Do what you love!

And just like that - it's a wrap! It's amazing how quickly the time goes by, but I try to make the best of it. 

The day started out with something pretty exciting. We got to spend some time chatting with Dolly Parton's creative design team. By design team, these are the people who design and make her outfits, of which they make about 300 in one year!! 

Their stories of how they got their jobs were pretty inspirational. 

Before I get into that, here's what happened. When I walked into the room, there were lots of empty seats in the front row - again! I'm no idiot - I'm going to scoop a front row seat. I love not having anyone in front of me, and I don't care that they have big screens projecting what's on the screen; it's good to be right up front. 

One of the SVP employees was hovering nervously, hopping from seat to seat, so I figured she was trying to save seats for others. Nope --- it turns out she was the person responsible for making the Dolly Parton part of the show happen. Of course, I had to chat with her, and she gave me the inside scoop. Which is between her and me! Nothing big - she just shared some of her experiences in the process. 

It's incredible to think that only THREE people make all those outfits for Dolly. They have a couple of sewists who pitch in to help with some of the sewing, but it's mostly this team. 

Dolly Parton's creative design team

The woman on the left (in the picture below) is Riley Reed, and she is such an incredible talent. Steve Summers is in the middle. He started off at a very early age as a dancer for Dolly. Can you believe he is a grandfather of four? And yes -- he looks exactly like that photo. Check out the short video above -- it's fascinating. He is in his early 60s and doesn't look like it! 

The design team

He had on the most amazing pair of jeans—you can't see it in the photo, but they were very sparkly. But when you saw them up close, they were jeans, but with some dangling sparkles. I should have asked to take a better picture, but well, that's a bit awkward! 

And the third person, Brittany Church, is the most amazing artist. She spends a lot of time embellishing the outfits. Can you imagine being known as the person who bedazzles Dolly Parton's outfits? Well, that's what she does all day. 

The one thing she mentioned when I chatted with her (of course I did, as well as Steve!) was the wall of crystals. If you watch the video about Steve, you'll see the wall of Swarovski crystals in all colors and sizes that get put onto the garments. How fun to have all that at your disposal!!!

One of the things they did was have Brittany decorate a Singer sewing machine, which they gave away at the conference in the afternoon. It was only for attendees and not for employees. Darn - because everyone there coveted this sewing machine. 

A blinged-out sewing machine

It was so beautiful - I wouldn't be able to sew on it! And yes -- it was bedazzled both front and back! 

Blinged out machine

You had to be present to win the machine, and when they drew at 3 PM, the winner was ecstatic. 

BUT, they had a second giveaway: this guitar Dolly had signed, and the decorations were all done by Brittany. 

A blinged-out guitar

All those decorative elements were either fabric scraps (from Dolly's outfits) or crystals!!! It was stunning. And Brittany had placed crystals on the side of the guitar as if it were a whipstitch. The guitar strap was also made from fabric scraps from the outfits. The buttons were stitched, but obviously not to the guitar. They were stitched and then glued on. 

Detail of the guitar

And to go with the guitar was this sketch featuring design elements Steve created for the guitar strap. WOW!!!!

Sketch of the guitar strap

That was such a beautiful prize, and the lady who won it was also extremely excited. I heard from the teacher whose class she was in that the woman was a fairly quiet person, but when she came back to class, she was a bit excited!!!

What fun to see how it all came together, as they showed a short video of Brittany decorating the guitar. 

They also had a couple of Singer chain stitch machines. I had never really heard of a chain stitch machine before, but we had seen them in Sicily. 

Chain stitching from Sicily

I didn't really know what kind of machine they were using to stitch this, but it's a popular thing to do. 

The company that was at the conference was called RangerStitch, and it's fun to have your name stitched on something. We were all given a bandana as part of the conference, so I had my name stitched on it by Brittany. She is so sweet - just a lovely person. 

Britanny stitching my name on the bandana

And there is my name on my bandana!!!!

My name on the bandana

And they do it freehand!!! Wow—it's pretty impressive, to say the least. 

What was amazing were some of the words of wisdom that these three gave us. First off, they all LOVE Dolly Parton as if she were their family. And when you work with someone for 30+ years (Steve), how can you not? Apparently Dolly is a very sweet and very wonderful woman with not a bad bone in her body!

It was funny because my roomie was watching 9 to 5 the other night! Now that's an old movie!

But the design team was also so trusting of each other and worked so well together - it showed in how they answered the questions and how they looked to one another as they spoke. Imagine being somewhat new to the team (Brittany at 5 years) and trusted to put the embellishments in the right place without micromanagement. That would be a dream job, and they all said that—they are living in a dream-job world!!!!

But there was something else Steve mentioned—to do a great job, you need to be in the right job. I couldn't agree more -- I absolutely LOVE what I am doing now and wouldn't trade it for the world. I think all the educators feel the same way. The opportunity to access all these amazing tools of our trade, create whatever we wish, and use those talents to inspire others and teach them how to sew? That is incredible!!!!

Speaking of that, we got to hear a success story the day before - The New York Sewing Center. Imagine a sewing school that has expanded to FOUR locations, and it all started in New York in the basement of an apartment building. They only offer how-to sew classes, mostly for garment making. What blows me away is that that idea isn't happening in other cities. People want to learn to sew, so why don't other studios open up? It's not cheap, but perhaps that is the reason—if it doesn't cost much, people don't value the service. I don't know, but it's an interesting thing to consider. 

Hmm -- maybe I'd better up my prices!! I won't - don't worry. 

I spent the morning assisting in a classroom, and that is always fun. Can you quickly address all the questions/issues that arise? I managed to do just that. But several years ago, the thought of problem solving on a PFAFF was out of the question. I'm now an "expert." Hardly, but I know my way around those machines a bit. I can't wait to get my hands on the new PFAFF creative icon 3, but I am going to be hard-pressed to decide which one to embroider on and which machine to sew on. 

