SEW as I was saying...

It has been awhile. Hiatus. Emotionally drained perhaps. Creatively bound.

But the bitch is BACK! And don’t you know it; I have a good story to tell.

I sew. I print. I write. I scream. I paint. I draw. And at the moment I SEW. My creative outlet changes every six months or so, when I burn out, I switch. When I hit a wall, I take up a pen, when the ink runs dry, a brush, and if I sit too long not spending time creating, I short circuit. Two years ago my energy was fried, my spark plugs acting more like flaccid, Travolta hair plugs, I was feeding myself negative thoughts and spending more time in my pajamas. Muy Esposo picked me up and bought me a plane ticket out to see a friend. That vacation rejuvenated my spark and I got back on the production train.

But I digress, this post isn’t about a meltdown, it is about a motivator. To be creative, I have found, I have to motivate with inspiration. I know this sounds cheesy, a jesus post card, a poster slogan with cats hanging from a tree: “Motivate with Inspiration,” or perhaps even a feminine hygiene product, but this is my new slogan.

I was feeling a bit stuck with my sewing and needed some Inspiration, a class or a new tool, or some great fabric. Well I got all three. The local fabric store had flyers about the “2007 Sewing & Stitchery Expo” in Puyallup, Washington. I nabbed my only other sewing friend, RED, who is quite talented, and talked her into taking the charter bus that left from said fabric store at 6:30 in the morning on an adventure to Puyallup.

At first it was only going to be a shit giggling trek, the two of us on a bus with a bunch of Blue Hairs talking thread and quilt patterns and singing hymns, but the more research I did on this EXPO the more excited I became. “Over 200+ exhibitors, 60+ seminars daily, hands on demonstrations, famous people….” Yeah. And when I began to look into the seminars, I was thrilled that they actually had some classes that would be interesting and thought provoking, and WORTH ATTENDING!

Descending from the Charter bus stairs into the crisp, cool air was our first dose of reality. It was a sea of extras from the movie Cocoon. Standing in line to buy our entrance tickets we overhear two Blues (what is what I will be calling old ladies from here on out) ranting about the lack of senior discount:

“Do they have a Senior Discount,” croaks Rose.

“No. What they should have is a Youth Discount!” replies Blanch.

“Oh yes, look around!” Rose chuckles.

The sea of Blues giggle in a golf clap kind of fashion.

Red and I roll our eyes, cough up the $10 to get in and BAM, the EXPO has begun!

After EXPO, Red and I went over our experience, breaking down the pros and cons into added or decreased enthusiasm percentages. Such as, when we first climbed down from the Charter we were at 50% enthusiasm. 50% being: Alright, we are here, it isn’t raining; the ladies are funny, so far so good. Entering the first building, percentage points began to wane… Was this place built in the 1850’s? Is every thing focused on quilting? Is there only 50 booths? No one is handing out schwag? We were now at 25%!

Red and I found a place to check our bags/coats (30%), asked for some help (35%), found out where to sign up for seminars (40%), found and entire other building that didn’t feel like a church basement due to it’s bright, airy, brand spanking new construction (50%) and signed up for the seminar we were both the most enthused to see “Couture Denim” (60%)!

The “Couture Denim” class ROCKED ASS! The presenter was hilarious, spunky, wasn’t showing you how to make mom jeans, went through the process STEP by STEP, even pointing out brand of thread and which booth you could pick it up in… We were glowing when we left, ready for the next seminar! (100%)!

“30 minute Serger Tops” however, didn’t rock ass. This seminar was held in a hot tent that smelled like burning plastic. (90%). The sea of Blues, probably over 100, looked like a gang under the light. The seminar speaker was the gang’s leader. And the only way Red and I could fight back was with High School trouble maker mentality. We giggled. Passed notes. Drew pictures. Giggled some more. Although it was fun being ass holes, not worth the time, nor the $5 fee. (75%).

Luckily the seminar went fast, and we were free to shop. And that we did. Buying cutting mats, a rotary cutter, patterns, marking chalk, tote bags, doo dads, and the greatest thing about it was how helpful everyone was (85%). When you go into a fabric store, you can get OVERWHELMED with the selection of tools and supplies. Here, people gave the answer of why this works the best with this. Why this mat is superior. Which thread. What scissors. And even though we were the only young lasses there, they didn’t treat us like punks! Even though I was wearing a ½ naked cowboy shirt!

We left tired. Most of the spending money spent. Bags full. Energy drained. And Inspired. (125%)! Will we go next year? HELL YES! Will we ride the charter bus? HELL to the NO! Will we stay the night and do two days? HELL YES. Will we attend more seminars? HELL TO THE YES! Will we seek out Couture Denim lady and force her to have drinks with us? HELL TO THE HELL YES!

Sew there you go. Geek am I, yes.