The BEST Smiles...

Okay -- THIS is the picture that inspired a blog post. It was taken at last year's show -- in Eleanor Burns tent. Were you there? Do you see yourself? Are you having a good time?

See the woman in the front row -- waving at me? I love her amazing smile...

Then -- I found this picture. She is obviously having a great time...

I don't know which is more impressive -- the great smile Rhonda Pierce is wearing or the fabulous feather collar on her incredible jacket. GO SCHMETZ...


Of course, if you were running the door prize booth -- you have a lot to smile about...
The first day of the show is one of the BEST days of my entire year. Here I am with Joanne Ross and Ann Sagawa. All the months of work come together -- so you'd better believe we had a LOT TO SMILE ABOUT...(it was too early for Janet York to smile...I'm still looking for a picture of her on Day 4...)


Here it is! DRUMROLL... Janet on Day Four. Hey -- our AV expert -- Abraham -- was personally responsible for MANY SMILES.....


So -- if you love to sew -- MARK YOUR CALENDARS and prepare to smile. The 2011 Sewing & Stitchery Expo is March 3,4,5 & 6...!! And I'm pretty sure Abraham is coming, too...!

Building the GRID

You have NO DOUBT figured out that there's a whole crew of people working on the Sewing & Stitchery Expo 365-days-a-year. One of the REALLY BIG JOBS is putting together the "GRID".....which is happening right now. Teachers from all over the country have sent in their "pitches". The next step is choosing a varied class schedule...something old, something new...well -- you can imagine...

Oh my...

This gargantuan job falls to Ann Sagawa and Joanne Ross...


Of course, they have Janet York...who keeps records of EVERYTHING...and has the uncanny ability to actually FIND IT when we NEED IT...

Another capable helper -- this is a GREAT picture of our Emily...who brings a fresh, young attitude and viewpoint to the show...

And, I'm on call 24 hours a day...often sending emails from my Iowa Lazy-Boy at 3:00 AM.....
And -- YES -- THERE MUST BE COFFEE. LOTS AND LOTS OF COFFEE...

In Memory of Fred Bloebaum

It is sad to report that Fred Bloebaum of LaFred Patterns lost her brave battle with cancer on September 4th, 2010.

Fred was a talented author and teacher...and a wonderful, creative member of our sewing family. Everybody at the Sewing & Stitchery Expo would like to extend our deepest sympathy to her family and friends.

Sisters buying Pendleton Selvage??

This is a little video interview I did on the last day of the show. These two sisters were trying to walk to their car...when I approached them with my little camera...



The fun part is -- they were buying something I didn't even know was for sale -- bags of selvage from Pendleton Woolen Mills. Their intent is to crochet rugs -- right?

We'd love to see the finished rug. Got any good pictures, girls??

Cheryl Weiderspan

Last year, knowing I would be doing a weekly BLOG about the show -- I tried to do some interviews and take LOTS OF PICTURES. So I feel like Walt Disney -- bringing things OUT OF THE VAULT for your viewing pleasure.

Here's a little walk-around I did in Cheryl Weiderspan's booth...


There's no question Cheryl was "THE" hot ticket at the 2010 Sewing & Stitchery Expo. Her classes sold out, and then the extra classes we scheduled or her ALSO sold out.

Just wait until you see WHAT CHERYL HAS PLANNED FOR NEXT YEAR'S SHOW..!!

Luveta Nickels

THE best part of my job is writing this blog -- which means going back to review some of my favorite shots. I am ALWAYS telling you how hard our sewing stars work. And here's one of my favorites -- Luveta Nickels -- the Junk Jeans girl. Luveta does over 40 shows or events a year. Do you know she uses EXPO as her deadline to make ALL NEW SAMPLES every year for her booth?

AND -- for 2010 -- because we had a "recycled jeans day" on Friday -- Luveta was the first person I called. She jumped in with both feet -- and we used her booth AND the Schmetz booth -- for our jeans ladies to sign up for DOOR PRIZES. Here's a picture of just a few of the inspired recycled-jeans-audience...

Many of you stopped by her booth to have your picture taken -- and sign up for the door prize that day...

AND -- if I had the proper computer skills (sorry -- I don't) -- I could do an entire slide show of Luveta participating in our Charity Events. She has participated every single year -- and is ALWAYS the first to sign up.

Including NEXT YEAR. For 2011, Luveta will be one of our Sewing Star mentors -- I'll be writing more about our exciting Sunday event in the next e-newsletter. The young sewing enthusiast who gets Luveta Nickels as an advisor is lucky indeed!!

THANKS FOR PLAYING OUR SEWING GAME, Luveta!!