It's like when I chatted with the fellow from R&D about the large magnetic hoop. He asked me if I liked it better than the projection system. Are you kidding me? DO NOT make me choose between those two items - I want (need) both! 

I had some free time in the afternoon, so I was able to chat and visit with more of the employees, and I learned a lot, provided feedback, and got some answers. Let's just say that some exciting things are coming down the pipeline. They even felt sorry for me for hanging around the booth and showed me some of the new designs! 

So lots of new!!! I just hope that the dealers did the same thing. It's a busy time for them here, but if they ask questions, they can get answers. There was one dealer who ended up hanging around me and listening to my questions, and I think she enjoyed the conversations! 

And then the fun began as we tore the show down. That is always the "best" part of the show. There were many hands on deck, so it went quite smoothly. Although it's always a challenge at the end when you have a machine with no box, and then you find the box (I'm a fast walker and take action rather than waiting for someone else to find the solution), and the serial number doesn't match the box! Oh well - not my problem. It was tagged and went back to the warehouse, and let them deal with it! 

The idea is to be helpful, fast, and efficient and to be noticed!!! You don't just want to be the person who "complains" about what we should be doing; when I want something, I want people to remember me and that I am a hard worker as well. Mission accomplished!!!

When we had some embroidery units to box up, some of us tag-teamed it and made it a science, boxing them in less than two minutes! It's just that the darn cases and boxes are huge, so it's hard to make that happen in a room with not a lot of space. 

Some of us went out for dinner last night and had a grand conversation about everything and nothing, and then it was off to bed. 

I did buy some fabric, and that was a hoot. There was some fabric here, and they were trying to get rid of it, but they would only sell it by the bolt and would only take cash. As I watched, one of the educators grabbed a bolt of beautiful orange plaid (cotton), so I struck a deal with her and got half the bolt. There was another bolt that I thought would be amazing to have some of, but not 30 yards of yarn-dyed fabric. So I struck up another deal and managed to get 10 yards of that. The price was right, and I had room in my suitcase! 

Now I owe Margaret some cash because I never carry any. It's all fun and games!!!

I'll share those with you when I get home. Our flight is this morning, and I know already that I'm not going to get upgraded. I'm at the bottom of the list of five people, and there is only 1 seat. It's only a 2-hour flight, so it's really not a big deal. 

My stuff is all packed, and I just have to close up the office, and I'm ready to move on!!!

The girls have had quite a traumatic week with all the storms and the raccoon. I'm sure they are going to be super excited to see me home this afternoon!!

On that note, I'm out of here! 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!

PS --- there is a virtual retreat this weekend, but ONLY on Saturday evening starting at 6 PM. The link will be posted on Saturday, so I don't throw the ZOOM team into a security breach tizzy!

PSS - again - if you want to take the 40 Shades of Grey class, please contact the store (Out of Hand) so they can get the patterns ordered. I will be touching base with them early next week to see where we stand on the patterns so we can determine a number to purchase. 

Networking rules!!!

Here's the part about coming to a conference that is hard for me. I am a small peon in the cog of this company - I'm not even a full-time employee - just a freelance educator, but I get so excited that I WANT to be part of the bigger picture. But then I tell myself - remember, this is one of the exciting parts that I get to participate in. The daily stuff is all slog and not so fun! I must remember that, but in the meantime, I'm going to have fun!

Not only fun, but I bet they'll be happy when I go home because I've had a chance to talk to marketing people, R&D (my favorite group), and many others from other groups, and, well, I was quite happy to share my ideas!!! I have a funny story to share with you in a minute. I would like to thank Dad and grandpa (his dad) for our gift of the gab. They have zero qualms about chatting up a stranger, and I am happy to report that I am as well. I don't just talk small talk -- nope - once I find out who they are, I am in the midst of chatting about what is of interest to both them and myself. I do have a bit of homework to do when I get home to follow up on one of my conversations. 

People tend to flock to people they know, and I don't. If you had told me this when I was in my 20s, I wouldn't have believed you. I was the shyest person around. Painfully shy! I don't know what happened, but something happened along the way. 

Case in point, at lunchtime, I arrived in the lunchroom with someone I know. We just happened to meet in the hall. There was a table with three of our group members sitting at it, so my colleague sat with them - I told her to take the seat, and I would find another one. And I sat with one of the top people! I asked first, and he said yes. So then we had a grand old conversation, and another person came along and joined in. Yep --- I now have homework! 

I'm happy to do the homework because if you're not happy and do nothing about it, then that's not good. If I'm not happy and I share that with someone and they don't do anything about it, well, at least I tried! Fingers crossed! 

But these events are all about networking, and if you just stick to the people you know, your world will never expand. NEVER!!! So I make sure that people know who I am, but I never talk about ME. Nope - I ask about them, and what they do and how their jobs work, and then I offer my thoughts. But it's never about ME. I  am boring - well, I guess that's not true, but I'm not going to learn a single thing if I go on about me. 

Before I get into what happened in the day, I have to say that I'm kind of glad that I don't have my own room. When we finally got back into the room last night, we had a chance to chat, and we debriefed each other and got lots of stuff (all good, of course!) off our chests. No one needs to know the details, but it was good for both of us!!! We must have talked for an hour before I was so exhausted I may have fallen asleep while we were talking! 

And there was a lot of lightning last night, then a couple of huge claps of thunder, and finally some heavy rain. In the dark on the 26th floor, it's hard to tell how much rain, but it seemed heavy. 

So this was the view from my seat at the conference. When it was time to enter the room, there were empty seats at the front. Why do people not like the front? I didn't need to wear my glasses, and there was no one to obstruct my view! I had no idea where my colleagues were, so I sat alone! As much as I love them, I don't need to hang out with them!!!!

