Mary Mulari... they make you feel like you can do it.  Whatever it is, try it.  If it doesn't work the first time, try again, or reach out for some help because chances are, one of those girlfriends will have an idea.  And Nancy Zieman too is always there, 24-7, on the internet, ready to help.   They are a big part of what makes the sewing industry so special.

Not to mention YouTube, where you can find so much good stuff.

If you're in a sewing funk, having stitcher's block, not inspired or not motivated, I highly recommend getting together with some sewing friends, and sharing what you know.  Put the fun back in!

Oh, and share your stash/resource center.  You'll never use it all in your lifetime anyway...

Sew on!

Putting the NO in Technology -- Argh!!

This is supposed to be my post-sewing weekend post, showing all the cool things I purchased there and telling everyone how enjoyable it was.

The best laid plans of mice and women, people!!

Here's the thing:  my printer will NOT under any circumstance read the disk from my camera today.  Technology when it works is great, and when it doesn't it is horrible.

Trying to work around it... the first day there I went to classes with Pamela Leggett of Pamela's Patterns, and Gail Yellen of Gail Patrice Designs.  I've heard of them previously, since they are well known among members of the American Sewing Guild.  So Pam discussed designer details using both your sewing machine and your serger. 

<Insert here a picture of Pam's tee-shirt pattern and the pattern to customize purchased tee shirts!>

See how well that worked?  Ha!  Hopefully I'll get the photos at some point.

I learned a few tricks... such as using a narrow serged seam for the first step of a French seam, or using a narrow rolled edge for seam reinforcements in sheer garments.  Cool.

From Gail Yellen I learned that I am NOT using my serger to its full potential.  For example my Baby Lock serger has a ruffler foot that I don't have, and I think that I can use this in sewing form Miss A and even for myself.  I'm happy to report that I have one now, along with a clear foot, a cording foot and an elastic foot.  They were 33% off the list price so I treated myself for my birthday.

<Imagine a picture of serger feet>

Friday I went to see one of my favorite sewing people, Mary Mulari.  I'm a Mary Groupie -- I try to see her whenever she's in the area.  When I was a chapter president of our local ASG Mary was one of the first outside speakers we brought in, and she did a great job for our chapter.  You can never go wrong with Mary.  So I  knew some of the material she was presenting (and I enjoyed that) but she did have some new tricks and tips and I enjoyed those too.  She has very cool bag and accessory patterns, and I was reminded of how many of her designer jackets from sweatshirts I would love to make.

<See the picture of her latest travel book and CD??>

I picked up some great bargains in the warehouse... lots of Madiera thread, sewing machine needles, some Bare Knits fabric from a Canadian manufacturer called Siltex.  That stuff is wonderful, with dyed to match ribbing and top and bottom weight cotton/poly... I picked up a few yards of that this year.

We went to two different evening programs at Beaver Dam high school.  Mary and Nancy Zieman did a hilarious second round of Kick It Up A Stitch -- a little sewing, a little cooking, a lot of laughing.  They took the shirt off the back of Steve from Baby Lock and cut off the sleeve and made a bag out of it, then they cut off the logo to make a tag (and gave him back the shirt, hole and all).  Ask your friends who were there if they tasted the kale smoothy...  I heard it was kind of chunky!

Saturday morning I was up bright and early to see Nancy's class, had lunch with friends and ended up at church -- the fellowship hall of Peace Lutheran in Beaver Dam hosts classes because it's big.  Deborah Jones taught me lots about doing lettering and monograms on a home embroidery machine.   I will not do monograms for myself in the normal way.  My last initial is S, my first is S and my middle is A.  DH's initial is A.  So if we do a couples monogram that would be little A - large S - little S and if I did my own it would be little S - large S - little A.  Noooo.... probably not.

I also got 20 fat quarters for $19.95 - a bargain whether you actually need them or not.  Picked up some pink plastic clogs for Miss A's doll, and a few other miscellaneous items that filled up four shopping bags.  Yes, I am helping the economy when I can.

