DOLLY’S SEWING  ROOM

September/October 2009

What a whirl wind week it was! I arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico at 2:00pm eastern standard time. I had left home in Venice at 5:30am for Tampa, where I left at 11:00am eastern time on a flight to Albuquerque. 

By the time I got to Albuquerque, I was very weary. I unpacked and got organized for the next day. In the morning, breakfast was at 7:00am and the Presidents” Day meeting started at 8:00am.

I felt it was a very good meeting. We were given reports by the officers of the National CAB. We elected 3 new National Board members and a new Region 7 Rep.

Jan Squires of the Central West Coast FL Chapter is our new Rep for Region 7. Jan is a very energetic, all-around, good person. I think she will do a good job as our representative.

We had some very good speakers during the day. Their focus was mostly on running a smooth CAB meeting. I will try to use many of the suggestions for the rest of my term and pass them on to our new president January 1^st.

The next days were filled with learning and visiting with old friends and making new ones.

My first class was with Pat Chester.  She used to be with the Tampa Chapter and now lives in Texas. In her class, we made an ASG Commemorative Bag. It was a denim bag with embroidery of a Balloon flying over Albuquerque and the date of the conference.

Some of my other classes were Great Style Any Age by Linda Lee, Sewing with Leather and Suede by Marsha Mc Clintock , Threads for Embellishment by Linda McGehee, Cutting Class by Louise Cutting, Trim-Tastic by Marla Kazell, Presser Feet by Carol Ahles, Choosing Interfacing by Connie Crawford, and Time to Organize by Susan Lazear. I will try to share many of these classes and can in the months to come.

The Up, Up and Away Fashion Show was very interesting, plus we got to see the accomplishments of many young sewers.

After a very busy, fun week, I was glad to get home. Thank you for sending me to National Conference!!  Our annual meeting will be on October 31^st. It is a very important meeting as we will be electing new officers. Please help by filling out your ballot and mailing it back to Marie; we need your input. It should be a fun meeting. We will be having a great speaker and some other surprises. I’ll let the Special Events people fill you in on the details.

Now, I want to tell you about my experience of helping out with the teaching of young people in partnership with 4-H Manatee County Extension on June 22^nd, 23^rd and 24^th. I helped with three 7 year olds. They were so eager to learn! They couldn’t wait for the next project. It was very rewarding for all the students and teachers. Thank all our ladies who helped for the 3 day program. I can’t wait for the next one! It was a wonderful experience.  Thank you, all who made it possible. A lot of hard work went into the project.

Keep Sewing!