My view from the front row!

There were the usual updates from all the important people on the direction we are heading. And the name of this conference is the Global Sewing Summit. I believe at least 20 countries were represented, and that's all I'm going to say. It is quite fun to see so many people from all over. I had the chance to chat with several of them, and we had a grand chat about the city of Mérida in Mexico, where I vacationed back in 1980!!! That was NOT about me, but about them! 

We got a sneak peek of some new products coming up and some new technology that will be introduced at some point. I'm not going to be the one to spill the beans - you'll have to wait until it comes from the mouths of someone who has all the details. 

I ran into some people I know from their videos. This is Sara from SewingMastery.com. She is the one we direct people to when they buy a new machine. She does a lot of videos and is very good at it!!! We had a great chat!

Me and Sara

This was me at my station in the afternoon. There is a room set up that is called the Grand Experience where you can visit with the staff, and we have all the machines on display from all three brands - Singer, Husqvarna Viking and PFAFF. I was chosen to demo the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC 3, which has been out for a while. I will say that being given the top-of-the-line to demo was a coup! I'm not sure how I got that assignment, but I was a very happy camper!!!

Me with the Husqvarna Viking Designer Epic 3

I had madly made samples, and there was not a lot of room to display those samples - only the surface around the table. Thankfully, my samples were small or could be draped on the edges of the table. It worked like a charm. I was prepared to pin them to my shirt if there was no room! 

But those samples drew in a lot of people, and I got very good feedback on them and on me!! People recognized me from the Facebook Lives, and I had offers to come and teach in stores, which I am not allowed to do in the US. They said I was a nice person and very knowledgeable. THANK YOU for the compliments!!! I'm also very personable! 

Let's just say that the entire afternoon fed my ego trip, and I was flying high. So all that hard work of creating all those samples, and FINISHING them paid off, and now I have some interesting samples to show on my future travels. 

Many people took pictures of what I had created, and that is a compliment even if they never use them. 

At one point, I had two gentlemen at the station, and they were from our Asia/Pacific area. One gentleman didn't speak, so I wasn't sure if he could understand me or if he was just being quiet. The other gentleman was videoing the samples as I spoke about them. 

Then I started to talk about the Large Magnetic Hoop, which I absolutely LOVE. The silent person quickly spoke up that he was on the R&D team for that product! OH MY GOD!!!! We then had a great chat about all things metal and magnetic hoops, and we had another person from R&D come join us. Needless to say, I was in my glory!!!!! It was a lot of fun but super exciting. The lesson here is, be careful what you say, as you never know who is listening!! 

Remember the table runner that I made on the green linen?

My linen table runner

It hung on the edge of the table, and I had lots of people stop by and ask about it. What was funny was that people recognized the design even though it was NOT the same color as the original, which was under the table, so as we closed up last night, I took it out and took a picture of it. Sorry -- it looks a bit like a cross, but the other third is folded underneath. 

The original tablecloth

What shocked me is that this is just an ordinary tablecloth that everyone has in their house, and they embroidered on it. NO WAY!!!!! I honestly thought this was a piece of linen when I first saw the pictures, but it is not. It's something like damask? I don't know if that's right, but it has a barely visible weave in it with flowers on it. You know what I mean - those tablecloths that every house had and were used for special occasions, like Christmas and Easter. 

Do you know what some people said about my tablecloth? They said, thanks for making it a different colorway because we've already seen the blue and white! YES YES YES --- they get it!!! Why replicate the original when there's a chance to show people that you don't need to make it the same color or shape, or use the designs in the exact same way? Notice how the center motif is on point in the original, and it's straight on mine? Make it different - show the versatility of those designs!!!!!

I also learned that our team goes to the - guess where? The THRIFT SHOP to buy stuff to embroider!!!!

Having the experts here to ask questions - well, I am beyond myself with excitement! Today, I'll be in a classroom helping the dealers learn the new PFAFF creative icon 3. 

Speaking of learning, I had an issue with one of my designs at home, but I was able to fudge it so no one knows. But I asked one of the design team about it, and I got a couple of good tips. I may just forgo the small table runner and cut it up to make another experiment. I will say that I think my backs look better than theirs!!!! But that's just me. 

So much shiny and new!!! I'll just wait for all the new to become available. And I NEED to up my game on the decorated clothing. I don't have much, and there is so much that can be done. I need to fix that! I may even need to resort to making and wearing a skirt! GASP!!!!!

The only thing negative is the snacks. This was the morning snack, and since I'm trying NOT to eat this stuff, I passed. YES -- me - I passed this huge tray of cookies without taking one. I did grab a tiny bar and had a nut cluster thing in the afternoon because there was nothing else on the trays. I had forgotten that I had stolen a banana at breakfast. I must remember to get another one today, as I just ate the one from yesterday. 

The snack tray

And of course, while I'm away, the emails have been pouring in with things that have to be addressed. OK, _ pouring in is exaggerating, but I have some catching up to do when I get home, including testing a quilting pattern, and I'm super excited to do that! 

I wore my snapless shirt last night, but I didn't get any pictures, and I'll finish it when I get home. 

I think I will have a bit more downtime today, so that is good, and I need to get my part of the room tidied up. There are clothes and samples all over the place. The desk where my computer is? It's a disaster, as all my crap is spread out. This is so not typical for me. I am neat and tidy!!! I'll have a go at putting at least the samples back in the suitcase, as well as any clothes that I will no longer need. 

There was no more drama at home, although poor Lexi, who was now upstairs because she was scared of the storm, did not want to go down, so DH had to put her leash on and "force" the poor thing to go down. 