Hopefully I can fix my printer soon.  You'll enjoy the photos!

Sew on...

Sewing Weekend Starts Tomorrow!

Not a very big secret around my part of the world... you see, I live in Wisconsin and it's home to the sewing capital of the world, Beaver Dam, home to Nancy's Notions retail store and catalog business.

We were discussing this one time in our sewing guild after-meeting lunch, how long have we been going up there?  I don't know but I have commemorative pins that go back as far as 1997.  I'm sure I went a couple of years before they started giving out pins too.

It's the best show I've ever attended in Wisconsin or many other states.  It's well organized, the people are helpful beyond imagining, there's too much to do and too little time to do it in, and I haven't missed one since I started going.  I'd have to be hospitalized to miss it.

I haven't decided what kind of things I'm looking for this year except that they have a really good price on rotary cutter replacement blades.  I'm always looking for bargain fabrics for the church's quilt group, and of course I'll have to check out the doll shoes and accessories for Miss A and Miss K.

I'm ready for a long weekend immersed in the sewing world!

Sew on...

Three Days To Go!

It's almost here!!  That's right, Sewing Weekend starts this Thursday!  Can you tell I'm excited!!??

My favorite time of the year is nearly upon us.  Well, upon me anyway, I don't know about you.  I've signed up for some awesome classes at Sewing Weekend in Beaver Dam.  Of course I'm going to Nancy's class, and then my second favorite teacher Mary Mulari.  It doesn't matter how many times I see these ladies, they always have something new to say.

I also signed up with three people whose names I know but I've not seen them before... Deborah Jones' Letter Perfect Monograms & Lettering (I assume for machine embroiderers), Gail Patrice Yellin's It's All About Embellishment, and Pamela Leggett's Knits and Fits.

My suitcase is in the hall ready for packing and my tickets are in a safe place.

Here's what I've been working on while I'm waiting for Thursday:

This is a scarf, well actually a cowl, that I'm knitting from some of the hand-dyed yarn I picked up a the Loopy Ewe website.  It's teal and green with pale blue and some brown tossed in.  It probably will go with my gray winter coat but I bought it specifically for the brown color.  Once I've knitted the required length, it gets seemed together in a big loop, then folded in half and draped around neck and shoulders.  I have brown and teal in my wardrobe a lot so it should go with a few different outfits and match my turquoise bracelets.

Just for fun, I'm making a striped doll sweater for 'Audrey Anne', our American-Girl-From-Target.  I usually knit front and back at the same time to make them even and symmetrical, but with two colors sometimes this results in a tangled mess.  I'm trying to remember to turn back and forth at the end of each row instead of around and around.  Old habits die hard, I'm afraid...

Never being one to be happy with just one project in the works, I recently purchased this book with the idea of maybe making each block once to see if I'd enjoy making the whole quilt.  So far all I've done is pour over the book for a couple of days and think about fabric.

Maybe I'll see some I'd like to use while I'm at Sewing Weekend!

Sew on...

Nancy's Latest Book - a Personal Journey

I started to write this post on February 2, when I first saw the announcement of Nancy Zieman's biography, Seams Unlikely. Nancy Zieman has been my sewing idol (and in my opinion a Sewing Rock Star) since I discovered her program on Public Television in the 1980's.

I don't remember when I started watching, but it was before TIVO and DVDs... I would set up the VCR with a VHS tape to record it because I wasn't home during the time it was on, and I would watch it later, marveling that someone was making a television program to teach home seamstresses as we were known at the time.

At the time, I knew nothing about the industry as it existed then, wasn't aware of any organizations outside of the high school FHA groups and 4H.

If you've read my blog, you know I love to sew, and I love to read. Combining the two seems like heaven to me. In fact, I have several bookshelves in my house that are filled to the brim and overflowing with books and magazines about sewing, quilting, you name the craft and I have it. Many, many of those books are by Nancy Zieman.

