CreativFestival Day Three

OK - so this CreativFestival was an anomaly! Usually, the third day is the slowest, yet we had a steady stream of people right up until the show closed! How did that happen??

It was so nice to reconnect with some folks that I haven't seen in a while and I got to meet some blog followers that I've never met before. I wish I could name everyone by name, but then I would miss someone. Whether we had a conversation or just a quick wave - it was great to see you!!!! 

Like I said, we had a steady stream of people into the show and into our booth. I had fun chatting up the various components of machine embroidery and what price points get you what. I stayed in the PFAFF booth for the entire show. Imagine that! Last year, I was so tentative in the PFAFF booth because it was new to me. I'm still learning things, but I think I have the models down pretty well. Guess what that means? They will change them just to keep me on my toes!

I did pop over to the Husqvarna Viking booth so I could make a sample using the new Ribbon Embroidery Attachment that comes with the Designer EPIC 2.

Stitching out the octopus 

I added some ribbon seaweed. WAIT - there's going to be a lot more embellishment added to this piece.

My ribbon octopus

He has an extra piece of ribbon hanging from one of his eyes which I haven't had time to trim. It's a pretty cool attachment and there are very interesting designs. I don't have this attachment yet - I can't wait to get it.

I did the same octopus the previous day but used a green ribbon. Seriously???  Why did I use a green ribbon?? You couldn't see the darn octopus. I only had one piece of this fabric so I ripped out the octopus and used pink ribbon! Much better. I used a satin ribbon about 3/8" wide. This attachment works with organza ribbon (my favorite) and various other types. It will be fun to play with when I get it. We learned a lot over the weekend with the ribbon embroidery attachment.

There are so many NEW things coming and I hope to share them with you just because I'm excited about them and I NEED to tell someone. So watch for some cool technology updates in the next couple of months. This is NOT your grandma's sewing machine. When people asked the price of the top of the line machines, I thought some were going to faint while others were totally fine with the price.

Honestly, the day passed by very quickly. Actually, all three days passed quickly. I did pop out to get one thing - a die for my GO cutter. Sorry - that one is long gone! Then I popped out to get some thread. Oh - wait until you see what I'm going to do with this 12 weight thread from Wonderfil. I can't wait to have a wee bit of downtime or when my sample making days come. It's going to be gorgeous!!!

Tear down wasn't as bad as what you would expect. It took us two hours to pull the booths apart and get everything packed away which isn't bad considering we have all the machines, power cords, booth structure, supplies, etc. Tear down is never my favorite part, but we had a few laughs when trying to pack up some of the machines. The easiest machines to pack up became quite unruly when we tried to fit them back in the boxes. However, the humans conquered and all machines went into their respective boxes.

If you follow the blog, I'm sure you realize that I try very had to keep my attitude glass half full (never half empty). I want to do a follow-up blog about my Ten Reasons you should attend the CreativFestival post. I don't have time to go into it today- but people did come to the show after they read my blog. And they were happy they did.

I did have a brief chat with someone who was working in a vendor booth. Oh boy - this is a half-empty person to say the least. As I chatted with this person, I felt myself getting very frustrated. I tried to acknowledge her point of view and then - well I said something that I think ALL OF US NEED TO SAY. Her attitude made me think about my comments during the Mary Fons presentation the previous night.

Here's the gist of what I said. If you have a negative opinion about anything, especially if you're working an event. If you go home and tell your friends - that was a terrible event, guess what you just did? You just POISONED your friend to ever attend that event again. And the negative nellies don't just tell one friend, they tell ALL THEIR FRIENDS, who in turn tell all their friends. Guess what? The next time that event occurs - all those people will NOT attend.

I'm fed up with the negativity that I hear from people. If you have a complaint about something you're getting for free - STOP COMPLAINING. It's free. You don't like it - don't use it, make it or whatever. If you needlessly complain to me - OH BOY - we're going to have a lesson in searching for the silver lining. I'm tired of all the complaining. We have enough legitimate stuff to complain about.

Here's the other thing about complaining. If you complain, you're only poisoning other people's perception. If you look on the positive side - guess what? There's hope for the future. There's always a silver lining - sometimes we have to look a little deeper to find it, but there's ALWAYS a silver lining. For those of us who live in the silver lining world, our people are MUCH happier!

Oh boy - you didn't expect that did you? But seriously - we really need to think about what we say. I was very polite in how I phrased my words and this person didn't know how to respond. That's good - because by complaining, she's shooting herself in the foot. Instead of complaining, we need to provide constructive feedback so things can get better. Only WE (that's right YOU and I) can make changes. If we wait for the other guy to make them, it isn't going to happen!!!

PHEW!!!! 

On that note, I'm out of here. We have Sit n Sew today AND the UFO group. I ran out of Sundays to host both events separately. I think I'm the only one in both so that'll make for interesting parking on my street! I still need to get my homework finished this morning but I had to clean the tables off as well. That's done - I'm ready for the groups to arrive - I just need to get that homework finished. Yikes - I do not want to cough up $10.

Have a super day!!!! Don't forget the Brampton Quilt Show is on today.

Ciao!!!!!