Today is the final day, and we head out tomorrow, so that will be good, as there is lots to do when I get back. But no deadlines -- well, there is a deadline - I do have a couple of samples to do. But technically, I don't have to do them. I will have to do them for myself, but not immediately. 

I am going to host a Virtual Retreat this weekend. But it will ONLY be on Saturday at 6 PM. I have to volunteer to wrap jigsaw puzzles on Sunday, so I won't be around until later in the day, and I'll probably be exhausted. 

So if you want to catch up on all the scoop from the conference, be sure to be on the call on Saturday night. I'll post a link later. 

And a reminder - if anyone is interested in the 40 Shades of Grey, you need to let me or the store (Out of Hand) know. I will send a reminder email to some of my groups when I get home. If there are no sign-ups, there is no class. We just need to know approximately how many patterns to buy since they come from Australia. 

Send me an email if you are interested at elainetheriault@gmail.com, and I'll respond later this week. 

And on that note, I'd better get myself somewhat organized for today. It's still very early here, and I may get my act together and take a walk, although breakfast isn't that far away and we start at 8 AM. 

Have a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Discombulated

While I had a great sleep, the day did not start well. Remember how I said that everything has a home - at least in Studio B? Well, it's the same when I travel; I am NOT one to unpack my suitcases in the hotel room. I leave everything in the suitcase, and there is zero danger of me leaving something in the drawers. It's one less thing to check. 

So yesterday, when I was looking for my conference T-shirts and then my yoga pants, they were not to be found. I thought the pants had been left in one of my colleagues' rooms, as that is where we stored our suitcases when we first arrived, and I had changed into my shorts. But leaving a pair of pants in a room that is not mine is not like me. 

The shirts - I thought I might have left them in the classroom, but after checking and asking a few people, they were not to be found. Drat!!!! What a mess. My boss even asked me if something was going on in my personal life because I am NOT like this at all. By the way - everything is fine at home - well, wait for that drama at the end of the blog. 

I came upstairs around lunchtime, and it was at that moment that I remembered that I had unpacked the clothes and put some of them in the damn drawer!!!! And yes -- there were my yoga pants and my two conference shirts. Sheesh --- you would think I would remember doing that! It's not that I forgot - I was chatting with Margaret as I did it, so I can blame her for distracting my brain! 

All is good, and I'm together!

We could wear whatever we wanted yesterday, but I decided to wear one of the Western shirts I had borrowed from a friend. Thanks, Beth!!!! And I decided to wear the cowboy boots I also borrowed from her. You can't really see in this photo - I meant to get someone to take a picture, but I forgot! I have to say that my brain may have been scattered, but I looked pretty westernish in my outfit!!! I think if you click on the picture, it will open up larger. 

Me in my western gear!

I thought the boots would be a killer, but they were actually quite comfortable, although we were not standing around all day. As for getting them off, that was easy. I think I may just wear them again today!! Looks a bit more classy than the shoes I brought. I can't wear dress shoes anymore, or I don't wear them at these events. I have a pair of running/trail shoes that look decent, and I wear those. Not my HOKAS, which are huge. 

It was great to see everyone and meet some new educators. I sure wish we had more opportunities throughout the year to get together, or at least to chat online. There is so much inspiration, talent, creativity, and knowledge among us, and it would be fun to share it. I think we are 21 educators here. 

After breakfast, we sat down in front of the new PFAFF creative icon 3. Oh my -- I will NOT share any of the details at this point - I want it to be a surprise to anyone coming to this event, not that any of them would be reading my blog, but it's not my place to share those details. But wow!!!! There are some very cool features on top of what already existed, and, well, it's going to be loads of fun to learn the ins and outs of that machine in greater depth. 

There are actually quite a few new things from both a physical and a software standpoint. 

What is nice is that two of the top executives from North America sat in the room, listened to our feedback, and took notes. And how can you have 21 educators in a room and not have feedback!! We are the ones that put those machines to the test to see what it can and cannot do. Let's say that our boss has her hands full with her crew!!! The Canadians are quite vocal, and hey -- when I have an ear, I'm going to take advantage of it and explain why we want or don't want certain things. 

We had lunch in small groups, which was good because we got to chat with other educators in a less formal environment, and I had mentioned something about creating edge-to-edge designs in our embroidery software. Because of some comments I made in class, I had a private lesson with our top guru in the afternoon. I was in my glory because this woman can do anything with our software. I have a few new tricks to practice when I get home, and it's all about digitizing, which is my weak point! 

Personally designed and drawn edge-to-edge digital designs - here I come!!!! Don't hold your breath—it's going to be baby steps. The designs will be simple to start, but I'll get there! 

Then it was time for dinner, as everyone wanted an early one. I convinced my small group to go back to The Diner. Hey -- it was a great place, good options and close. This is a multi-story restaurant covering the corner of a building on six floors. I believe the kitchens are on several floors, and the restaurant is on floors 1, 4, and 6. 

This photo was taken from the 6th floor, which is a bar. We just went up to see the view. Our hotel is the large building in the background on the left - the one that you can see in full, not the ones on the immediate left. There is this tiny little corner balcony at the top! 

The view from The Diner

Our hotel room is on the 26th floor, which reminds me of the time I was in Atlanta many, many years ago. There was a storm, and the wind was blowing so bad, the windows were vibrating. I remember thinking that perhaps I should be in the lobby. With all that expanse of windows, if the windows blew out, so would I!!!! Thankfully everything was fine, but I don't think I got a lot of sleep that night. 

Despite seeing some storm clouds from our room the other night, we've just had hot weather. 

Stormy skies the other night

I had someone in our small group take a picture of me in the elevator at The Diner, so you'll know it exists. 

The elevator in The Diner

As we waited for several to use the washroom before leaving, I checked out the desserts. BUT I didn't have any. I'm just guzzling my water and trying to eat healthy. 