Nancy was the first person inducted into the American Sewing Guild Hall of Fame. It's a virtual hall, but there isn't a person I can think of who would make a better inaugural inductee. It set the bar for future hall of famers, in my humble opinion.

I was so lucky to be in the studio audience the day that Public TV in Madison, WI, filmed Nancy's 30th anniversary shows. I was even on screen for about five seconds, in EACH episode no less!! So I guess I've had a taste of my 15 minutes of fame. :-)

I don't have a copy of the book yet, although that will be remedied soon. But you can and should go to the Nancy Zieman blog (link at the right side of this post) to read Nancy's introduction, and click through the blog tour of people in the industry who have commented on her book. Then go get it and read it... really!

I was taking business classes at the local technical college back in the 80's and had to write a paper. I made an appointment with the Nancy's Notions' advertising and publicity manager to discuss how the business started. I drove to Beaver Dam, and Kathy was gracious enough to give me an hour of her time and filled me in on how the company started and grew into a business that at the time was the largest woman-owned business in Wisconsin. So I knew some of the story before the book was published. But it illustrates so well how far back Nancy's business philosophy of sharing with everyone really goes!

I got a B+ on that paper, and if I had added my bibliography it would have been an A. But what I really got from that exercise was a good, solid lesson in how to do well while doing good.

Nancy has lots of admirers, tons of fans, and the loyalty of nearly everyone who has ever met her. And yet, she is the nicest person, so genuine and sweet.

I still want to be like her 'when I grow up'... and we could all take a page from her book. Rock on, Nancy!

Sew on...

Nancy's 30th Anniversary Show

Today I had one of the most enjoyable days of my life, and certainly one of the best days of my sewing life!  I was part of the live audience at the taping of Nancy Zieman's 30th anniversary on public television.  I cannot begin to tell you how special that was. 

I took a day off work and purchased one of a limited number of tickets to attend a taping of one of my favorite shows on TV, Sewing With Nancy.  I think I started watching SWN about halfway through the first year she was on public TV, or maybe the second season.  I taped it the old fashioned way, on VHS tapes.  I watched them over and over.  Every year at Sewing Weekend I would buy the full season of booklets that Nancy wrote to accompany her shows.  She even autographed a few of them.

So how could I not attend the event marking three decades on public television?? 

The drive to Madison where she tapes was uneventful.  The WPT volunteers were there to help us find the studio.  We walked past carpenter shops and prop rooms into a studio with black walls and lots of cameras and ceiling lights.

 


I was early enough to get a good seat.  I choose to sit on the right side in an angle row where no one was sitting in front of me, because it usually happens that the tallest person in the place will sit in front of me and block the view.  Think dance recitals where I don't get to see the dancers in the center...

There were desserts and beverages, and a wonderful WPT volunteer whose name escapes me but I know you've seen her during pledge week gave us the housekeeping rules.  We were able to take photos before and after but not during taping.

Nancy had her family there.  I recognized her husband from past Sewing Weekends where he once offered to rent me a trailer to help take my loot home, and her oldest son who once shuffled a big box to my car for me. 

Taping was done in two sections for the two part series.  The show will air in the fall schedule, but you might see it sooner (during Pledge prgramming) if you get Wisconsin Public Television on your cable (as opposed to Milwaukee Public Television, which is a different station).

There were a couple of retakes of a few things, but things went very smoothly.  Nancy has a great crew and she's a total professional!  She had guests  including Mary Mulari (her most frequent guest at 46 shows so far), Gail Brown, who she called most versatile, Eileen Roche, Natalie Sewell and her two 'right hand women' Donna and Pat.  These ladies are some of my favorite sewing professionals and it was a joy to here them reminisce about their years of working with Nancy.  They are genuinely nice people in addition to being such good teachers.

Left to right Donna, Gail, Pat, Nancy's director I think, Nancy, Natalie and Eileen.

From the other angle you can see Mary Mulari, third from the left.

