So why am I in Chicago? So last year I took the plunge and bought a really expensive embroidery sewing machine. On the advice of my mother’s favorite sewing machine dealer (with whom she’s had a 30+ year sewing machine habit/relationship), I ordered a Bernina Artista 730 (read: a really cool, expensive, computerized sewing machine). I picked it up when I was in Maine for the holidays and played with it over New Year’s. And since then I’ve been looking longingly at it while I away a less brain-fried evening or weekend to continue to learn to use it. There were many goodies included with the machine as part of Bernina’s 75th anniversary - a big rebate on the digitizing software, special embroidery design packs, thread, stabilizer, a commemorative book and a VIP event in Chicago. That event just finished up this afternoon. It was fun!

Wednesday I left Philly for Chicago. I did end up sharing a row with a puking toddler and his mother. Poor kid. He missed me but managed hit everything in row except me and my stuff including his mom, her open purse, and the open baby bag with all the spare clothes. It was really quite a spectacular thing. We spent the first half of the flight cleaning up.

After an exciting ride from Midway to O’Hare, I got on the shuttle to the hotel where I started meeting other people going to the Bernina event and hit it off with a partner in crime. Wednesday evening the Bernina folks kicked things off with a little welcome reception and a shopping opportunity. While I was not the youngest person there, I was in the youngest 2-3. There were maybe 5 of us total under 40. Admittedly, we in the younger set are not the demographic for a high-end embroidery machine that retails for well over $6000, but we’re also not the quilting demographic, the needlepoint demographic, or any other demographic being marketed to in the sewing world. (Unless you count the kids’ stuff, but I think all the cute baby stuff is actually marketed to older people who have time to do that kind of sewing rather than younger mothers who are too busy to find time to sew.)

During the reception I was comforted to learn that many of the attendees at my table hadn’t had time to play with their machines either. The startling thing was that my table of 10 owned 23 Bernina sewing machines total. Another table of 10 had 38 total. I do own 3 sewing machines (and they’re even all in the same state as of Christmas) but they’re also 3 different brands. These folks are serious Bernina fan-girls.

So the shopping would have been much more dangerous if they’d had any embroidery designs or other products that really appealed to me as an impulse shopper. Of course, it was dangerous enough as it was - one woman did feel faint and end up on the floor in the middle of the chaos with her legs being elevated over her head. It was a small, warm space crowded with 200-ish people with an average age that probably floated somewhere in the high 50s or early 60s, it’s a miracle nothing worse happened. I did end up buying a hoop for the machine that I’d had my eye on for a while - it will make several things I want to do regularly much easier.

Wednesday night we had a blast in the bar. There was much entertainment to be had. Hotel bars can be very sad places but they can also be very amusing. The bar in this hotel has proven to be over the amusing sort. The staff is wonderful, the bartender is a prickly sweetheart, and the other patrons were entertaining.

Thursday we had 4 hands-on exercises with embroidery machines that we did in groups of 4. While it was a bummer that we didn’t each get our own machines, we did get a CD of all the mini-projects and designs so we could do them on our own… which will take me about a quarter of the time (or less) than it took the class. Pace was a problem, honestly, but it was a fun group so we had a good time. Machine appliqué really is amazingly simple! They fed us too many snacks all day as well and kept us well caffeinated and hydrated.

Last night they sent us over to the International Quilt Show for the preview night. I mostly wandered through the vendor area (which feels about twice as large as the exhibition area and probably is close to that.) And I’m glad I went and got a few things last night because today when we wandered back through a lot of stuff was sold out already. I’m not really a quilter, but I’ve been going to craft shows my whole life… this show appeared to have a remarkably high percentage of good vendors and very little crap compared to most big shows I’ve been to. There were variations on themes and some repetition but I was generally impressed and perhaps a little overwhelmed. I was saved by the fact that I have very little spare space in my baggage. :)

Today we had a little talk from the head of Bernina of America and a friendly talk (i.e. not instructional in content - more like content for a memoir - she’s a charming speaker) from Alex Anderson. I didn’t know who she was until yesterday - she’s a hot-shot in the quilting world with a rather large fan base and even a successful tv show in the recent past. She was amusing. She told a lot of personal stories, including some cute ones about her kids which made me wonder what kind of stories my mother tells about her children when she teaches.

Then we were off to wander the quilt show again and to see the Fashion Show. If you’ve never been to a fashion show at a big show or convention show, it’s quite an experience (and a hoot) to see all the fantastic designs. I have many pictures. (By the way, I have confirmed that unpressed seams in finished garments drive me nuts.) This fashion show included a very tasty, sit-down lunch as well. There were some beautiful garments, some amazing feats of sewing and some crazy things that made e wonder… Photos to follow later.

I also got a lot more photos of the quilt exhibits today. Exquisite stuff. I hope the photos come out well!

I can’t say I’m a Bernina fanatic at this point - I know the math behind putting on an event like this, especially in conjunction with other events Bernina was doing at the Quilt Show. Bernina is definitely still making quite a bit of money on us “VIP’s.” (Although they wouldn’t be if they covered my bar tab…) The event wasn’t as marketing heavy as I originally expected which was nice. I learned some cool stuff that will hopefully kick-start my sewing again. I really should play with my machine more and maybe take some classes. You know, in my copious spare time.

Tomorrow will hopefully be a wandering day in Chicago followed by a safe flight home… let’s hope the weather cooperates!

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