No room for dessert!

It was still early, so we walked past the SVP head office. It's a neat building not far from the hotel. Apparently it used to be a wild nightclub or something like that. Interestingly, it has SINGER on the outside, but no other brand. Very discreet. The last time I was here, the offices were in a suburb of Nashville. 

SVP Head Office in Nashville

Our little group of four split up: two people went to see the Broadway area, and the other two, including me, went back to the hotel. I got a chance to chat with Elizabeth, who is new to the educator job, but not new to the company. So we had a grand chat, and I'll share what she did to embellish her T-shirt. It's stinking cute. 

How cool is this? 

That is such a cool idea to embellish an ordinary T-shirt!!! 

Then we took a walk around the conference floor after discovering a cool way to get there from the front door. Instead of taking the elevator, which can be a long wait, you take the escalator from the lobby and VOILA - the conference floor is right there! There is signage everywhere! The conference is called the Global Sewing Summit - the first of its kind for us. 

Signage on the escalator

We stopped and chatted with a few people (who were not busy setting up), and I love chatting with the person responsible for designing the stitches on the machines. She is so darn creative, and wait until you see what she has done this time. It is unbelievable, and I can't wait to experiment with this new stitch. I would LOVE to visit our engineering team in Sweden. Most of them are here, but wouldn't it be fun to visit the Swedish office? I'd offer to go and intern for free!!!! 

Here's a neat diagram of Singer's history. 

A timeline of Singer!

They still had a bit of setup to do when we left, and since that was NOT our job, we were on our way to our rooms. 

During the day, I received some very disturbing news from home. The two adults there were not very forthcoming in their descriptions, so it took a long time to get all the details. 

Apparently, a raccoon tried to get into the house through the back door, and of course, you know Murphy and Lexi - they hate raccoons. So there was quite a ruckus, and they would NEVER listen and come in on their own. I can't imagine what kind of a job it was to get both of them in the house. They would have been frantic to get the raccoon. 

All I know is that Murphy, when DH finally got her into the house, was so upset that she threw up twice, and she never does that. Lexi was also quite agitated and had cornered the raccoon by the house, practically nose to nose with the darn thing, before they were able to grab her and bring her into the house. It sounds like quite a mess. 

The raccoon must have been sick because they never come into the backyard, and this was the middle of the day, when they are usually sleeping. So they called animal services, but the raccoon had left by then. The poor girls. 

As if that wasn't enough, I got pictures from DH just now. Apparently there is a massive storm at home, and he went upstairs to shut the windows. Lexi was so upset that she followed him up the stairs. This is a dog that will NOT do the stairs EVER!!!!! Oh my --- I'm afraid to hear what else could possibly happen while I'm away. 

I think the girls are telling me something - "MOM - we don't want you to leave again! We miss you too much!"

I am so mixed up in my days as we left on Sunday and did some work on Sunday, and for some reason, that has thrown me off. But all is good!!! 

Let's hope that all the excitement is over! I don't want any more excitement, here or at home. I know where all my clothes are; I know where all my samples are, although I'm afraid to take them out of the room in case I lose them! But all will be good. I've got my sh*t together now, or at least I hope I do. 

A note from anyone wishing to sign up for the Forty Shades of Grey quilt --- the store I recommended (Out of Hand in Calgary) purchasing the pattern from is out of stock. They are willing to order more, but they need to know the numbers NOW to get it here on time. So please, please, please—if you are going to order this pattern, let me know—send me an email (elainetheriault@gmail.com), or, even better, contact the store. There is a phone number and email address in that link. 

40 Shades of Grey quilt

If you know someone who wants to take the class and is away or doesn't read my blog, please let them know. I don't want the store to order a bunch of patterns that don't sell. So PLEASE let the store know that you want a pattern. Tell them you are taking a class with me, which helps with the order. 

Pass that class information to anyone who might be interested. 

We start at 8 AM, so with that early start and having to get the blog together, there isn't time for a morning walk! I think it will be a low count on steps day, as we have dinner tonight, so not much time between the end of the day and dinner. 

So let's hope that today - at least the rest of it will be non-traumatic. DH is at home with two very scared girls upstairs, and it's going to be a challenge getting Lexi down, as I doubt she will go on her own. Murphy has her own issues that I haven't shared, but when I'm back, I'll share more details. She's fine but is slowing down, which has caused some issues with stairs. 

And on that note, I'm out of here!!! And praying for a trauma-free day both here and at home! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Quick wits and creative thinking saved the day!!!!

Yes -- someone mentioned that I took the time to clean up as I went and that Studio B will be waiting for me when I get home. Well, it would be waiting for me under any circumstances, but it will be waiting for me with open arms! I don't know why I took the time to put things away, or found a corner of the table to set aside the things that needed to be put away, and then I did it before I left, except for a few things. 

That didn't take that long, and since everything has a home, it really wasn't a big deal to put things away. It makes it so much easier to work. And I find it very therapeutic and satisfying to tidy up. So while I'm going to enjoy my time here, I can hardly wait to get home and get back to work. I really enjoyed those last couple of weeks, although lots of other things got set aside. The pace will be a bit more relaxed, and I NEED to empty at least one table of unfinished things before the end of the summer! 

For the most part, my travel days are pretty boring. However, yesterday, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being very dramatic, it was about a 5. Let's just say it could easily have become a ten, except for some quick action! 

DH asked me if I wanted him to drive me to the airport. Hey -- if you are willing to get up early and get me there early, then I'm OK with that. I had a few last-minute things to switch out or throw in the suitcase, and then we were off. 

