Snow, Snow and More Snow

Great Copy booth at ETA Sew Expo

     I spent the past weekend in Dallas working at the ETA Sew Expo.  I was helping Pattie Otto of Great Copy.  While she was teaching classes I was manning her booth.  She had several of her patterns for sale plus her embroidery designs.  She also had her Edge Perfect Blade and book for sale.

    Getting to the show was an adventure.  I picked up Pattie early Thursday morning and we drove to the Milwaukee airport.  We dropped off the car at a valet parking lot and hopped on the shuttle to the terminal.  We checked our bags at the curb and proceeded to security.  No problems and we sailed on through.  The plane was a bit late taking off but not bad.

     Unfortunately there was a lot of turbulence so no drink service.  We landed in St Louis and there was a bit of snow on the ground.  We walked from one gate to the next and boarded right away.  That's when the snow got heavier.  We were all on board but they were delaying our departure.  After a while it was decided that they were not going to be able to take off.

     Then it was standing in line for an hour to rebook our flight for the next morning, Southwest had canceled all flights for the day.  We got our luggage and finally booked a hotel for the night.  After waiting for 3 hours for a shuttle, we canceled the reservation and slept in the airport.

     The police came around with pillows and blankets.  After much maneuvering we were able to 'check' our luggage and go through security to where the food and more comfortable chairs were.  We got some dinner and then settled in for some sleep.  The next morning we flew out without any problems however Pattie was supposed to be teaching at 8:30AM.  Peggy kept the women entertained until we got to the hotel at around 10:30.

Some of Great Copy's pattern samples

     While Pattie was teaching, I did my 17 mile run on the treadmill.  That was boring but at least I had my music.  Then I set up the booth, we grabbed some pizza, did a little grocery shopping and got a much needed night of sleep.

     On Saturday there was a design challenge fashion show.  The participants were given the fabric and the idea was that you had to make three outfits for three different events for your high school reunion.  The patterns were to be selected from the vendors that were going to be at the show.

     Becky used several of Pattie's patterns.  She made some alterations to Great Copy Crossover Top #2445 that changed it from a yoga top to a flowing cardigan.  She also did some discharging of color from two of the fabrics and then dyed them a turquoise color.  What an imagination.

     For our trip home we were to go through Kansas City but they were going to get hit by another winter storm.  We managed to change our flight to go back through St Louis.  We got home later than we had originally planned but at least we didn't have to spend another night in a airport.

Becky in Sedona Skirt with Paisley embroidery and Catalina Tee w/ Pattie Otto