Common Threads 2016
Earlier this month, liZ and I were able to attend one of our very favorite yearly events called Common Threads. It is hosted by…
and we do so love them. I have said it so many times but it deserves so many more…..baby lock specializes in investing not only in a great sewing machine, but they invest in the people who sit behind those machines. And at this event we are always reminded of that. We feel so grateful to be working with them and for their support of us. We are always talking about how we think they picked the wrong girls because we are such small potatoes in the sewing world, but we feel so incredibly lucky…even if it was a mistake ;). They are a family company who holds that near and dear and treats their employees (and even littles like us) as family. If you are ever in need of a machine, be assured that they will take care of you.
Ok, back to event itself. First up on Wednesday was a tour of Tacony (the parent company of baby lock).
The tour itself is always so inspiring that we forget to take a ton of pictures….mostly because there is too much oogling and ahhing over all the sewing machines and cool stuff. But we did get a couple of pictures on phones.
This is Kristi Humes’ office, who is the CEO of Tacony. She recently took over from her dad Ken Tacony and is now the 3rd generation to run the family business. I love this space!
And the warehouse….see what we mean about all the sewing machine oogling. They go on for days!!!
And the print shop picture that liZ took…isn’t it cool?
The next days of the event are all about sewing, classes, amazing food, and some of the best people around.
Look at just one of the thread drawers that we had to choose from…..I want one in my house.
One of my favorite projects we did was the charity event which we have done the last two years. This year we made dresses for “Little Dresses to Africa” which was so inspiring. Here is part of the appliqueing that we did on the bottom of the dress. LOVE the DESTINY for easy embroidering and appliqueing!
And here is the wall of finished dresses, aren’t they adorable? Riley Blake Designs donated all the fabric for them and I am sure so many little girls are going to be thrilled to have such a cute dress.
At the very end of Common Threads we all get to share about our favorite part, and this year I shared some thoughts that I have been thinking about for awhile. I said something to the effect of that women who have sewn for generations before us sewed for many reasons. They did it out of necessity, they did it out of love, but I think there were reasons that they had sewing and quilting bees. They did it for the personal connection too.
I feel so grateful to be a part of so many sewing and quilting bees in my life–some in real life such as this event, but mostly online with all of you. So, from the bottom of my heart, thanks for being my real life sewing bee. I really mean it…..
Be sure to head over to the Common Threads link up party to read more about the retreat and enter to win a swag bag from the event!!!
~Elizabeth
