Invisible Zipper

In the UK,
London has the Knitting and Stitching Show 7 - 10 October and it has plenty
of museums including the V&A (costume and textiles). It has lots of fabric
shops. It is _not_ cheap.
Birmingham has the Festival of Quilts 19 - 22 August. I don't know about its
musuems and shops. If that's too early the show will be on next year at
about the same time.
Dublin has the Knitting and Stitching Show 4 - 7 November. I've been there
twice and only found one fabric shop. It's a lovely city with friendly
people.


I think you're on the right track, Sally! And I have additional suggestions:

American Stitches, Novi, MI (Eastern Standard time zone, contrary to what most
in the East believe) Oct. 1-3

Creative Inspiration Show, Pittsburgh, PA, Oct. 7-9

Original Sewing & Quilting Expos:
MARCH 4, 5 & 6, 2004
Harborview Center
Clearwater, FL

MARCH 11, 12 & 13, 2004
Gwinnett Civic Center
Atlanta, GA (Duluth)

MARCH 18, 19 & 20, 2004
I-X Center
Cleveland, OH (Brookpark)

APRIL 15, 16 & 17, 2004
Worcester's Centrum Center
Worcester, MA

SEPTEMBER 30, OCTOBER 1 & 2, 2004
Dulles Expo Center
Chantilly, VA (Washington DC)

Plus, there's a wonderful Puyallup-level show in Quebec, but I can't find the
info online. (Thought I had it bookmarked, but it doesn't appear to be).

Loads of opportunities!


Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

Sally Holmes wrote:

Pogonip wrote:

Sally is quite right in all the details, for a sizable
group, anyway. She's so good at it......she really should
organize it, shouldn't she?


Ha! Let me just add that the US dollar is VERY low against the Pound
Sterling at the moment (down over 40 cents last time I looked) so the UK
would be VERY expensive for our transatlantic members.

Sally



Ha! My DH is in London as we type, and you tell me that?
Thanks bunches. ;-) He's been there nearly 3 weeks,
too. I guess that means another mortgage? He said that
he saw some Faberge eggs, and thought about getting me
one, but decided it was too tacky. Perhaps he looked at
the value tag. However, I told him it would not go with
our decor, so his decision was a good one.
--

Joanne @ stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us
http://members.tripod.com/~bernardschopen/
Life is about the journey, not about the destination.

OT Was: Invisible Zipper

(Sally=A0Holmes)
Pogonip wrote:
Sally is quite right in all the details, for a sizable group, anyway.
She's so good at it......she really should organize it, shouldn't she?
---
Ha! Let me just add that the US dollar is VERY low against the Pound
Sterling at the moment (down over 40 cents last time I looked) so the UK
would be VERY expensive for our transatlantic members.
Sally
---
Oh my, I hadn't realized we'd be so poor if we were to come to
England! Joanne, Karen and I'd have to sand off our fingerprints and
case some banks.
Not for the first time, I wish I lived in a big ole' barn, and could
accommodate everyone, but there are loads of hotels/motels in this
resort city on the US east coast--Virginia Beach, Va.; Oct. is
off-season rates, autumn weather is usually good here, (if not, wait 10
minutes, and it changes).
We are within a 3 &1/2 hour drive of Washington, D.C. (I grew up in a
suburb on the outskirts, and it was a beautiful city then--still grand,
if dirtier than it used to be.)
GStreet fabrics lies roughly half-to 3/4 way between here and D.C.,
and we do have assorted fabric shops around town, so everyone could
arrive with their suitcases empty, load up on fabric, use my machines to
seam saris out of the lengths, wear them, and not have to pay duty on
their travel wardrobe when they go back overseas.
Quite seriously, we have good thrift shops with cheap garments,
easily discarded in favor of packing room for fabric. It's what I'd do.
H loves to drive, so we could swear him into bondage, rent a huge van,
and have him do the ferrying. He loves D.C., and, having delivered bulk
phone books in the city, is conversant with nooks and crannies which
most folks aren't aware of.
Baltimore, Md., is a bit further north: a good overnight trip, with a
nice inner harbor, and wonderful ethnic restaurants and shops within
walking distance of the harbor.
More good stuff: my Dad and brothers helped erect one of the
buildings at the Dulles Expo at Chantilly. (Heavy equipment business.)
Which means only that they received an invite to the grand opening, and
went. No other bennies.
We might find a quilt or bead show, though, or a tour of an antebellum
mansion in Richmond.
So, the bad news is that I, unlike Sally, am not a good organizer,
just a good saleswoman. Sally would have to arrive early and plan the
attack.
So?
Cea
---
Karen posted:
snip
I think you're on the right track, Sally! And I have additional
suggestions:
American Stitches, Novi, MI (Eastern Standard time zone, contrary to
what most in the East believe) Oct. 1-3
Creative Inspiration Show, Pittsburgh, PA, Oct. 7-9
snip
SEPTEMBER 30, OCTOBER 1 & 2, 2004
Dulles Expo Center
Chantilly, VA (Washington DC)

