Coats & Clark Pink & Red Charity Event

From last year's charity event -- some fabulous pictures you may not have seen...

Lorraine Torrence....



Our special family of historic pink and red seamstresses...
Lynn Browne, from Coats & Clark...
The goofy Midwest Ya Ya Sisters...

Catherine Devico from Janome (I think the kimono is still on TOUR...)

Marsha McClintock...always steps up when we need her...

And our very own "Inspired2Sew" girls -- Jan Potter and Bonne Swet. They take every challenge TO THE LIMIT...

And -- my personal favorite -- our own Expo Baby. Remember Ashley crawling down the Runway??


I am ending with this adorable picture of beautiful healthy baby Ashley. For me, she will always be the 'Expo Baby" because her Mom, Tanya, was very pregnant at the 2009 show, and had to LEAVE to deliver Ashley -- who was exactly 1 year old at the 2010 show.

To remind you that for the 2011 charity event -- every dime of your $10 will go to the Mary Bridge Childrens Hospital in Tacoma.

This year, it will be a "Pro-Am Sewing Exhibition" -- and we'll be pairing our sewing STARS with some local sewing ROOKIES. They are working on their projects EVEN AS WE SPEAK...

For more details, be sure to visit our website -- Sewexpo.com

Irish Reading Shawl

My friend Marion recently told me how much she is enjoying the "Irish Reading Shawl" pattern. From last year's Midwest Ya Ya Sister show -- the Irish Reading Shawl is a great quick gift. In this picture, Mary and I are wearing our two different versions...
We both made our shawls out of vintage wool blankets....Mary chose to place a large button, using a pony tail holder instead of a buttonhole.

We made pockets big enough for a book, remote control, Kindle, etc. My pockets are from a felted sweater...

And, since my original blanket had a great fringe -- I cut it off and REATTACHED the trim around the curved edge of the shawl. This shaped back is the best part of the shawl -- and it's a nice bed jacket as well.

As winter approaches, and we're all trying to keep our thermostats turned down -- the Irish Reading Shawl makes perfect sense -- which makes it a great CHRISTMAS GIFT, EH?

Thanks for reminding me, Marion!! (she's using bits and pieces of some nice polar fleece, leftover from her marathon-charity-jacket-sew-a-thon)...

What other ideas did you get from last year's Expo that are turning into this year's Christmas gifts??

HEY -- speaking of Friday Night LIVE -- remember -- next year, Nancy Zieman will be our entertainment. If you go to Nancy's November 16 blog -- and LEAVE A COMMENT -- you could win the Clover Trace ‘n Create Quilt Template—Dresden Plate and Fan Collection.

But YOU'VE GOT TO HURRY...

I'm telling you -- they are giving away some REALLY FUN STUFF on these sewing blogs...

Congratulations, Laura!!

Laura Mendoza is a CTA -- and also one of my Facebook friends. I was delighted to see a recent post on her wall that she had won the Make It With Wool contest. She sent me this picture of herself in her FABULOUS JACKET...and I asked her to tell us about the contest. Read on to see her reply...


Hey Rita

My jacket is a McCalls pattern and that is Pendleton wool that I received at the 2008 competition.
The pants are one of Simplicity's Amazing Fit patterns (awesome patterns) and the wool came from Fabric Depot.
Here are some details -
- fiber in outfit must be at least 60% wool - can be sewn or knit/crochet
- must be a complete outfit, or a long enough coat/dress to cover you modestly
- judged on how outfit fits you, construction of outfit, and how the outfit shows the marketability of wool
And, these judges were picky. They caught a missing stitch in one of my buttonholes on the jacket. Also, said my tension was slightly off on one of my seams.
Now, I have to submit photos of me in the outfit, along with with actual garments to the National Make-It-With-Wool. They will judge them and let me know in January, if I get to go to the National convention in Reno. This entire competition is sponsored by the American Sheep Industry Association.
Besides winning the chance to compete at Nationals, I also won a Viking Husqvarna Serger, courtesy of Billie's Fabrics. And, I received 2 1/2 yds of Pendleton Wool, courtesy of Pendleton Mills.
This jacket also won Grand Champion at the Puyallup Fair this past September. I won a Bernina sewing machine there. I'm calling it my lucky jacket :-)

Laura

You can't use up creativity; the more you use, the more you have.
**********

I love Laura's signature line -- it is SO TRUE..!!

