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Learning & Shopping
Had the day off yesterday for the Sewing and Quilting Expo, which was, according to the promo information, in "Washington DC" and was, in reality, in Chantilly. I know Virginia is doubtless fighting for this kind of income, but I'm getting really tired of driving for an hour plus for "local" events.
That bitching aside, it was supremely cool. Learning and shopping - my two favorite pastimes, under one roof! Whee! Nothing but machine embroidery and quilting stuff as far as the eye can see, along with the occasional sewing machine emporium and a garnish of knitting and crochet. I took three classes relating to machine embroidery (bearing in mind the resolution to learn how to make my own patterns) but didn't pick up theextremely overpriced DVDs on the same subject. Got a flyer, though.
Learned:
Some basics of digitizing artwork for machine embroidery
How to do applique on an embroidery machine
How to machine-embroider leather without leaving hoop marks
How to make "solvy soup" (for paint-on, wash-out-able stiffening)
How to make a teflon needle (for sewing through gunky interfacing)
The types of interfacing that don't gunk up a sewing needle
The type of metallic thread that isn't supposed to break in any machine (Sulky's "holoshimmer")
The embroidery patterns that are supposed to work on any fabric (Cactus Punch)
How to wash off the dissolvable interfacing from machine lace without ruining the lace
What to expect when I buy a CD of machine embroidery patterns
That memory cards (such as Poohcifer uses) have a half-life and how to extend it
Bought:
Two CDs of machine embroidery patterns; one cutwork, one "heritage quilt tudor rose" patterns
"Crochet for the Cure" kit; learn to crochet a pink scarf, proceeds from kit go to breast cancer research (I'm probably going to take a look at the directions, but donate this to Team Wench)
Thread snips configured to make it easy to trim machine embroidery
Lunch bag (well... it was a nice one, and my old one doesn't quite do the job...)
Pattern for Jacobean Jacket
Fabric foundations for:
- 7 Sisters quilt (queen size)
- New York Beauty quilt (queen size)
...to tell the truth, I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with that latter; it seemed like a good idea at the time, but a couple of meals and some sleep later and I'm thinking "Oh, that wasn't your brightest move, you don't really like that pattern!" I've been meaning to do a 7 Sisters for a while; the NYB just seemed like a good handiwork project. For *whom,* I'm not sure. Although now that I think about it, I could always make a few lap quilts instead of one queen quilt - I've been promising TW a quilt to raffle for ages.
Considering how much walking I did, it was pretty considerate of my sliced foot to wait to ache until I got home.
That bitching aside, it was supremely cool. Learning and shopping - my two favorite pastimes, under one roof! Whee! Nothing but machine embroidery and quilting stuff as far as the eye can see, along with the occasional sewing machine emporium and a garnish of knitting and crochet. I took three classes relating to machine embroidery (bearing in mind the resolution to learn how to make my own patterns) but didn't pick up the
Learned:
Some basics of digitizing artwork for machine embroidery
How to do applique on an embroidery machine
How to machine-embroider leather without leaving hoop marks
How to make "solvy soup" (for paint-on, wash-out-able stiffening)
How to make a teflon needle (for sewing through gunky interfacing)
The types of interfacing that don't gunk up a sewing needle
The type of metallic thread that isn't supposed to break in any machine (Sulky's "holoshimmer")
The embroidery patterns that are supposed to work on any fabric (Cactus Punch)
How to wash off the dissolvable interfacing from machine lace without ruining the lace
What to expect when I buy a CD of machine embroidery patterns
That memory cards (such as Poohcifer uses) have a half-life and how to extend it
Bought:
Two CDs of machine embroidery patterns; one cutwork, one "heritage quilt tudor rose" patterns
"Crochet for the Cure" kit; learn to crochet a pink scarf, proceeds from kit go to breast cancer research (I'm probably going to take a look at the directions, but donate this to Team Wench)
Thread snips configured to make it easy to trim machine embroidery
Lunch bag (well... it was a nice one, and my old one doesn't quite do the job...)
Pattern for Jacobean Jacket
Fabric foundations for:
- 7 Sisters quilt (queen size)
- New York Beauty quilt (queen size)
...to tell the truth, I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with that latter; it seemed like a good idea at the time, but a couple of meals and some sleep later and I'm thinking "Oh, that wasn't your brightest move, you don't really like that pattern!" I've been meaning to do a 7 Sisters for a while; the NYB just seemed like a good handiwork project. For *whom,* I'm not sure. Although now that I think about it, I could always make a few lap quilts instead of one queen quilt - I've been promising TW a quilt to raffle for ages.
Considering how much walking I did, it was pretty considerate of my sliced foot to wait to ache until I got home.
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There's also the MidAtlantic Quilt festival (look back through my LJ to the end of Feb) with info at www.quiltfest.com - some embroidery stuff there as well.
I got Poohcifer off ebay and am more or less happy with it... until I go to things like this and find out that there are brighter, shinier machines out there. Like ones that take USB drives instead of limited-life memory cards.
You haven't missed it!
www.sewingexpo.com