I haven't flown to the US in a long time, which isn't a big deal - it's just remembering how the airport works in that area. I got my tag for my luggage and put it on and then tried to figure out what was happening in the bag drop area. It was a zoo. Then I realized that there was no single line - it was just small lines in front of each of the drop-off conveyor belts. That was a disaster, as the machines weren't scanning properly and sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't. 

People were getting very frustrated and trying multiple times; eventually, it would work, but not always. I was one of the lucky ones. I only had to try twice, and my luggage was accepted. However, the people behind me were getting impatient, and there was no need for that. Just patiently wait your turn, because the more you grumble, the less likely it is to work!

Then I got in the wrong line to get through security. I had to backtrack out and get in the NEXUS line, but that's OK. It was easy to fix. While this process was easy, there were lines at security since only one lane was working. NEXUS was easy, except I ended up in the wrong maze (again!) and had to backtrack. There was no lineup; I just went down the incorrect aisle. 

I had breakfast in a restaurant. Something I don't usually get to do at the airport, but I had left myself lots of time just in case. 

Then I got to the gate. As I was approaching the gate, I spotted this flight attendant, and I had to take a picture. OH - I didn't forward it to myself. From the back, she looked like Barbie. Her waist compared to her hips was so out of proportion. It just didn't look natural, nor did it look comfortable, although her belt wasn't really cutting into her skin. It was just weird. Turns out she was the flight attendant for my flight! 

Margaret joined me at the gate, as we were both on the same flight. The good news of the day is that I got upgraded. I know - I wouldn't usually use my points for a two-hour flight, but I keep missing out on the upgrades on other flights, and so many points were lost at the end of the year, so I take them when I can!!!!

This is the view of my city from the airport. Yep -- I live quite close to the airport, but not close enough or in the area that is directly affected by the noise. Almost all of those highrises are condos or apartments. They are NOT office buildings. It's such a weird city - I believe Mississauga is the seventh largest city in Canada, yet it doesn't have a radio station, a newspaper, or TV. All of that entertainment/communciaton comes from Toronto. We are a suburb of Toronto. It's weird. 

Mississauga skyline from the runway

And then we arrived in Nashville, Tennessee!!! This is my third time here. 

Welcome to Nashville!!!

We decided to take a cab to the hotel rather than Uber. That almost became a terrible mistake. We arrived at the hotel, and I paid the driver with my credit card. We got our luggage and went into the hotel. Margaret was in the process of checking in when I spotted this painting on the wall in the lobby, went to take a picture, and realized I didn't have my phone!!!!! Margaret quickly said the cab was still sitting at the curb, and he was just about to drive away when I ran outside madly flapping my arms to get his attention.  

YES -- when I went to pay him, my phone fell to the floor, and I didn't realize it. Thank god he was still there, and Margaret spun me into action, or it would have been an unpleasant day trying to track that cab driver down. Thank god I like to take a lot of pictures! 

Anyway, since we are in Nashville, there is music-themed art everywhere!!! 

The art in the lobby

The next issue was my hotel room. It appears that I didn't have a reservation. WHAT????? How could that be? Well, I realized after that we were EACH supposed to book our rooms, not just book ourselves into the conference. OH -- I totally missed that part of the email. We have some protocols for other events and don't require us to book our rooms. I think I was busy with the wedding when that email came in, and I totally misread it. Yep - that email came in on June 3, and I totally missed the big BOOK YOUR ROOM button!!!!

OK -- so now what? The hotel still had rooms, but not at the discounted rate. And there is a big price difference. I was happy to pay the difference since it was my fault. We happened to run into our great leader at the time, and she suggested that Margaret and I share a room since the suites are actually very large. I asked, and Margaret said that worked for her - we have roomed together before. So another HUGE thanks to Margaret for saving me some money. 

I am now totally indebted to her this week!!!! I will say that I'm a bit happy about that as I find it totally wasteful that each person has their own room, although I get that people don't like sharing. But seriously --- there are two huge beds, and the bathroom, and then this whole living room space, and there's a door to the bedroom. It works for us, and I'm set up in the living room so I can write the blog without disturbing Margaret!! 

So while that wasn't a total disaster as there were rooms here, it would have cost me a lot of money for that mistake on my part! BUT all is OK and the rest of the day went just fine. Lesson learned -- check all the details of the email for upcoming conferences. 

I walked around a bit in the morning. We met up with others in our group, but they were going shopping. Seriously? I don't need to go to a mall to shop. So I struck off on my own. Shopping is the most boring thing in the entire world, unless you need something, which I do not. 

And it was super hot outside - 31 feeling like 39!!! 

I did some Geocaching and Adventure Lab stuff - of course I did! I spotted this Music City Walk of Fame across the street from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. 

Music City Walk of Fame

And there were a lot of very familiar names along the walk. It was quite fun to read all the names. By the way, we are staying right downtown near the Music City Center, which is where QuiltCon was held in 2019, and a group of eight of us shared an Airbnb. 

Johnny Cash

I spotted a lady wearing this purse and had to stop to ask her where she got it. It's adorable, although I probably would never use it. They were from Pennsylvania, and I think they had bought it at the airport on a previous trip. They did not buy it here. And she had badges on her strap. 

Cute purse for using while in Nashville

I was at "our" restaurant back home a couple of weeks ago when a young lady walked in and sat down near us. She was wearing this gorgeous yet simple pink jacket, and the cut and color looked absolutely amazing on her. I stopped on our way out and complimented her on the jacket. People, even strangers, are extremely flattered and happy when you do that. It's something simple, but it can make someone's day!!! If you see something you really like, don't be shy about stopping them to ask questions about it or give them a compliment. It puts a smile on people's faces!!!!

As I was walking, I spotted this. Hey—if I can't eat donuts while I'm away, why not pancakes? Apparently this is a very famous pancake house, called Pancake Pantry. 