A staff member with a video camera was filming the audience, making a video for Nancy, and I waved and said hello.   I should have said congratulations, but I was kind of tongue tied!  Duh!  I used to be better at thinking on my feet!

There were great door prizes.  Gosh, you can't even believe it, but someone won a TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR BABY LOCK SEWING MACHINE!!  <sigh> it was not me.  I also did not win the Amazing Designs 25 CD design pack, or the Madeira Thread Chest (which I've been lusting after for so long) or the Oliso Iron or the Clover Notions gift packet. 

However, I am the proud owner of a lovely Baby Lock coffee mug, some Madeira thread and a Mary Mulari pattern that came in the goodie bag we all received on our way out.  And I had the privilege of attending an awesome event with one of my sewing heroes.  Did you know that Nancy was the first person inducted into the American Sewing Guild Hall of Fame?  Yes, she has done THAT much for the home sewing industry and sewists all over America!!

There were lots of audience shots, so hopefully I'll make it to public TV...  and not be left on the cutting room floor.  When you watch in November, look for me.  This is what I was wearing:

It's a Sewing Workshop pattern, made with Japanese cotton I bought at an ASG conference a few years ago.  I sewed it faster and more efficiently with techniques I learned by watching Nancy.

Thanks Nancy and WPT for 30 great years, and I look forward to many more to come. 

If you're not a supporter of Public TV, IMHO you should think seriously about becoming one!  And by all means watch.  You're sure to find something you will enjoy.

Keep on sewing.

Nancy's Sewing Weekend Goodies

This weekend was a national holiday in Wisconsin... well not an ACTUAL national holiday, but it was Sewing Weekend at Nancy's Notions in Beaver Dam.  It's always around my birthday sometime, and this year it started ON my birthday.  I usually tell people how happy I am that someone as big as Nancy throws me a party --  <wink wink>

DISCLAIMER: I have NOT been paid to talk about any of these products, nor do I work for any of these companies. The opinions expressed here are my own!

I don't know how long I've been going up there.  This was the 28th year it was held, and I can find souvenir pins that go back to 1996 or 97, but I think there were a few years when there were no pins or I didn't get one.

In past years I've reviewed the Nancy's Notions catalog and crossed out things I had and circled things I wanted.  They would have sale items and clearance, days for 'remnant bargains' (more on that), and you'd get 10% off your total order at the end.  In recent years the merchandise offered has been more select, and the prices of the individual items have been marked down.

There still is clearance, but this year it wasn't anything in which I had a lot of interest, although I did find the book Word Play, that shows you how to build letters using fabric.

I am excited have this book as I want to try to use this method to put some names on some of the quilts I make and give away.

I also bought some of Nancy Zieman's booklets from her TV show, another of her templates for making purses or totes, and some Clover notions.

Speaking of Clover Notions, they have a booth at Sewing Weekend because Nancy has her name on some of their products.  They usually have a very nice sales rep or spokesperson giving away 'goodie bags' with some literature and a notion in them to all who visit their booth.  They do regular demonstrations of their new products and talk about what's on their tables.

Olfa was also there, displaying their cutting tools and mats.  Did you know you can buy a 2.5 inch square ruler, and a mat as small as 6x8 inches?  How about adding one of those to your Tablet Keeper??  Of course I couldn't resist a ruler that cute, so I bought one of each.  The mat came in so handy today when I was working on finishing up Twisted Bargello, the wall hanging from H##L. 

Oh dear, I don't know why that is rotated!!

Other vendors in the warehouse were the folks from Amazing Designs embroidery specialists, and of course Baby Lock, with all their super sewing machines and sergers.  I have a BL serger with the pneumatic threading, and I have to tell you it was among the best things I ever did for my sewing.  It threads the loopers with the push of a lever.  No more being afraid to change threads, or dreading the broken thread! 

What else did I get?  Oh, let me not forget the zippers!!  6 inch separating zippers in several colors for doll jackets, and some really wild 18-24 inch separating zippers for jackets and tops for the grands.

