Sewing Summit 2013

Lindsay from Lindsay Sews, Veronica, and Justine from Sew Country Chick 

Hello sewVery readers! I'm Caila from CailaMade and today I'm taking over Veronica's blog to tell you all about Sewing Summit 2013 and what I learned about her while I was there!

Veronica and I have known each other in the virtual world for about a year, but we actually met for the first time last weekend at Sewing Summit. We shared a room with two other girls, and had an absolute blast talking about fabric, sewing machines, blogging, and everything else in between. I really enjoyed following her around to get pictures of her over the weekend. Can you appreciate the very serious look on my face in the picture below? 

Caila from CailaMade and Veronica

Before I jump into the Veronica-stuff, I should probably tell you a bit about Sewing Summit. Sewing Summit is an annual sewing-and-blogging conference attended by approximately 250 people. We gathered together to take sewing classes, learn about growing our blogs and businesses, network with others in the industry, make new friends, and ultimately have a lot of fun with people who speak our creative language. Veronica and I both took a lot away from Sewing Summit, including some really great friendships.

Veronica and Lindsay

Here are my Top 5 Favorite Things About Veronica:

1. She is one of the kindest, most caring souls you will ever meet. Veronica always has good things to say about everyone, is considerate, a good listener, and great for "talking shop" about blogging. 
2. Veronica LOVES her children. It's evident all over her blog, and I could hear it in the way she talks about them. I tell you, they are so lucky to have a mom like her. 
3. She can sew like a boss. Seriously. Have you seen the leather accent tote she made at Sewing Summit? It's beautiful! 
4. Veronica blogs because SHE LOVES TO SEW. This is one of the number one things I took away from a weekend with her. She doesn't blog because she wants to make a million bucks. She doesn't blog because it's the next big "thing." Veronica blogs because she loves to sew and she wants to share it with you. I think that's what makes her so trustworthy as a person who writes about sewing patterns and shares projects and tutorials. You can trust what she says, and find inspiration in what she sews. 
5. Veronica has beautiful hair! Yup. You ought to see it in person. She got a haircut while she was there (done by Melissa Esplin's sister, in one of the hotel rooms) and it pretty much shimmered the whole weekend. 

Carving stamps in Miriam's class 

From what Veronica shared with me, I can tell she really enjoyed her classes. She took the following ones, and I'm sure she would tell you more about them if you asked: 

• Designing fabric, by Pat Bravo
• Sewing with Leather
• Printing on Fabric with Miriam Tribe
• Personal Branding with Olivia Omega
• Working with Brands, by Bernina
• Making a Metal Frame Pouch (the one she sewed was amazing, by the way).
• Making a Leather Tote
• Building a Creative Business, by Alicia DeRigo

Veronica carving a stamp. 

Eight classes in one weekend--that's a lot of creative inspiration! Veronica shared with me later that the highlight of the weekend was meeting her online friends in person and making new friendships. 

Our roomies: Jen from iCandyHandmade, Lindsay, Veronica, and Caila 

I could tell that one of the other highlights for Veronica was visiting more of Salt Lake City with some of the other women who are just as addicted to fabric and sewing as she is. Shopping for fabric with sewing friends is really one of the highlights in life, don't you think? 

The only regret I have after Sewing Summit is that I didn't get more pictures of Veronica and I! To tell you the truth, we were too busy talking to stop and snap a shot (and I was too busy sneaking around getting candid shots of her carving stamps). 

Before I go, here are a couple more pictures of Veronica with her TRULY INCREDIBLE leather accent tote. I can't believe she actually made this in one class: 

Gorgeous, right? After the weekend we were pretty tired, but it was worth it. Veronica said, and I agree, that Sewing Summit is a trip she looks forward to all year long and it did not disappoint. After all the talking and late-night sewing, we all went home and did this: 

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this peak into Veronica's weekend at Sewing Summit. Have a great weekend!

Caila, you did a pretty terrific job of summing up my Sewing Summit experience!  It was great to finally meet you in person, too, and I hope to see you again soon to hang out and talk more.  I appreciate all the pictures you took of me at Sewing Summit, too!

Visit each of these blogs to read more Sewing Summit stories from some of your favorite sewing bloggers and to see who got the chance to stalk follow them around for a few days!

Running With Scissors

Sew Country Chick

Rae Gun Ramblings

iCandyHandmade

Caila Made

Sew A Straight Line

Melly Sews