SEE YOU AT THE SHOW, Laura -- I'm sure you'll be wearing your award-winning new jacket!!

A Few Good Laughs...

We have over 1000 pictures from last year's show. Every time I go into those files -- I get to relive the fabulous 2010 show...and I always SEE SOMETHING NEW!!

From the picture vault -- do you see yourself? This was Friday Night LIVE...and Mary and I were having a wonderful time up on that stage. Ya'll were a GREAT AUDIENCE....
In this picture -- I see my friend Marilyn...and Mom...

I don't know anybody in this shot -- but I love that they are all having such a great time...

I cannot believe I found a picture with Jan and Bonne from our Inspired2Sew team...those girls are ALWAYS having a good time!!

And, of course, lucky for me London (the show photographer) got this great shot of the Ya Ya Stalkers -- who, of course, CAME IN DISGUISE...


Oh,yeah -- there's no doubt about it. Our Friday Night LIVE events are a good excuse to get together with our girlfriends and LET OUR HAIR HANG DOWN...

And for the 2011 FNL show -- Nancy Zieman will be up on that stage -- presenting a show that nobody in the world has ever seen before...

Oh, yeah...this is gonna be good...so please stay tuned. I put up a new post on this blog every Monday.

Be sure to regularly check both the show website AND Nancy Zieman's website so you can know what's happening!!

AND -- hey -- let's see if this Facebook thing might be some fun...I've posted THREE HUGE PHOTO albums -- so if you go there -- you might see yourself...

Wanna be a CTA?

The Sewing & Stitchery Expo is very fortunate to have a dedicated corps of volunteers called the Clothing and Textile Advisers. What do our CTA's do? Well, the most obvious thing -- they manage the traffic in and out of the classrooms. AND they stay on alert in the back of the room to make sure everything is working properly and nobody is jumping on the furniture...


They help send out the brochures, hand pull all those tickets you get sent in the mail -- and at the actual show -- they staff the ticket booth...

But Expo is just four days a year. In the summer, the CTA's run summer sewing schools for kids...




There is a complex schedule of duties at Expo -- and it takes a whole village of capable, well-trained CTA's to run the Expo Runway and the intense roster of fast-paced FREE STYLE SHOWS...

And we are always looking for some NEW RECRUITS!! If you'd like to become a Clothing & Textile Advisor -- email Ann Sagawa. (asagawa@wsu.edu) -- and she'll get you signed up for the next training session.

New Website

Have you been to our new website? www.sewexpo.com

We will be putting up LOTS OF INFORMATION about the 2011 show as things come together.

Right now -- you can go there and read about our special evening events. And you can check out the dates when the Registration Brochure will be available as a PDF.

Of course, we also mail out the brochures -- that happens after Christmas. But, like everybody else, we're always looking for ways to keep our costs down and save money -- and putting the brochure up on the website so you can DOWNLOAD IT yourself will save us lots of $$$ in postage.


So -- yes, you will be able to download the entire Registration Brochure...and ...wait for it........drumroll.......

THIS YEAR WE WILL HAVE ONLINE REGISTRATION.

Of course, that will not be available until January. Because we STILL have to wait for our "ticket office" to open. Yes, it's a hybrid process. Although you will be able to register online -- we will still be printing seminar tickets and hand-pulling your order which will be sent to you in the mail.


Complicated -- for sure. And -- OH Yes, it's a lot of work. But we are sure it will be WORTH IT -- right?? If you have any comments or suggestions about our new website -- please let us know!!