Smith Owen - Grand Rapids MI

 It has been a busy few weeks teaching. In early November Cathy and I travelled to Smith Owen in MI with the car loaded with lots of goodies for 3 days of teaching and vending.
As these were mainly embellishment classes we took along all our ribbons, chenilles, silken pearls and seagrasses as well as fun beads and trinkets.

 Also loads of hand dyed wool, velvets and a few kits and cotton packs.
As I have taught here for a few years it is always wonderful to return and spend time with many friends we have made over the years.

 I taught a two day class of my Pomegranate Table Rug from my Crimson Tweed book. Each started with our kit but many personalize their piece with different ribbon stems and stitches.

 We worked on wool whipstitch appliqué and needle turn cotton and velvet appliqué along with layering and embellishment stitches.

 It is always fun to see Wendy and my ribbons being used in projects along with how the embellishment stitches bring the pieces to life.

 I also taught a one day needle case class where the focus was circles. The best part of this class was Fiona my youngest student ever. She is 10 years old and did amazing stitching even the Bullion Knot!

 In this class I taught eight stitches along with many ways to combine the different stitches.
Many students brought quilts to share. I absolutely love seeing their work and the way they interperate my designs.

 Jean finished her Crimson Tweed quilt. Now quilted and just needs a binding.

 Lynne shared her version of Mercer Lane.

 This wonderful Magnolia was also shared.

 Susan brought her bird project from last year. It was wonderfully embellished using many stitches and different fibers.

We had a wonderful few days and look forward to returning next year.
Cathy and I returned home inspired to sew and prepare for our last teaching event for the year. A new trip to Stitch in Ontario, Canada.
Take care
Sue

Houston Quilt Market

Kelly and I spent two days at Quilt Market hunting for new items for the website and visiting with good friends. It was great to catch up with Brandon and see Westminster Fabrics new line.

Valori Wells is one of my favorite young designers and it is always good to visit with her. She has two new clothing patterns as well as a wonderful fabric line called 'Caravan' which included knits and cottons. She also won second place for her great booth.

Wendy and I released our second line of ribbons with Renaissance Ribbons. It consists of houses, dogs, birds, pumpkins and trees. Brighten up your projects with these new ribbons. For wholesale orders contact renaissanceribbons.com and for retail orders visit suespargo.com

Kelly made this wonderful pillow to showcase the line. It was a hit with many customers. I receive this photo from Sheila at Renaissance Ribbons of Kaffe admiring her work. How fun is that!

On Friday night we caught up with Jenny, Kerry, Jenny and Lucy from Australia and Saturday night we dined and had a few Margaritas with Kori, Lynn and Cathy who joined me in Italy this year. It was fun to catch up and reminisce.

Quilt market is always over the Halloween weekend and you just never know who you will meet!

We bought great organic fabrics from Birch. They were wonderful soft colors and something different for our website.

It was great to see my friend Sarah Fielke and her husband Damien from Australia. She had her own booth with her new book 'From Little Things' and her fabric line 'St Ives' from Lecien Fabrics.

We also bought great fabrics from Alexander Henry. They had a wonderfully creative booth highlighting their fun fabrics.

Sunday evening we were treated to a great Mexican meal. We had many great laughs with good friends.

Kelly and I returned home Monday inspired to create new and wonderful projects.
I have two more teaching engagements this year then I will have a little time to create.
Have fun stitching
Sue

Calgary - 4 More fun filled days of teaching

 I have had a lot of fun teaching for another 4 days here in Calgary. We played for two days making a large sewing case, stitching circles in my Circle Play class and a day of working on any of my projects.

 The gals here are great stitchers and Deirdre has an incredible selection of threads in her store so it makes for some very fun combinations of stitches and fibers.

 Many students also incorporated many of our ribbons in the backgrounds as well as for stems. I just love the way they work so well with the wool and the appliqué.

 I taught eight stitches in the Circle Play class and then we spent the afternoon combining these stitches to make some very fun combinations.

I have had a wonderful time here in Calgary. I will be returning next year in September to teach for 8 days. This will be my fifth year teaching at Out of Hand.
It is very special retuning annually as I spend time with many of the same students and I have loved to see each students creative style develop.
Right now I am spending a couple of days with Deirdre at the store playing. On Friday I will be flying to Houston for Quilt Market to meet my daughter Kelly to shop for new and exciting goodies for the website.
Take care
Sue