The American Embroidery Conference is an annual
gathering of machine embroidery designers and vendors of all sorts. This year’s event was held in Palm Beach
Gardens, FL. It was four days of
instruction and, for the most part, fun.
Most of my classes were with Missy Billingsley. She offers designs in everything from tea
towels to cross body bags and tablet keepers.
I find her instructions very easy to follow. I just loved her and her helpers.
Here is what I made in her classes.
Cross Body Butterfly Bag
Cute as a Button Zippered Bag
Quilty Tool Caddy
Various items including a mug rug and koozie
The conference also supports a charity, Kids in
Distress (KiDs). These are children who are
removed from abusive homes in Palm Beach and Broward counties. You can read more about them here.
The conference raffles gift baskets to raise money for
KiDs and they also challenge quilters to donate as many quilts as they can.
I did step away from the embroidery machine to
take one class on making a tumbler quilt which is to be donated to KiDs. The intention was that you got as far as you
could during the class and finish at home.
The pre-cut kit was provided.
The kit was a disappointment. The fabric had been donated and it was a mix
of all kinds…NOT quilt quality. I persevered
but it wasn’t enjoyable.
I found the conference to be a bit expensive. You pay a hefty registration fee and then pay
for each class separately. There are
mostly two classes per day. I understand
the charges but in retrospect, I don’t feel like there is much value there for
me so I won’t be attending in the future.
On a happier note, I am making progress on my
Building Blocks and learning a lot.
Block 2 is finished. The lesson here was reading charts.
Block 3 is finished. This was a lesson on yarn over and
bobbles. I had to tie on another skein of yarn and the block is wonky. If the blocking process doesn't make it look better then this one will be a do over. I won't mind as the bobbles were
fun J
My husband and I are taking a long weekend,
traveling to Alabama and north Florida.
A friend is going to try to restore my treadle’s cabinet or maybe
replace the wood part all together. So
excited to get this baby going again. My
sewing machine guy has the machine itself serviced and says it is a gem.
I’ll share more about the machine later.
