On The Road … Again!

Ooooh wee! I just returned from San Antonio, Texas, and the Bernina University event for Bernina Sewing Machine product dealers. Being from the great Northwest where cool temps prevail I have only read about the Texas summers. At this point I’m thinking reading about them is much better than experiencing them!

Our event center was only a few blocks from the site of the Alamo and the famed River Walk so off we went one evening to see the sights … WALKING! I now know I will never again be embarassed to take a taxi 4 blocks should the opportunity to ” see the sites in Texas in July” present itself again. Man, as much sweating as I did I thought surely I would have lost a pound or 10 but , oh no, I just swelled up more in that humidity!!

As I stood before these historical buildings and thought about all the men that died in the fight for freedom I wondered how on earth they had the energy to fight in that heat and humidity. I think I would have looked for another solution to the issue. They were brave and dedicated men and women.

At the shopper’s mall for the Bernina dealers there was a contest

to see how many pillowcases could be made. The goal is one million – all across America. The cause is a good one and the pattern being used is just too easy not to try so Jon Larson and I put our foot to the peddle ( sewing machine, that is) and made one each.

I’m not going to tell Jon’s wife that he now knows how to operate a sewing

machine AND serger! He could keep the family in pillowcases till he and Kimmie enter the retirement home. Gee, he could make these quick and easy pillowcases for the entire retirement center …  maybe have a little booth in the reception area.

Gather your sewing/quilting/needelwork friends and make a few pillowcases.

Click on the pillowcases link above for information.

I am so excited about this I can see pillowcases embellished with knit or crocheted lace … wow… gotta get to the cutting board and warm up my sewing machine!

It was a fun few days with the Brewer Quilting & Sewing Supplies Distributor crew and the Bernina dealers, although Jon and I missed our full crew who were at Chicago for the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA)  show. My blog cohort, Bill Gardner, was in Chicago and shares the experience below.

Hot Time in Chicago

I think we were nearly as hot in Chicago as Fran was in Texas! With temperatures reaching 100 with humidity to match (or so it seemed), we were glad there was a covered and air-conditioned walkway from the hotel to the convention center. However, the walkway was almost all glass, so while the air conditioning helped some, it was still mighty hot!

The CHA show was dominated by paper crafts and scrapbooking, but there was a mix of needlework throughout the show, and Clover was among the most popular! While we had quilting, sewing, and yarn retailers visit us, we also had lots of paper craft and scrapbook retailers ooohing and ahhhing over the Kanzashi and Flower Frill templates.

The fine folks from Melissa Frances, a scrapbook/paper craft company, shared their crepe paper with us and you wouldn’t believe how great it worked with the Flower Frill templates! And it worked with the Kanzashi templates, too, though we’re still working to fine-tune that.

As always, it was great to visit with retailers and other vendors and to share our passion for creativity!