I must admit, I think I actually squealed when I saw the announcement in the Meissner’s Sewing catalogue that Anna Maria Horner would be coming to Sacramento for three days. THREE DAYS! As I was perusing the catalog while waiting for my work computer to boot up, I got a few odd looks from cube mates. None of my coworkers sew, so I couldn’t really explain the reason for my excitement other than, “This amazing fabric designer is coming to Sacramento!!” Blank stares was the response to my gushing.

The whole event was sponsored by Janome, who had recently partnered with Anna Maria.  Janome is a sewing machine manufacturing company and they make some world class machines. World class sewing machine company + Fantastically Awesome Fabric Designer/Seamstress = It is going to be a great day.

I immediately logged on to the Meissner’s web site to sign up for the evening Trunk Show/Seminar and the “Multitasker” Bag Making Workshop. I was tempted to sign up for the quilting class too, but that event was on a workday.

The event started at 9:00 am and Meissner’s had set up their classroom with a slew of Janome machines. I was lucky enough to get to sew on Janome’s Horizon 7700. I’d had seen this machine raved about in quilting blogs, so I was curious to see if it lived up to its buzz. And, YES IT DID.

Seriously, this machine was amazing. I sew on a Viking Platinum 770 that I bought back in 2005. I love my Viking. It has a huge number of stitches, it sews smoothly, even through THICK fabric and I’ve never had any trouble with it. I’ve also sewn on a Bernina 1008 mechanical machine when I’ve taken some classes at the local junior college. Those mechanical Berninas really do feel rock solid and deliver beautiful stitches (especially button holes!). But after sewing on that Janome… well. I feel like I got to drive a top end luxury vehicle for a day and now I’m in serious lust for a new machine. Do I need one? NO. Do I want one? Oh, yeeeess.

But I digress.

For the day’s seminar, we made a bag, using Anna Maria’s Multitasker Tote pattern. Fabric kits were available for purchase, made with Anna Maria’s fabric of course. Lots to choose from, and I ended up with a pink, grey and yellow palette. What was interesting to me, is that velveteen was included as a main fabric in the kit. I never would have thought to use velveteen when making a bag. But it turned out great and that velveteen was so soft. (In fact, later that evening, while showing my finished bag off to my better half, he said, “Hey, you could use this for a pillow!”)

It was great to work on a pattern and have the pattern designer RIGHT THERE to answer questions. I’m a newbie seamstress, so reading patterns is still hard for me. It takes me several reads and much trial and error when trying out a new pattern. The extra tips and tricks from an accomplished seamstress are more than worth the cost of the seminar.

As to Anna Maria herself… what a delightful person. She is the kind of woman you’d love to  call a friend. You just want to bask in her presence. She is funny, warm, creative, relaxed, encouraging and patient. She explained each step of construction multiple times (and more multiple times) and answered every questions with grace and humor.  She was suffering from allergies and kept apologizing for having to blow nose and joked about getting snot everywhere. How could you not like her?

At the Thursday evening trunk show, she showed slides and talked about her creative process, frrom being inspired by her kids (she has six), a moth infestation, or a blanket her grandmother loomed. She talked about how she puts that inspiration down on paper sketches, then modifies/polishes in the computer and further refines color when she gets samples back from the factory. It was all fascinating.

Big thank you to Meissners and Janome for sponsoring the event and BIG THANK YOU to Anna Maria for sharing her time, expertise and sheer awesomeness.