Four Good Excuses and an Announcement

10 Sep Four Good Excuses and an Announcement

 

Four Reasons I Haven’t Sewn Since the end of August:

1. My new Grandson was born (August 28).  His name is Billy and he is healthy and beautiful ❤️
2. I had a back injury (September 1).  While pulling my kayak out of wet sand, the strap broke and sent me sailing across the beach before landing on my back.
3. I’ve been out of town (September 6 – 9 ) …….. Let’s talk about this!

The Social Side of Sewing…………….

Since sewing is predominantly a solo activity, I find sewcializing with women who share my passion to be a great source of renewal.

This past weekend Julie Starr and I had the pleasure of spending three days in the Dallas/Plano area at the invitation of the Plano ASG Chapter. The initial weekend trip was planned well in advance, but after a large group of sewists from the Dallas/Plano area joined the 2018 RTW Fast, we were invited to come a day earlier for a RTW Faster meetup. How cool is that?

Below we are pictured with some of the RTW Fasters from the area.

Sewists understand one another for sure, but the greatest pleasure was listening to these women talk about the personal friendships they had made through the RTW Fast, as well as sharing their RTW Fasting experiences. I was very moved to say the least!

That first night of sewcializing was fulfilling in and of itself, but there’s more……

The second day featured a Trunk Show of our favorite makes followed by a presentation. (We don’t travel lightly 😉) We were flattered to learn the Friday evening event was sold out.

Saturday we hosted a Tunic Bible Workshop with 22 participants.

Following are my takeaways from this lovely trip…..

• It is always an honor to be invited for a personal appearance by an organization, but more importantly I am reminded there is something of ourselves that we leave at every meeting with another person, and of course it is a two way street.

with Plano ASG president Sheryl Belson and Events Chairman, Marie Barrese.

• Seek out a local ASG Chapter!!  The members of each American Sewing Guild Chapter I have visited have so much fun together!  In addition to the spirit of camaraderie, ASG Chapters provide excellent opportunities to grow, develop skills and give back to a community. The Plano Chapter has it going on and is composed of welcoming, talented women of varying skill levels along with a diverse membership. There is not an ASG Chapter in my city so I am a member at large.
• Incredible fabric stores still exist! As I’ve mentioned before, I live in what was once the textile capital of the United States. Today, there are no independent fashion fabric stores here. Two of our events were presented at Fabrique, a beautiful, large and well stocked fabric store with a helpful, knowledgable and caring staff.  The store sorely reminded me of what I am missing.We also visited Tissu Dallas, a small fabric boutique offering high end designer fabrics, accompanied by an Atelier.No bargains but unlimited temptations!
• Utopias are for real!Come When You Can, Leave When You Must! 

The Tunic Bible Workshop took place at The Best Little Retreat Center in Texas. The owners created a one of a kind retreat getaway for sewists and other hobbyists to bring creative ideas to life. The venue is ideal for sewing, quilting, scrapbooking and other crafts offering a beautiful atmosphere, great lighting and many amenities. You can reserve a workspace for a day, take a class or schedule a retreat. I’ve never seen this concept realized on such a large and comprehensive basis before, but no one does large better than Texas!

4.  In closing is the fourth reason I haven’t sewn since the end of August.

Julie and I recently signed another book contract with C&T Publishing!

It’s all very exciting but we’ve been absorbed in the writing portion.  I hope to be back on the sewing plan soon . Until we get closer to publication date, we’ve been asked not to discuss the subject of the book, and we look forward to sharing details once we get the green light!

As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support in countless areas! The Tunic Bible has been a great success thanks to you as has goodbyevalentino.com ~ Dear Readers, you’ve transformed my sewing and well pretty much my life 😜

Many thanks for everything and stay tuned!