wrote:
OT Was: Invisible Zipper
Not for the first time, I wish I lived in a big ole' barn, and
could accommodate everyone, but there are loads of hotels/motels in
this resort city on the US east coast
---
Karen posted:
snip
I think you're on the right track, Sally! And I have additional
suggestions:
American Stitches, Novi, MI (Eastern Standard time zone, contrary to
what most in the East believe) Oct. 1-3
Creative Inspiration Show, Pittsburgh, PA, Oct. 7-9
snip
SEPTEMBER 30, OCTOBER 1 & 2, 2004
Dulles Expo Center
Chantilly, VA (Washington DC)

Sadly, I wouldn't be able to get to any of those as I'm tied to UK school
holidays. I'll just sit here and envy whoever gets to go.

Please send fabric, oops, postcards.

Sally

RCTS Meet Was: Invisible Zipper

(Sally=A0Holmes)
wrote:
=A0=A0Not for the first time, I wish I lived in a big ole' barn, and
could accommodate everyone, but there are loads of hotels/motels in this
resort city on the US east coast
---
=A0=A0=A0=A0Karen posted:
snip
I think you're on the right track, Sally! And I have additional
suggestions:
American Stitches, Novi, MI (Eastern Standard time zone, contrary to
what most in the East believe) Oct. 1-3
Creative Inspiration Show, Pittsburgh, PA, Oct. 7-9 snip
SEPTEMBER 30, OCTOBER 1 & 2, 2004
Dulles Expo Center
Chantilly, VA (Washington DC)
Sadly, I wouldn't be able to get to any of those as I'm tied to UK
school holidays. I'll just sit here and envy whoever gets to go.
Please send fabric, oops, postcards.
Sally
---
Unfortunately, rates here don't drop until after labor day, after the
summer resort crowd goes home, but a meet can be scheduled anytime
during the summer--it's just that the cost will be higher. Well, this is
still in the mulling stage, so let's talk dates. UK School holidays? I
suppose they won't give leave of absence for 'educational trips', Sally?
This isn't a closed group meet: _anyone_ who is interested should have
some input. Stateside or anyone from Amsterdam, Holland, France, Chile,
etc.? The tentative dates are a year away--loads of time to start a nest
egg for such a trip, and there's no reason H's shouldn't come along if
they wish. There's always a day on the beach for them, bikini watching,
while we fabric shop.
Cea Who holds a Certified Messy Housekeeping Seal
of Disapproval, and gave up the axe wielding 2 years ago.

On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 11:00:32 -0500 (EST), wrote:


Oh my, I hadn't realized we'd be so poor if we were to come to
England! Joanne, Karen and I'd have to sand off our fingerprints and
case some banks.
snip

Half of us would have to do this to get INTO the US come October

For those who don't want every bodily orifice explored because we don't
have a US passport, how about Paris, ladies?

I've heard it has a vague connection with fashion, the occasional museum
and pretensions to a cultural life. The Euro has peaked against the Dollar
and is on its way down, gently pushed by the Bank of France. It's close for
the Brits, and here, just 90 minutes away on the TGV, you can rent a gite
for the cost of a pickled egg off season.

Also, even here in the boonies we have a lace museum nearby, not to mention
calvados tastings, fabuloso cookery and beautiful countryside.

Fess up now - you're all too scared to parler Français, aren't you?

) Trish

For those who don't want every bodily orifice explored because we don't
have a US passport, how about Paris, ladies?

Oooh, I'd love to go back. It's almost criminal to live a life loving fashion
without visiting that wonderful city at least once!

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

Trishty wrote:

For those who don't want every bodily orifice explored because we
don't have a US passport, how about Paris, ladies?

Fess up now - you're all too scared to parler Français, aren't you?

Mais non, cherie! Mais Paris, c'est tres cher, n'est-ce pas?

Actually, I understand that the restrictions on people with existing
passports aren't too bad (the BBC says, he
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3371447.stm) but passports issued from
October 04 must include encoded biometric information which very few
countries are able to put on passports at the moment - the UK say they will
be able to issue such passports in mid-2005, which probably means "Err,
October 06, perhaps".

