Friday Get Together in Marshall--Michigan Bloggers Get Together--Need Input

I have had so much going on, on the work, sewing, and home fronts, I'm not even sure to where to start!  I'll start with my day trip to Marshall to get together with some people I've met through blogging.

First, Caroll of The Attic Window and I met up and drove together to Marshall, MI for a fun girls' day out.  We went to the Marshall House to do some shopping (FABULOUS shop!).  There, we also met up with Mary, a gal who reads Caroll's blog and who wanted to meet her.  I was a pretty good girl while shopping.

I really wanted to get this book to make the quilt on the cover.  But I don't know when I would do it, so I was content to take a picture of it to remember the book.  Maybe I'll come back to it later, when I am actually ready to start on something like that!  It looks time consuming.  I did pick up some fat quarters and little stuff.

Then, we went to lunch at Schuler's Restaurant in Marshall.  There, we met up with Linda (The Quilted Pineapple) and a friend of hers, who I like to call my friend now (!), Patti.  Here we are after having a delicious lunch (yes, I stayed on my diet and had walleye!).  Left to right, we are Linda, Mary, Patti, me, and Caroll.  It was really great fun!

When I was at Marshall House, I was looking for some purse parts for an iPad carrier I'm going to make (I'll give you the link later).  They didn't have them at Marshall House, but the gal said, "You should try Sew Unique Threads.  Have you been there?"  Well, no I hadn't even heard of it! "It's right on your way home," the gal told me.  I looked at Caroll and asked if she was game for another stop on the way home.  Thankfully, Caroll was.

Here is the shop.   A little unassuming from the front, but it sure lives up to its name, let me tell you!  This little shop is in Battle Creek, MI, and it's just a couple of minutes off of I94, if you are ever traveling through.

This is what we were greeted with when we walked in...Lots of bright, modern fabrics that were very unique.  Amy Butler, Joel Dewberry, etc.  LOVED IT!  And a whole bulletin board of those buttons made from tree branches (which I showed you I had picked up at a Battle Creek guild meeting).

To the right, more modern and bright fabric.  I noticed the little kimono pajamas from the Amy Butler baby book that had the pattern from which I made the Snuggie Wrap for my niece.  (The book is called Little Stitches for Little Ones, and I reviewed it here.)  Lots of other Amy Butler creations.  The entire store was like this.  Neat, tidy, great fabrics, and lots of wonderful samples all sewn up.  And she had a lot of purse handles and whatnot.

And right inside the door was this old sewing cabinet full of ric rac, cording for making fabric baskets, and...

Look at all these ribbons!  Really wide ones, too.  See the basket there and the one on the right?  They are full of belt fasteners.  See the belts made out of the ribbon draped over the wooden box?  Pretty neat stuff....Oh, and check out the pompom fringe....

And there was a button wall full of really awesome and unique buttons.  I took a close up photo of some, but I think my camera battery died, because it wasn't on there when I got home.  She also had Tsukineko inks, paintsticks, and all kinds of machine embroidery stuff.  Lots of great stuff for art quilting...Angelina fibers, glitter....  Lots to look at!  I really liked this shop and the gals who run it.  They were getting ready to go to a show in Lansing and were trying to pack stuff up, but they still helped us with whatever we needed and were so very friendly.  I will definitely come back to this shop for a visit.  I got on their e-mail list, too for their embroidery clubs (that could spell trouble).

After this, Caroll and I drove home.  We had been having a great conversation about an idea we have, and we want your input, especially if you are a Michigan blogger, blog reader, and/or sewer.  We are thinking of organizing a Michigan (or close by if you want to come!) blogger/sewer get together.  We think it would be fun to meet IRL (in real life) with all you wonderful people.  We're thinking of a long weekend (like come on Thursday night, stay Friday and Saturday, and head home on Sunday).  We thought it would be fun to have some speakers on topics like writing good blog content, taking better photos, using video in your blog, etc.  Also, maybe some little sewing projects, but we can't decide....maybe it should be more about blogging.  And maybe some stuff about how to start a blog or webpage for those of you who read blogs and want to come...

So, tell us what you think.  Please leave a comment about any or all of the following:

• Would you or your friends be interested in coming?
• What do you think this group should be called?
• Where should it be?  (We're thinking a central Michigan location, like Lansing.)
• When should it be?
• What kinds of topics would you like speakers to cover?
• What else are we forgetting?

Caroll and I thought we should start small in Michigan (but those of you who live in Indiana, Illinois, and so on who would want to come are certainly welcome!), but I could see this being popular and going bigger over time.  We'll worry about that later.  Tell us what you think of our idea.

Okay, tomorrow I'll show you Friday Night Sew In stuff, then we'll get back to last week's guild meeting.  Okay?

Whew!

Until next time,

Mama Pea

Comments

[Donna]

Looks like you all had a wonderful time!
I am jealous that you and Linda get to hangout together :)

[Sue]

Hey, the only person missing in that picture is me! I would love to have met up with all of you that I follow! And I love the Marshall House!

Thanks for the info on Sew Unique Threads! I'll have to check that out!

[Sue]

Oh my gosh! I totally didn't read your last paragraph! Yes, to all of it :D :D :D And Lansing is only about 50 minutes from me:)
I'll try and think of a good name for it. But this sounds like so much fun :)
I am thinking some time in the fall is nice as so many people are busy with other things in the summer. Fall is a great time to get back into the swing of quilting things full time:) But that's only my opinion.
I love applique and hand quilting. It's always nice when someone wants to speak about it :) Always willing to learn more :)
Stoked!

[sisLH]

#1-That Santa quilt looks Daunting, to see the least! #2-I CANNOT look at Linda without seeing Alexis. Those two have GOT to have a picture taken together!! #3-I want to go for lunch... #4-My name The BAG Ladies -for Bloggers Anonymous/Quilters. Topics -how I can respond to blogs. I still cannot get thru to so many that you post about. Why? When to meet -fall or spring.

[Allie]

Dang I wish I could have been there - I would love to meet you all! I love your idea about getting together, I don't think I could make it but I'd be there in spirit. I do think fall would be a good time - no snow on the roads, and folks are usually done with vacations.

[Elisa]

OOOOH! I'm in! (I'm from fabulous, fashionable Ferndale) and I've wanted to meet Carroll! I miss the Fall retreats I attended in Maine :( I like little demos - one topic I could use is "photographing for the blog". Let me know!

[Caroll D]

You've said it so well, Stephanie, I hope you don't mind I'm going to link to you and also copy a paragraph or two because you said it so much better than I can. Looks like some people are interested. I'm getting so excited about meeting everyone!

[Brooke]

So glad to see that you got out and about! Love your hairdo by the way!
Wish I lived in Michigan - oh well!

[Lynn]

Sounds like a wonderful idea! Wish I lived closer :(

[Patti]

Yep, you certainly can consider me a friend, I do you. It was great having lunch with you and all the info regarding autism(sp?), it gave me a lot to think about. So far, your comments are leaning toward a fall, spring retreat. I'm a no go at those times of year (farmer here). I'm strickly winter or summer. So you do what you have to do and if I can play I will.

[Linda]

I'm in for whenever! My schedule is always the same, busy! It's such a cool idea! Ummm, why do I look like gd giant in that photo?? Lol!

[Maggie Szafranski]

Love the shop in Battle Creek! And that sounds like an awesome idea to meet up with internet friends!

[Jeanne]

If my schedule is clear, I'd love to meet up in Lansing.