Fabric Fest

A gorgeous quilt on display in the store at Fabric Fest (note to self: time to sew with solids)

Hi guys! Before I get into my Fabric Fest wrap up a few items of business:

-If you were in my Retro Travel Bag Class the tutorial on this blog has been updated with all of the information and photos from our class.  I added lots of notes and tips for you as you finish your bags.

-A PDF version of the Retro Travel Bag along with a 2nd handle design, cutting guides, more pocket ideas etc…  will be for sale in my pattern shop by the end of the month. If you were in my class, I’ll be sending you one free.

-If you are a shop and want to teach my bag as a class, each student will need to purchase a pattern. Email me for more info. The tutorial is for home use only, not for commercial purposes. We can also chat if you want me to come and teach the class.

Okay now for the wrap up!

celia working on her bag

I’m back from Fabric Fest!  I’m still taking some time to gather my thoughts, but man was that a whirlwind!

I taught 90 people how to make my Retro Travel bag.  We had about 30 people in each class, so it was pretty busy. Originally I had agreed to teach less classes with fewer people, but went ahead and added the extra spots because many people asked to be added to the class.

My students were awesome!  They were all so willing to learn, which I loved. Many had not put in piping or a zipper before and I hope that they left class feeling like they had learned something new. My goal with the class was to make sure they LEARNED something.  It’s one thing to sit and make a project, but it’s another to leave a class having gained some new knowledge. I hope that’s the case, even though we didn’t have enough time to finish the whole bag.

I love teaching, especially sewing.

It was nice to meet so many people all there to learn and try a little something new. My biggest regret is that since we had so much to do in class in a short amount of time that I didn’t get a chance to just sit and chat with my students. I would love to get to know most of them better. (If you’re a blogger were in my class, leave a comment with your blog url for me k?)

I had an absolute fantastic time with my roomie Amy of Diary of A Quilter.  She’s just as nice in real life as she seems on her blog. She even trusted me enough to help her make some samples for her Modern Quilting class…. I loved having all of the time to get to know her better.  We had a great time and in the end both left a bit sleep deprived, but it was worth it.

I also got to spend some time with Lindsay of the Cottage Mama. It is always so nice to sit and chat with people in your same industry. Lindsay had such great advice on running a business.  I even got to get a sneak peek at her New Book that comes out next month!  It’s beautiful and I wish that my girls were still young so that I could make all of the projects in it.

See the other two girls in that photo? Those are the “Liz’s” as I call them, the two Elizabeth’s from Simple Simon and Co — they are infamous for never posing for pictures – HA !! I got one of them.

The four of us taught a class on finding your Signature Style- I’ll be posting about my part of the class here over the next few weeks. They have all done such a good job finding and perfecting a unique style and I learned so much from all of them while we were teaching our class.

I had to pinch myself a bit that I was surrounded by so many talented women all week.  They were all so nice to talk to and so willing to share advice. Above you can see Kim and Kris of My Girlfriends Quilt Shop, Carina Gardner, Shari of Doohickey Designs, Lori Holt, Myself, Lindsay and Amy.

If you were in my Retro Travel Bag class the tutorial has been updated with all of the information and photos from our class. Email me if you get stuck and drop me a note when you finish I’d love to see your bags!

Now onto the Sewing Summit this week and something totally different, English Smocking. I don’t know what I was thinking booking two teaching gigs so close together… Let’s just say I’m overly optimistic about my time management skills *wink*