Pancake Pantry

I don't remember the time of day when I passed, but both times, the lineup was insane!!!! I am NOT waiting in a line in the heat to eat pancakes! And our breakfast is included in the room fee (oops - let's not say that too loudly), so I'll eat here. BUT - just for the fun of it, I could run down one morning - it opens at 6 AM. How many tourists could be out at 6 AM? 

The lines were long at the Pancake Pantry.

There is a large old bridge that was converted into a pedestrian bridge, so I decided to walk across it. It's called the John Seiganthaler Pedestrian Bridge and was built in 1909!!!! 

Sign on the pedestrian bridge.

And of course, there was a geocache on the bridge, so I had to get that. I had to use the hint, which is probably the only way I would have found it. There is a LOT of metal on that bridge, and a small magnetic box can be attached to the railings anywhere! 

The geocache

This is the view from the bridge. 

The view from the bridge

I decided to stop for lunch and went to The Diner, which was just down the street from the pancake house. By this time, the sweat was pouring off my face as it was hot outside, and it was the perfect time to stop. I don't know what those fries were spiced with, but they were the best fries I've ever eaten. And everywhere you go, they serve pickles. Good dill pickles!!!! 

So we have a thing about fries at home. I don't eat them, but they came with my sandwich, although I could have substituted them for a salad or green beans if memory serves me correctly. Because they were so good, I had to ask if they were air-fried or fried in oil. They were fried in oil! If they had been air-fried, I might have had to think twice about the air-fryer. But I don't think I'm ever going to change my mind about the need for one at our house. 

The diner is a multi-level restaurant, and if you click on the link above, you can see an aerial view of the area, including its proximity to the bridge. The owner loves all things diner-related, and there were many vintage pictures on the wall that I forgot to photograph before I left. WAIT -- that photo on The Diner's page is a 360-degree photo - just let it play, and it's quite cool to see downtown Nashville. 

I would go back there again!

What other oddities did I spot? Well, if you got cowboy boots, you need to flaunt them. I spotted lots of women wearing cowboy boots with shorts and dresses. I think it would have been very hot to be wearing cowboy boots yesterday. While I had shorts with me, which I changed into, I didn't have open sandals, and my feet were hot. However, we will be inside the hotel for the remainder of our time here, so there was no need to bring them. 

Cowboy boots are very popular items.

And this is a driverless car!!! To use it, you download the Waymo App, and away you go. I'm tempted to do it just for the fun, but I don't think we will have time. Look at the big honking sensors on its roof and the sides. They use an electric Jaguar I-PACE SUV. 

 

The Waymo driverless car

When I first left the others as they went shopping, I happened to walk in front of this Baptist Church, and the daily greeter tried to nab me!!! But I quickly got out of his clutches. It's a huge church, and while he was trying to be very helpful and friendly, I didn't need his help. I had my geocaching app! 

The First Baptist Church

Then I was back at the hotel to get to work. We weren't supposed to work, but what the heck else was I going to do, so I pleaded that I was bored and got put to work. 

There are boxes and boxes of the new PFAFF creative icon sitting in the hallways as they were unpacked and tested. We didn't get a chance to explore the new software features, but we will have that opportunity later today. 

Lots of new sewing and embroidery machines!!!

This conference is all about all new things for Singer and Husqvarna Viking as well, but the icon 3 is the big draw. Today is all about training and education for the staff, and tomorrow is the big day when we see dealers and their staff. 

Then it was back to the room, and I decided I had time to rip out those stitches that I didn't like. I got all three designs ripped out, and I hope to find a few minutes and the proper hoop to restitch them later today. Actually, I only had to remove the stems from the flowers - the actual flowers were fine. 

Ripping out stitches in the hotel room

Then we had some snacks in the hotel dining area, but snacks are not enough for me. I was trying to be very good, so I drank plenty of water at restaurants and tried to eat healthy. I was on my own for dinner and struck out to eat in a place right beside The Diner. The Pancake Pantry is not open in the evening. 

This was quite the place (Champy's) with all the lights, and the food was decent, but dressing on the side, please!!! Thankfully, I asked for that because they brought me two small tubs of dressing. 

Dinner at Champy's

I spotted this on the menu, but I didn't have any!!!!

Sweet stuff at Champy's

And then back to the hotel. OH MY GOD -- the one thing I forgot, and I keep forgetting, is my darn toothbrush. Seriously? I need a dedicated travel bag of toiletries, as I've done this so many times that I don't know why it doesn't register with me. So I had to put my shoes on, and I was getting tired at this point, but I went downstairs, where I got two tubes of toothpaste - I have some in my luggage, but couldn't find it and my very flimsy but serviceable toothbrush. 

Well, it's time to get this edited. Be sure to look back on the post with my upcoming class information. I had said to not send me emails before August 1, but I see some people sent me emails yesterday. So guess what -- send me the emails, and I'll just sort them here, and that is OK. I see that Out of Hand is sold out of the pattern, but if someone calls them, they can order more! I'll send them an email. Be sure to include the class name in the subject line, as it makes it much easier for me to sort them when creating distribution lists. 

I just emailed Out of Hand about the 40 Shades of Grey pattern. If you contact them ASAP, they can place an order from Australia or wherever they buy them, which will be more efficient. If you let them know you want a pattern, they can place an order and get one for you. 

So yesterday was an interesting travel day, and it could have been a total disaster. But thankfully, it all worked out. No one yelled, no one panicked, and all is good!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Anything is possible if you believe in yourself!

OMG—I am stunned, and I'm exhausted. But I managed to finish everything I planned on getting done! If I had had that extra day, I might have finished the two samples I knew I had run out of time for! 

I'm thrilled to death. Did it help that I started listening to a hilarious detective story? I don't know, but whenever I was doing something mindless, I listened to the book, and it helped to keep me on track. 

