Renewal at the Makerie

This week I attended part of the Makerie. I loved it.

It was just what I wanted it to be! Retreat, inspiration, renewal.

I took a Sleepover PJ sewing class with Liesl Gibson from Oliver + S. She is a delightful lady, a skilled seamstress, and an influential designer in the sewing scene in the U.S.A. I did not finish my PJ pants, but I made good progress. I think they will be done by Tuesday. (Writing it here is my motivation to complete).

I loved the Keynote Speaker, Jenny Doh. I enjoyed her speech so much that I took it from her. . . . you think I am kidding, but I am not . . . I have her paper copy. You can read it HERE, if you want

She addressed one of the problems I face, "middles". She talked about how it's exciting to have beginnings--to start new things. Middles can sometimes be hard, humbling, and challenging. She referred to cycling with a friend of hers who is a cyclist. She was ready to go, and then, in the middle, found herself trying to pedal up a very long hill. She did the best she could, but in the end had to dismount and push her bike up.

It gave me new perspective from a creative standpoint. Sometimes I try to keep up with other sewists whose strengths I see in their blogs . . . and try, and try my best. But, at times I need to dismount, and push the bike up the hill. My hill is different than theirs.

This quote from her speech is the reason I took it: "Antoine de Saint Exupéry reminds us in Wind, Sand, and Stars, mighty shades cast by mighty oaks don’t happen over night."

Back to my class . . . .
It was exciting to meet people from around the world who love Liesl Gibson's work as much as I do . . . one from Brazil, two Canadians, two midwesterners, and three from the Rocky Mountains.
It was eye-opening to watch Liesl trace a pattern
(why have I never used a straight edge to trace before?
where can I buy pattern paper?)
I used a brand new Janome--which had a few features I liked
(needle up/down
auto thread cutting) but I still love my machine.
We watched demonstrations and worked on our own projects. It's crazy how fast 9-4 goes when you are sewing. It was a very enjoyable day--made possible by my mom and husband.

I went to the Makerie with a friend from my childhood days. We didn't take the class together but met for meals and "inbetween times."

The Makerie is a great conference. It's pretty young (second year only), but is growing in popularity. It's unique in that there are many different arts represented: photography, crochet, stitching, letterpress, etc. I think it is also unique in that it is very big names with very small class sizes. I recommend it--and I recommend scheduling an extra day to enjoy some Colorado loveliness.