{~*Grump-Over*~}

I'm going to go ahead and say two things: I'm a bad blogger.

I am so grumpy that Sewing Summit is over. I'm referring to it as a Grump-Over. Like a hang over. But extra grumpy.

Each time I sit down to write about it I realize I just CAN'T put it into words. It was the most fantastic fun. I got to meet everyone online who I truly adore and then I got to meet all sorts of new people who now I want to hang out with daily but can't because they live a ZILLION miles away. To make matters worse, I updated my iphone and somehow LOST all my photos. I think about Sewing Summit and I kind of want to cry. If you know me, you know this is very un-Amanda-like, it takes a lot for me to be really emotional but I LOVED SEEING YOU GUYS. And it bums me out that I can't just pop over to their houses to hang out. Dorky? Yes. True? TOTALLY. I am the most blessed girl to have all these lovely & talented ladies as my friends. SRSLY.

Plus, to be completely honest I have this terrible fear I'm going to leave someone out and they will hate me. So please don't k?

I miss these girls:

(the above awesome photos are from Karyn who I miss every.single.stupid.day)

(Don't even get me started on how much I love this girl!!! Farmers Wives FOREVER!!!!)

(Karyn took this one too ;))

My class! eep!!!! I seriously couldn't be happier with how it came together. My goal was for it to be interactive & positive, I didn't want to just LECTURE away to a room full of bored people. I decided to be myself 100%, follow my heart and just tell everyone WHY I make minis. Why they are great. Why they inspire me. How to make small patchwork easier and less intimidating. I brought a bunch of samples, some done, some not, just to show everyone that we ALL start some where. I wanted people to feel like when they left, they wanted to go home and sew a mini. And that it didn't matter your budget, time, space, etc, YOU COULD DO IT. Minis can be WHATEVER you want them to be!

Confession time guys!:

I'm not a hip blogger. I don't complete a zillion projects. I don't make money off my blog. I always forget to tell you guys stuff. I have a bunch of quilts, FW blocks, knit things, etc I haven't shown you because I guess I forgot? I take photos with my phone and not my camera lately. I'm bad at looking at other blogs & commenting. I'm slow at swaps and emails. I don't always have the newest, fanciest fabric, nor the budget to buy it all up with. I'm not perfect at piecing, quilting or binding. I don't know the latest & greatest quilt on flickr. I don't sew what is trendy or rad. I just do my own thing, in my own little world, blissfully unaware of everything around me. Until Tracey is like WAKE UP AND ADD THESE CUTE FRIENDS TO FLICKR! (She doesn't really yell at me but she does show me her cute friends & because of that I knew an additional 5 people at Summit ;)) I was walking around Sewing Summit completely CLUELESS to 70% of what people talked about, which was slightly awkward but I'm pretty sure no one minded.

But I do love to sew. I do love to create. I sew what I personally love. I smile when people leave me comments and meeting people in REAL LIFE who knew who I am..SURREAL. My goal was to walk up to pretty much everyone, introduce myself and shake their hand. It's just my nature to be polite and open. So many people were like "I KNOW YOU!!!!" AND GAVE ME THESE GIANT HUGS or a certain CluckCluck told me "Of course I know you, you inspired me to make jam!" HOW DOES THAT GIRL KNOW ME? SHE'S FAMOUS! My little mind was blown. No joke. I got to meet freaking Camille & Bari J. I got to meet my Toronto other halves. I got to meet my amazing Midwest girls. I got to meet other cute tattooed girls who quilt my quilts & make 40 quilts in a freaking year. I got to meet Erin & Amy who worked their BUTTS off for this all to happen. I got to meet the sweetest Florida girl who has been the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's biggest fan. I got to meet someone who I have been internet friends with for five freaking years. THOSE ARE THE FAMOUS FOLKS!

Ok, back to this. I finish my class and my phone is flipping out. So many amazing tweets, so many kind emails. so.much.good.stuff. I almost cried. Instead I had some beer & a cheese burger and my first fried green tomatoes. And now each day people are tweeting that they are making minis. Sewing and having fun. Being part of the community. Loving quilting. THAT IS WHAT I WANT. I want to be part of THAT community. Even if you didn't go to Sewing Summit. The community where it doesn't matter if your blog is sponsored, if you complete one quilt a year or one every ten years, if you sew with fancy fabric or cheap stuff, where it's not cut throat, where YOU can be YOU, I can be ME and we can support EACH OTHER. Sewing Summit was SO POSITIVE AND ALL THAT AND MORE. I think it's important we see each other! Look at each other in eye! Give each other hugs! Jump up & down in fabric stores! Eat candy with each other!

While I was teaching, it was like watching light bulbs go off above everyone's heads in my class. To see the gears turning. To hear you laugh, see you smile, have you share your mini quilts. It was unreal. You asked questions, you shared ideas, we talked about how to display your minis, I teased you for being German (poor Claudia who later gave me CHOCOLATE!!!) and it was just plain GREAT. I sincerely hope everyone left feeling motivated, confident, excited and passionate about quilting.

I couldn't have done it without you. Without your comments, your support, your tweets, your kindness, your hellos, your offers of tea in bed. It's true. You guys are my cheerleaders & pals.

xo