Here’s my report on Sewing Summit Day 2 – food, friends, fun, and fantastic classes! You can read about Day 1 here.
Friday was spent in classes – 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon after lunch. My lectures and classes were awesome as you can see from the pics below.
First up I attended an excellent lecture on getting a book published, given by literary agent Kate McKean. I learned you won’t get rich from writing quilting books, but if you are tenacious enough and willing to do the hard work, it can have an enormous impact on one’s quilting career.
I hung on her every word and jotted down a few notes that I’ll need to include when it comes time for me to start that part of my quilting journey. It can take nearly 2 years to get a book to market once a proposal is written, so I’ve got lots of homework to do! (Hmm… I wonder if Chevrons will still be popular then?)
That lecture was followed up by a fabulous seminar on getting work published in magazines, by Ellen March, editor-in-chief of several sewing magazines.
This one I was a little more comfortable with since my first published magazine pattern will be coming out soon.
Ellen reminded us of several key points – know your stuff, know your audience, and write content relevant to the magazine you are seeking to submit to. And, remember to say thank you if they decide to choose your work.
After a fabulous lunch, it was time for a bit of afternoon sewing. I took Angela Pingel’s curves class which I really enjoyed.
We sewed together a fun block which was a modern take on a drunkard’s path block. She taught us the key to sewing curves – use pins and sew half the curve at a time. For more specifics, be sure to watch Angela’s blog for her announcement about her forthcoming book on the subject!
My Curves Block – Sew Fun!
This enjoyable class was followed up by a quick and easy piecing class taught by Amy Smart on how to make basic HST’s from oversized squares. Though she told me I could probably teach the class myself, it was a an enjoyable afternoon of stress-free sewing and I still learned a few tricks!
It was inspiring to see some of the students’ layouts. Fun stuff!
Hotel flooring makes a great design space!
The evening was capped off by another fun night of open sewing and I got a jump start on my Modern Trees QAL.
I even met up with one of my customers, Katy from Canada, along with her buddy. They were working on some fun pajama pants, adding in a little bit of fabric they got from me. It was fun to make so many new friends in person!
I probably got more sewing done this weekend than I usually do in a week. My final Sewing Summit wrap up post will be tomorrow so you won’t want to miss it!
Christa Quilts 