Let me share the samples that are done. 

You already saw this sample - it's the tablet case, but I had to saturate the front flap to get rid of the water-soluble stabilizer. That resulted in some creative drying, but not before I used a towel to absorb most of the moisture. I tidied up the inside, and it is stitched back together. 

Drying the table case

I must admit that it took me a bit to get started this morning. I just saw everything that had to be done today as a daunting task, and I really didn't feel like getting anything done. But then I opened up my tea bag and looked at the quote. 

My motivator for the day!

That was my incentive to get myself together, get downstairs, and get to work! 

The first thing I had to do was to remove all the excess water-soluble stabilizer from the linen table runner. 

Removing the excess stabilizer from the table runner

That was a very time-consuming job as I didn't want to cut the linen. And I was able to remove most of the errant stitching I had done, and there was no need to fix it after those stitches were removed. 

Then I threw this and the napkin (thanks Elle and Torry) into the washer to get rid of the excess stabilizer. 

Then I ironed the napkin again, and it looks stunning. That darn thing just doesn't want to photograph well. 

The napkin

Here's a close-up of one of the flowers. I'm very happy with this. 

A close-up of the napkin

Next up was to work on the zippered pouch. It went together like a hot knife through butter, and I'm very happy with the results. That flower (the same as on the tablet case) is on both sides. 

My zippered pouch

Here's the inside of it. 

The inside of the zippered pouch

I like to make a box corner on the bottom of my pouches, but I was working with a smaller piece of denim, and there wasn't really extra space. So I decided to round the bottom corners, which gives a much nicer look than square corners on a flat pouch. 

Guess what I used to round the corners? My new corner tool. It worked like a charm, and I was able to use my rotary cutter on it. I am a VERY HAPPY customer. I love it!!!! I will definitely be using this a lot!

Rounding the corners with the corner ruler

OH - -I also got the cuffs on the shirt, and it got hemmed. But when I went to put the pearl snaps on it, there was no tool in the snap boxes. That was a separate tool. So back to the fabric store, and they didn't have any!! I looked at other tools for grommets, eyelets, and other fasteners, but none looked like the one I needed. There is no time to get frustrated - as I stood chatting with the salesperson, my mind was already moving ahead. I will wear the shirt as a jacket, and I have a great belt to wear with it! No problem. Let's just move on. 

Then it was time to tackle that linen table runner. I must say that I have been avoiding working on it, and I don't know why. The fear of the unknown? How does one hem a table runner nicely? Well, I sort of had an idea, and so I just went for it. And here is the table runner. It's about 25" wide, so about 50- 60 inches long.

The linen table runner

While it has a few peculiarities, I'm very happy with it overall. I love working with that linen, and I have ideas for something else. That was supposed to be the linen for a wedding outfit, which didn't happen. But now I can use it for something else, and it's beautiful to work with. But this runner does need to be washed again. The water-soluble stabilizer that remains is keeping it nice and stiff, but not too stiff. 

The hem turned out nice - I hemmed it towards the back and mitered the corners - of course I did. That is the mark of a quality table linen. 

I had some experimenting to do with the embroidery machine, and I got it done and figured it out. This was the only area where I wasn't happy with my initial results. Well, when I did things a bit differently, it came out beautiful, but I learned a thing about using different types of fabric for the base. Let's just say that denim with spandex is not easy to use! I must make myself some notes on that technique when I'm back home. 

By this time, it was about 7 PM, and there remained ONE last item to be quilted and bound. Without so much as a second's hesitation, I set up the PFAFF icon 2 for free-motion quilting. The piece isn't that big, so it didn't take that long, and the binding was already made, although I had to add one more strip. And VOILA - the last piece is completed!

My wall hanging is complete!

As for unfinished stuff? I prepped the one item that I want to quilt, and if I get a chance, I'll do it at the show. If not, it's ready to do when I get home. There is one small wall hanging that I need to embellish further, and my success with my experimenting tonight means that I have some ripping to do and then I can redo that part on my shirt. WAIT - that's a different shirt than the one I made. This stitching was on a ready-made shirt. Oh shoot -- I need to throw that thread in my bag in case I get a chance to do it at the show. I will NOT have time to do anything - I know that, but just in case. 

The suitcase is packed even with my clothes. The only thing missing are the toiletries, and it all fits in one suitcase, which doesn't weigh that much. yeah!!!!! 

I've written two blog posts - the one with the classes is below this one, so be sure to go there and check it out. 

And as I left Studio B tonight, look at this. 

The cutting table is clear!

The cutting table is bare!!!!! Now if I can only figure out how to keep it that way! 

And here are the work tables. 

The machines are all put to bed for five days.

The stuff on the left is what I have to put away when I get back. I was too exhausted to make that happen tonight. Yes -- I am writing the blog the night before because I won't have time in the morning. 

We had several tornado warnings today, and it appears that one of them occurred about 3 KM from my house! WAIT --- when I look at the images again, someone says it's in Milton, which is about 10 KM away. Let's say that it was relatively close. The dogs were freaking out as the alarms went off on the TV and on our phones. 

But this was the sky when I went out later, and we got a lot of torrential downpour. 

The stormy sky

And can you tell me what Lexi is up to? Her hind legs are BLACK. I suspect she is digging under the shed and then she gets covered in dirt. She seems to like it! 

MOM - I'm a dog - I get dirty!

Well, on that note, I'm out of here. I have an early-morning flight, and I should be on a good schedule for the rest of the week to post the blog. I can share with you all the fun stuff that is happening where I am headed. I don't think I mentioned where I am going. If I did, then it's not a surprise; if I didn't, then it will be a surprise!

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!!



PS --- Had trouble falling asleep, so I got up and worked on the puzzle. I was either too exhausted or too excited. Here's what got done.