2013 Sewing & Stitchery Expo

You know how amused I am by a good "shoe shot". So -- any guesses about who this foot belongs to?


Yes -- that's me in the sensible sandal. With buckles, even.  One purple big toe, four bright red...
But who is the mystery foot??



Just in case you don't understand how OUTSTANDING this foot is -- here's a close-up. Yes, they are VERY high heels. And even more remarkable -- A TATOO..!!

The beautiful young blonde -- on the right -- Kelly Newell -- is the owner of the tatooed foot. She runs the WSU conference office. AND she has some very colorful tattoos. Not just on her foot..(I don't know what that means)

Kelly -- with Janet York -- work on 40 conferences throughout the year.
Believe it or not, the Sewing and Stitchery Expo is NOT THEIR ONLY SHOW....

Taking a little break during our planning meeting -- Kelly with Joanne Ross, the Chair
of the Sewing & Stitchery Expo. 

We have many wonderful things planned for the 2013 show. Although I can't make the major announcements until contracts are signed -- believe me -- YOU SHOULD MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the 2013 show. February 28-March 3, 2013. BE THERE. It's going to be AMAZING.

One of the things I can tell you is that we are happy to announce that Mary Bridge Children's Hospital will be the recipient of all the money we raise at our Sunday Charity Event. AND -- the event itself is going to be VERY, VERY DIFFERENT from anything we've ever done before. I'll give you a hint...there WILL BE bloggers involved....and another hint...there WILL BE television cameras in the room...

All over the country (DARE I SAY -- the WORLD??) the finest sewing speakers and teachers are working on their class descriptions for next year's Sew Expo. It is exciting to see what they're bringing to the show -- and you are going to have the BEST TIME EVER.

Hummm...what can I tell you? Would you believe Tom Cruise is going to be filming his next movie on the Fairgrounds during the show?

Maybe I could tell you Oprah is planning to launch her comeback at Sew Expo...

Okay...just kidding.

We don't want Tom -- and we don't need Oprah.

We want the #1 headliner for any consumer sewing show in America.

Drumroll........the one, the only......the incomparable.......most recognized and beloved woman in the sewing world...... NANCY ZIEMAN...!! 

A picture of Nancy, teaching at Quilt Market...maybe...

I tried to find some Nancy pictures that would be new to NANCY...

Nancy will be bringing all-new-classes -- and as soon as she tells me -- I will tell YOU.

Coats & Clark Charity Event

One thing I know for sure. Women who sew are the most giving, generous, loving people IN THE WORLD. You proved that -- once again -- at last year's Sew Expo -- by delivering 4,480 pillowcases for the children of Mary Bridge...

Our first year, you made 2500 pillowcases and we were blown away.  Year Two?  4,480.  OMG

I made it MY MISSION to visit Mary Bridge Childrens Hospsital in May when I went to Puyallup for the 2013 planning meeting. It was a beautiful spring day -- and I started off at the Tree House -- where the childrens' families can stay...

I was delighted to see a child's artwork quilt on the wall...

There is a beautiful playground right across the street...

When your patients are children, you try to handle their transport in different, less scarry ways...

The poles on either side of the carts are for the IV's...

Even the waiting rooms have a whimsical nature theme.

And -- in every room -- there was a handmade pillowcase....

Along with the Mary Bridge zebra!! 

Everywhere I went that day -- in the hospital and at Treehouse -- I was greeted with hugs from nurses and volunteers who all said the same thing, "THANK YOU FOR THE BEAUTIFUL PILLOWCASES....they mean so much to the children."
Of course, I didn't take any pictures of the children that morning. But I looked into many rooms where a child was sleeping on one of our pillowcases. I passed children in the hall, scooting along in a wagon or on a cart -- clutching their pillowcases...


YES...YOU ROCK. And we're working on the 2013 Charity Event EVEN AS WE SPEAK. You know we try to do SOMETHING DIFFERENT every now and then -- and the 2013 Coats & Clark Charity event will be VERY, VERY DIFFERENT. But the one thing that will not change will be the Pillowcase Patrol...

Thanks again, Coats & Clark, for being such a wonderful sponsor. The fact that you delivered a spool of thread to every single woman who made pillowcases, then hosted our sewing/mentoring style show -- AND gave away a grand prize.
2012 was a great year. We want to make 2013 EVEN BETTER!!

2013 Sew Expo SPEAKER APPLICATION

Yes, people -- IT TAKES A VILLAGE. The work on Sew Expo goes on every single day of the year. Really. You have no idea....

Right now, for example, Ann Sagawa, the Education Manager -- is working long hours on the new online "Speaker Application".

This is my best picture of Ann from last year's show...it was our set-up day...and she arrived at 6:30 AM so she could make sure the pre-show classrooms had HEAT (they did not)

Every year, we welcome new vendors and speakers...