About those remnants...  Nancy's Notions has better remnant sales than anyone I know.  I was bound and determined not to buy fabric this year.  I have a ton of fabric.  I have so much I forget what I have.  But those NN remnants always get me.  They take cuts of fabric, sometimes several yards, sometimes bits and pieces, fold them attractively, put them into plastic bags with a label that gives fabric name, yardage, fiber content and regular price.  Then they start the markdowns.  The first day most things are half price, the second day they're lower and what's left at the end of Friday is drastically reduced for Saturday.  I've never seen such nice stuff in the remnant pile, and honestly if there's anything left on Saturday afternoon it's nearly free.

This year, I had to walk by those remnant boxes to get to the registers to check out, and I did succumb.  I picked up a lovely piece of black & white houndstooth check, nearly two yards of blouse weight fabric, for the scandalous price of $7.

But my premier treasure is a long handled, lighted magnet, for picking up the pins that fall under my sewing table too far in for me to reach without getting on my hands and knees.  That alone was worth the drive up!

There were lots of ladies shopping, so if you don't get there next year, there will be more for us!

Check it out at www.nancysnotions.com.

Sewing Weekend in Beaver Dam

Every year I save some vacation days for the weekend that Nancy Zieman holds her Sewing Weekend seminars in Beaver Dam, WI.  In my opinion it's three of the best days of the whole year.

Sewing Weekend has been going on for a while.  This year was the 28th year.  It is a big deal now, but if you have attended any of Nancy's seminars anywhere you've probably heard about how it started in the basement of a church with about 250 people.  And that was more than were expected to come, so it was a hit from the get-go!

DISCLAIMER: I have NOT been paid to talk about any of these products, nor do I work for any of these companies. The opinions expressed here are my own!

This year I didn't check the numbers before I left, but thousands attend, and they come from all over the country!  There's a map where you can stick a pin in your home town.  Of course I live close (OK 87 miles give or take.)  There wasn't room enough in the map for pins from everyone from the southeast corner of Wisconsin.

Many ladies came with or were delivered there by their husbands.  It's nice to have someone who supports your passion and is willing to carry your purchases!  And there are activities for the guys in the area... golf, fishing, sporting goods department at Sears, etc.

You sign up on line on Nancy's web site to attend lectures with national sewing experts, attend 'sit and sew' classes where you make a project on a high-end sewing machine provided by Baby Lock.  The lectures and classes are reasonably priced.  There are evening entertainments on one or two nights.  There are vendors who demonstrate their products and show you what's new.  And there are free lectures/demos in the warehouse if you have a bit of time.

For lunches on Sewing Weekend days, you can enjoy the buffet at Ponderosa Steakhouse or grab a quick sandwich or salad at a wonderful snack stand in the warehouse.  The same ladies have been there for the last 5-6 years or so.  I always want to ask the name of their business but never remember to do that until after the fact!

The best part of the weekend for me is going to the lectures.  This year you could have seen and heard Alex Anderson, Louise Cutting, and of course Nancy Zieman, among others.  In the past I have gone to lectures from Sandra Betzina, Patti Palmer, Marty Michel, Eleanor Burns and Eileen Roche, just to name a few. 

It's the one time of the year that I get to ride on a yellow school bus!

Here's the drill:

You arrive at the Nancy's Notions warehouse at least a half hour before your seminar starts.  The times are staggered so everyone doesn't arrive all at once.  You park your car, either on the parking lot if you're early enough, or on the grass next door or across the street.  Beaver Dam policemen and other volunteers are there to assist you in finding a good spot.  You do a quick or leisurely meander through the building depending on the timing of your arrival.  At the bus loading station, where shipments usually arrive, there are yellow buses and plenty of drivers and aides to help you on the bus.

Bus drivers take a route through town to the various places that have been rented for classes.  Since Beaver Dam doesn't have a convention center, the places where you may be dropped off include the high school and middle school auditoriums, the Family Living Center, or a couple of the area churches.

