Sewing Sister Story

It is SO MUCH FUN for me to hear your sewing sister stories. As I'm writing this, I'm working for Schmetz Needles at a show in Minneapolis. And Jan -- a woman who regularly reads my blogs -- walked right in the booth to introduce me to her crew of sewing sisters. Hopefully -- I'll next be writing about them when they COME TO PUYALLUP.

This is an email I received last week...from another one of our sewing sisters...and she is actually PICTURED in the photograph at the top of my RitasSewFun blog. Can you spot her? She writes...

Dear Rita,

I have a couple of 'Sewing Sisters' . Chris and I met back in the 70's when we both volunteered at our local art center, The Old Hotel. I was into sewing and painting back then. Chris was with a group of sewists and needleworkers who rented a room in The Old Hotel for their shop. It was a co-op called 'Cozy Corner' We both were farm wives and volunteered on Saturday, as that was a hard day to find volunteers....and the day made no difference to us.

After Cozy Corner closed I didn't see Chris for a while.....till we ran into each other at a 'Clotilde Seminar' in a nearby town.... Soon after, I heard about Sew Expo, and a bus was taking a group from nearby Tri-Cities, Wa. I called to see if she would be interested.....she was, but not on the bus.....:)

She wanted to drive....the rest is history....we have been going to Expo for over 20 years, now! Along the way we have bonded with a few other Sewing Sisters -- (including the Yahoo group -- right, Linda?). Chris lives 30 miles away....and when she goes to the city, it is in a different direction than me.....so we don't get to see each other often. Expo is our Getaway together!!!

Another 'Sewing Sister' is my beautiful Step-Daughter, Debra! Actually, that's the first time I ever called her my step-daughter.....I have shared her with her birth-Mother since she was 8 years old and I was 19! I hope she got her love of sewing from me....we have different interests...she loves machine embroidery and I love hand work and applique & 'wearable art'. Several times she has either came home and went to Expo with Chris and me or met us there. Last year she went with us.....what a great time we had.

All the best, Linda B. in... Othello

Linda -- I WAS HORRIFIED when you wrote that you and Chris had actually talked about going SOMEPLACE ELSE for your "Sewing Sister" weekend!! PERISH THE THOUGHT.

And OF COURSE I REMEMBER YOU.

Hey -- You are the reason there was a sock monkey invasion at my house starting two years ago...!! Mary and I LOVE THE PICTURE of you, wearing the fabulous apron you made out of the "kitchen towel" door prize the last time we did the Midwest Ya Ya Sister show.

Thanks for sharing your Sister Story, Linda. It really is what Sew Expo is all about. Whether you have any real, biological sisters is not the point. It's our love of sewing and our need to share with others that brings us together... and that makes us a Sisterhood...

WE'LL SEE YOU AND CHRIS AND DEBRA AND THE YAHOO SISTERS at the 2012 Show....it'll be here before you know it!!