Anyone unfortunate enough to have a new passport without the fancy encoding
will have to buy a US visa which means a fee of £67 (over $120), plus a
personal visit to the US embassy, for each and every person wishing to
travel.

Now, I am very much liking the idea of France. Also of renting several
self-catering establishments in a complex. I've done it before with a large
gathering of people and it works well as it allows noisy meeting areas as
well as quiet spaces for people who get overwhelmed and want a little hush.

If anyone would like to tack on a tour of Lovely Yorkshire I can organise
something.

If we really want to go ahead we need to consider payment. I have been left
with too many unpaid-for theatre tickets ("Sorry, can't go after all! I'm
sure you'll find someone who wants my tickets!") to plunk money down for
other people. [That looks like I'm always being stood up by dates: really,
I've organised a lot of group outings.] So we would need firm commitment,
backed up by hard cash. Two solutions suggest themselves:
1. The organiser could open a PayPal account and interested parties could
pay into it by credit card. This means trusting someone you've only ever met
on-line.
2. The organiser could negotiate with the landlord to accept many credit
card payments rather than one big one, and everybody could make an
international call to pay. Except Trish, who has to make a local call,
because she's organising it. Isn't she?

Cea said:
Well, this
is still in the mulling stage, so let's talk dates. UK School
holidays? I suppose they won't give leave of absence for 'educational
trips', Sally?

there's no reason H's shouldn't come along if they wish

No leave of absence, I'm afraid. I'm only a humble school librarian and I'll
be looking for a new job at the end of this academic year anyway so I'll be
new in-post.

I don't know next year's holidays yet but we usually have one week at the
end of February, two weeks around Easter, one week at the end of May, six
weeks from late July to early September, then the last week of October, then
two weeks from just before Christmas to just after New Year.

As for H's, DD will be coming with me.

Sally

Trishty wrote:

Half of us would have to do this to get INTO the US come October

For those who don't want every bodily orifice explored because we don't
have a US passport, how about Paris, ladies?

I've heard it has a vague connection with fashion, the occasional museum
and pretensions to a cultural life. The Euro has peaked against the Dollar
and is on its way down, gently pushed by the Bank of France. It's close for
the Brits, and here, just 90 minutes away on the TGV, you can rent a gite
for the cost of a pickled egg off season.

Also, even here in the boonies we have a lace museum nearby, not to mention
calvados tastings, fabuloso cookery and beautiful countryside.

Fess up now - you're all too scared to parler Français, aren't you?

) Trish

That's all well and good, but a bit more difficult for those of us in the
Antipodes! I hadn't been following this thread until I realised all you lot were
going on and *on* about invisible zippers and thought perhaps there was
something arcane about them I'd been missing!

*I* reckon you ought all to come down to sunny Australia!

We have a thing called 'Spotlight', which is a fabric shoppe sort of like a
Joanne's (from what I've gleaned). It's adequate for stash acquisition.

The *other* thing we have, though, is beaches, beaches and more beaches! Our
sand is sharp and yellow and clean. Our seas are balmy and have great surf, from
little (for body surfing) to *big* (for the big boards). Our skies are huge and
(from what I've been told) more intensely blue than those in most other places.
Our lifestyle is laid-back. Our landscapes are many and varied: from the Red
Centre, which is desert, to the rainforests of Cape York Peninsula to the
Mediterranean climates in the south - where the wines are made - to the coastal
heathlands, to the extensive wetlands in the north... Get my drift?

We have some spectacularly good wildlife for you to gawp at (*please* do not
give credence to that goon, the crocodile 'hunter' - he's an embarrassment!) and
most of it won't kill you at all! Some will, though, and so you'll leave with
the sensation of having been an intrepid adventurer who survived Australia!

That's my bid! I have fond memories of Sr Samaranch announcing that 'Sidony!'
had won the right to host the 2000 Olymic Games: how excellent it would be if we
also hosted the 2004 rcts sew-fest! ;-D

--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

OT Was: Invisible Zipper

(SewStorm)
Trish tantilized:
For those who don't want every bodily orifice explored because we don't
have a US passport, how about Paris, ladies?
Oooh, I'd love to go back. It's almost criminal to live a life loving
fashion without visiting that wonderful city at least once!
Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati
---
I agree. I love France, and Paris is wonderful. If I had it all to do
over again, I'd have run away to Pairee upon graduation fromn high
school. Ahhh, what did I know?
Gloomily Can't afford it right now, though, unless I get extremely
busy doing draperies, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of the interior
designer. Once I get my sewing room reconfigured, I'll have to get out
and sell my services. (That doesn't sound too good, does it?)
Cea