At any location, you will enjoy a lecture or demonstration of some sewing or quilting techniques, trunk shows, how-to-do this or that, or mysteries revealed/quick and easy methods from a nationally known expert in the field.

When it's over you jump back on the bus, to be delivered either to a lunch location or the warehouse for shopping.  If you get tired of hauling your basket around, you can check your package and sit down for a bit of refreshment or a short, free lecture in the warehouse.  You can take a nap (a favorite husband activity) in a nice comfy chair in the NN employee break room if you want to, but I personally try not to miss anything!

There are usually contests for sewist young and old.  This year there were lots of lovely challenge quilts hanging in the halls.  Nancy and her staff support the sewing education of 4H and other young people in Central Wisconsin. 

You can sign up to win door prizes too.  I always wish I had remembered to put address labels in my purse when I'm writing out the 23 numbers and letters of just my street address!

Nancy said at her lecture this year that the radio station reminded everyone that it was sewing weekend, and basically to look both ways when crossing the street.  It must be a big deal if it makes the local radio station!!

If you haven't been to Beaver Dam, a sleepy little town of about 15,000 normally, when it gets invaded for sewing week, what are you waiting for?  Mark your calendars for next year, and come to beautiful Wisconsin!  We'll leave the light on for you.

Sewing with Nancy

Today I am going to beautiful downtown Beaver Dam, WI, for one of the best shows in sewing.

www.nancysnotions.com

Kindle and Tablet Keeper

In January there was a blog hop at Nancy Zieman's place, all about the new templates she designed for making tablet keepers or iPad or Kindle covers.  The templates make three sizes.  About 20 different designers made a version and every day there was another beautifully executed tablet keeper to see.

Everyone did their own special technique.  Some were quilted, some were bright and others were more muted.  There was painting and there was piecing.  It was pretty amazing.

Kindle cover, closes with a magnetic snap.

Here's mine, completed in February.  I found the template set at my local quilt shop.  I bought the hard plastic insert pack too.  I suppose I could have used any stiff material but for the first one I thought I'd do it using the materials specified in the pattern.

For fabric I chose a piece of bright floral with a black background that was left over from a quilt project we worked on at family night.  I originally purchased two yards, then shared it with aunts and cousins, giving almost all of it away.  (Yeah, I know, what was I thinking???)  After my aunt made her quilt with my second donation, I took back the scraps!!  I had about a half yard in various chunks and I was saving it for a special project.  The greens were left from another project... of course I have a huge tub of green fabric, it's my go-to color.

Notepad on left, Kindle on the right, pen ready in the middle!

You're supposed to use a flat hair band for the 'grippers'.  I was doing this late on a Saturday night so the only thing I found in my resource center was a box of round pony tail holders.  Cut apart they only provided enough length for one corner, thus different colors.  I also discovered that they ROLL when you sew them!  So the bottom left corner of my Kinldle is always slipping its moorings.  I added a small pad of paper and a pencil holder.  It closes with a magnetic snap.

It's one of a kind, I can always spot it when I put it down.  I can easily tell which is mine if there is more than one Kindle on the table.  I do have my Kindle marked with my name and address but I'm sure if I ever lost it, it would be gone forever.  Although you never know, do you?

If you've never tried making a tablet or reader pad, you might want to try the Nancy's Notions template.  (I was NOT paid to endorse this product!!)   I found it easy to use, but I never tried to make one without the template.  I have nothing to which to compare it, so my opinion and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee somewhere!  The instructions were pretty clear and it was an easy project.

Now DD, DDIL, and DS want one for their reading devices too.  I guess I won't run out of projects!

Keep on sewing!

Sewing in the Basement

What have I been doing lately? I tried to figure that out on the drive to work the other day. OK so this month I assisted my oldest granddaughter in the design and construction of a Barbie's cheerleader outfit. I cleaned and organized my magazine collection, tossing a lot of stuff I didn't need.

