Last week I attended a Home Inspection conference in Phoenix, AZ. My husband had to be there a day early for a leadership meeting, so I had a day myself. Rather than waste it lolling around at the hotel, I asked if anyone on the Creative Machine List might be in Phoenix, and whether they would want to plan a meet-up.
My eternal gratitude goes to Vicky Wilson, who picked me up at my hotel and drove me all around the area. We had a blast going through the little boutiques in Scottsdale, and had lunch at the Rusty Spur Saloon. After some more sight-seeing, we headed for SAS Fabrics, where we met up with Kim Redlin.
Here we are, after having spent an hour poking through the piles and bins:
And here's what I bought there:
On the left is a piece of ostrich-embossed leather, about 18" wide by a bit more than 3 feet long, for 50 cents. The three print fabrics are all lycra knits, which I love to use for my pull-over tops (like the one I'm wearing in the picture above). They were all $3.99/yard. The blue fabric is a butter-soft knit; they only had a little over a yard but it was just sooooo soft I had to have it, and for $1.99/yard I didn't feel too guilty about it. The zippers were a great bargain: they were all sold by length, and the most expensive was still under a dollar.
We enjoyed more conversation at a place Kim suggested: Rosie McCaffrey's Irish Pub. All too soon it was time to say goodbye, as I had to get ready for an evening reception.
The following day I had a few hours available in the morning, and decided to make a quick trip to the Phoenix Art Museum. One of the Creative Machine members recommended it, and I'm so glad I went! They had a small but excellent exhibit on the works of Georgio de Sant' Angelo, someone I was completely unfamiliar with. I loved the color blocking and use of knit fabrics! Once I was through with that, I chanced upon another one of their exhibit pieces: "You who are getting obliterated in the dancing swarm of fireflies." It's a long title for an amazing experience: a totally dark, mirrored room, about 15 feet to a side, with hundreds of little LED bulbs suspended from the ceiling. It's a bit unnerving to walk through, but once you get into it, you feel like you're walking through an endless starfield. The lights change color and pattern, and it's totally mesmerizing. I spent at least ten minutes in there, just awestruck.
However, that was the end of my fun time. From then on, I was engulfed by the conference. I did get a few compliments on my outfits! Here I am presenting one of my two educational sessions during the week:
It may look like there are just a few people listening, but I had about two dozen in the audience!
All in all, I had a great time at the conference. Even though I'm taking a different track, career-wise, I will always be sewing... How could I give up something I love so much?!?
My eternal gratitude goes to Vicky Wilson, who picked me up at my hotel and drove me all around the area. We had a blast going through the little boutiques in Scottsdale, and had lunch at the Rusty Spur Saloon. After some more sight-seeing, we headed for SAS Fabrics, where we met up with Kim Redlin.
Here we are, after having spent an hour poking through the piles and bins:
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| Kim, Vicky and me, and just a fraction of the SAS Fabrics Superstore. |
We enjoyed more conversation at a place Kim suggested: Rosie McCaffrey's Irish Pub. All too soon it was time to say goodbye, as I had to get ready for an evening reception.
The following day I had a few hours available in the morning, and decided to make a quick trip to the Phoenix Art Museum. One of the Creative Machine members recommended it, and I'm so glad I went! They had a small but excellent exhibit on the works of Georgio de Sant' Angelo, someone I was completely unfamiliar with. I loved the color blocking and use of knit fabrics! Once I was through with that, I chanced upon another one of their exhibit pieces: "You who are getting obliterated in the dancing swarm of fireflies." It's a long title for an amazing experience: a totally dark, mirrored room, about 15 feet to a side, with hundreds of little LED bulbs suspended from the ceiling. It's a bit unnerving to walk through, but once you get into it, you feel like you're walking through an endless starfield. The lights change color and pattern, and it's totally mesmerizing. I spent at least ten minutes in there, just awestruck.
However, that was the end of my fun time. From then on, I was engulfed by the conference. I did get a few compliments on my outfits! Here I am presenting one of my two educational sessions during the week:
All in all, I had a great time at the conference. Even though I'm taking a different track, career-wise, I will always be sewing... How could I give up something I love so much?!?
Welmoed, Your blue shirt looks great! I just bought PatternMaster Knits and am looking forward to making comfortable, great looking shirts like that one!
ReplyDeleteWhat were you doing teaching at a conference in what is a new career to you? I mean that in a loving way. ;-)
Sue, I sure wasn't talking about home inspections!! It was a session on the importance of Social Media as part of a marketing plan. I'll be expanding it to a full two-hour class for next year's conference.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a FUN time! I know the Rusty place well from my days there while visiting my mom years ago! Such wonderful people to gather you up & take you around like that! Very cool! Tks for sharing! ;-) Sigh! Wish I'd been there too! LOVE Phoenix this time of year! It's just the PERFECT temperature 24/7 for me & my health issues! Marilyn~KCM
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