I wish I could make Sewing Summit sound like it sucked. I don’t even want to tell you about it, because I don’t want more people to want to go next year, because I don’t want there to be even a small chance that I might not be able to get a ticket again.

But damn, it was fun.

Didn’t much matter that I didn’t get into all of the classes I wanted. Some of the classes I hadn’t originally planned on turned out to be incredibly cool (I made a welt pocket! And it was totally not hard!), and even the coolest ones were secondary to hanging out with friends who, up until this weekend, only lived inside of my computer.

Salt Lake City in October is breathtakingly beautiful, and fabric shops are adorable and plentiful.

And honestly, there’s not much more fun than spending three days with 250 people who are just as nerdy about fabric and sewing as you are.

It doesn’t matter if your blog gets tons of traffic or not, it doesn’t matter if you’ve got 10 years’ sewing experience, or the biggest, most fabulous fabric stash. We’re all kindred spirits of a sort, and everyone is there to enjoy themselves. Even if you feel intimidated by someone who is “famous” in our tiny little niche world, I can assure you they are super nice and would love for you to say hi and chat.

Also, no one will make fun of you when you feel compelled to hug a display of Joel Dewberry fabrics. In fact, you’ll have to wait your turn to do so.

While you can learn plenty of sewing tips and tricks at Sewing Summit, there are two larger lessons that stick with me. 1: sewing with friends is exponentially more fun than sewing alone. 2: turning computer-friends into people you’ve actually met and hugged is of of my favorite things ever.