And I actually did some sewing for myself.  I made a really cute top using the Linda Lee/Louise Cutting pattern Nine Lives. I just have to find some buttons to match. The cool thing is that the fabric came from the fabric resale room at the sewing expo in Platteville, WI, a couple of summers ago. Cost of fabric -- $2.00! Cost of pattern -- more than $2.00! I also finished a red twin set with a McCalls pattern by Nancy Zieman, and a vest from a McCalls Palmer/Pletsch pattern.

Sewing is an activity I have enjoyed for many years. I'm not telling HOW many, but let me say I started sewing about 5 or 6 years before I could legally obtain a driver's permit. My 'stash' or as I prefer to call it, resource center, rivals the best of them. But it's so satisfying when the granddaughters ask to help with or do a project and we can just open a bin and viola! the makings are ALL available without any aggravating trips to the store. When we feel creative, we just create!

The only slightly negative thing about sewing for me at present is where I sew. I'm in a finished room in the basement, which is nice, and it was my choice. But some days I go down to my studio at 11 a.m. and don't see another person until I come up for dinner! I miss seeing what the kids next door were doing, whether there were any birds feeding in my garden, and what the sunshine looked like through the trees.
I do catch up on the episodes of Jeopardy I recorded ... lol!

I dug in the resource center bins and came up with a green wool blend for an unlined, single layer jacket from another Nancy Zieman McCalls pattern. Got that cut out, hopefully I'll have time for another basement session next weekend!

Happy Sewing, or whatever else you plan to do with your day.

Nancy Zieman Tablet Keeper

This month Nancy Zieman is asking several people to test her new Tablet Keeper templates.  Each day someone different is posting their results, sometimes making more than one size or design.  Of course the one Nancy featured was beautiful, they do great work up in Beaver Dam.  It made me want to buy the template set and get started!  (You think that was their purpose??  Nah...)

So this past weekend I spent some time in my sewing room looking for possible candidate fabrics for a couple of Tablet Keepers of my own.  I have a Kindle, an idea notebook, several other notebooks for which a cover or holder might be nice.

I found some quilt squares that were left over from projects that were started or abandoned.  I also located the 1/2 yard of blue print that I was missing so I might be able to finish binding the quilt I made for my bed a couple of years ago.  I'm using it right now with the edges serged off so they don't ravel.  Additionally I found the pattern pieces for a couple of projects.  These pieces need to be returned to their envelope at some point, in case they are to be used again.

I have lots of fabric sorted by type and color, most of it stored in these plastic boxes...

some big tubs, some small ones, but all very necessary.  We've had tiny livestock in the basement for the last couple of years.  Last year they started moving in for the winter, and to make room for themselves they chewed through the folded side of 1.5 yards of a silk and wool blend that I was saving for a jacket.  Why can't they develop a taste for polyester??? 

I moved several stacks of things around.  Moving things next to things sometimes results in interesting combinations.  Nothing was too inspiring.  Maybe I need to take a pile of things with me to Friday night sewing and look at them in someone else's sewing space.  Or maybe I have been too limiting in what I'm looking at.  A third possibility exists -- I may just have to agument my stash somehow.  I have a lot but maybe I don't have the RIGHT stuff!  (OMG, I'm truly crazy.)

My oldest grand came over looking for an "artifact", something "from history that's older than grampa"... we dug around and I found some antique linens that I picked up in Columbus.  We had to write down who might have made them and what they might have been used for so she could take them to history class.

 I wandered back to the living room.  I looked through a stack of books on the coffee table and started reading one.  Since there was no Green Bay football game, hubby was not shouting and pounding the arm of the chair, and I guess I took a little nap.  When I woke it was 5:13 p.m.

I still have no idea what I might use to make my Tablet Keeper.  But since my DD stopped over during the search, now I also have to make one for the Nook she has.  Once she locates the fabric she wants me to use...