Our loyal fans ARE ALWAYS looking for something they haven't seen or done before!!

They love it when there's a new classroom space...

I am being sarcastic, of course. Change is inevitable. But sometimes it's hard. And we are ALWAYS changing...
I will be announcing many changes about Sew Expo in this blog. Some of them affect the attendees -- others affect the speakers or the vendors. Every change we make is about IMPROVING THE SHOW...
And it really does take a village. Ann and Janet and Dana (and I don't know who all) have been working to develop an organized, user-friendly, online "speaker application". This will be a HUGE IMPROVEMENT -- and will allow our speakers -- new and old -- from all over the world -- to submit their class ideas with a stroke of their keyboard.
The biggest change for our attendees will be that they'll be able to see pictures of their speakers, read their bios, and even SEE A PHOTO OF THE PROJECT!
EXCITING, EH??
Since many speakers follow this blog -- GET READY!! Because there's a new day dawning... Be sure to keep checking the website to see when the neew speaker application system is "UP". We're looking forward to seeing your 2013 class topics and workshop ideas. It's going to be the BEST SEW EXPO EVER..!!

IPCA Midnight Magic

At the Sewing & Stitchery Expo -- we work hard to bring the NEWEST and the BEST events, teachers, seminars, workshops and style shows. It truly does TAKE A VILLAGE, PEOPLE..!!

At the 2012 Sew Expo -- the IPCA launched their first "Passport Event". In this design/sewing competition -- eight independent pattern companies had their customers/fans sew garments and our audience got to "vote" for a winner.

At their Sunday event, the IPCA unveiled the fan favorites for each pattern company...

It was a full house -- the audience was poised to win some great door prizes...

Dana Bontrager with one of her contestants, Mary Collen...

Mary's jacket had some very unique design elements.  Her embroidery was exquisite...

AND her tailoring techniques were also quite amazing...!!

As it happened, Mary Collen DID win the grand prize. Congratulations, Mary!! I'm sorry it took so long to announce your big win! Just what you needed, babe -- ANOTHER SEWING MACHINE PRIZE?? You rock, Mary. And it is always a pleasure to see how a real master-sewist interprets a pattern or design. The first year of any big new event is always a huge learning curve. So -- hey -- GREAT JOB, YOU!! I'm already hearing some rumbles about next year's IPCA Passport event -- and it will be fun to see how they're going to TOP THEMSELVES!!

Sew Expo Buildings

The Sewing & Stitchery rents space from the Puyallup Fairgrounds for the show. It is very expensive...and we pay for every building we use. We used to use the Restaurant building -- but it just wasn't worth the money. It was so open and noisy, and we had to limit the number of students....if the classes didn't sell out, we lost money. AND there were always a lot of complaints about the noise...ugh...

So we are always on the lookout for new spaces we can use. And it is thrilling when a new "building" comes available. This year, we rented the new building right next to the Pavillion for hands-on classes. After a big remodeling, we had two new rooms for classes in the State Patrol building. AND THEY WERE AWESOME.

Maybe we should have a "naming" contest for this great new building! 

This is the view from the balcony of the Paulhamus Building -- way out in the boondocks...

Ann Sagawa stood in the weather to give directions to the early morning students...who were all very confused...

But the classes WERE WORTH THE LONG WALK...Connie Crawford's class was packed!!

As a matter of fact, Connie's "Fitting the Girls" was such a popular class, it sold out 10 minutes after online registration opened. WOW! We never know what the "HIT" class is going to be. We have the best teachers in the world coming to Sew Expo -- and they ALWAYS want their class to be your #1 choice. I can hardly wait to see what they come up with for next year!!

As hard as we try, and as many signs as we make, the Paulhamus building was still a hidden gem... 

Kathy Ruddy's early morning class decided to keep their coats on...

By the time Barbara Crawford was teaching her class, the rooms had warmed up considerably...

Peggy Sagers had several topics this year --

Peggy's class on measuring yourself (by yourself) was also a huge hit. Because it was scheduled for the Expo Runway -- where we have the raised stage and all those fabulous, comfortable chairs -- over 400 students could attend!!
Now THAT'S A GOOD USE of space, people!! Next week, if I can, I'm going to post some pictures of the various 2012 Fashion Shows -- AND I'll start to give you some hints about the changes we're planning for next year.
But here's one thing I can tell you. THE ADMISSION PRICE IS NOT GOING UP NEXT YEAR. We want to hold the line...even as our costs increase every year, we are doing our best to keep YOUR cost affordable. The last time we raised the admission price was 2008. AND our One-Needle classes will STILL BE $5. The absolute BEST value in the world.
To save money, we cut down on the Rita Snack bar instead....