That Spark

My mom and my quilty sister drove up to the lake a few weeks ago to help me work my first Daisy Days vendor market. It will not be my last.

I work from home — both my day job and LQC — so getting to talk to people face to face was so good. Meeting the other vendors, taking turns shopping each other’s booths, that part was fun. But the best part, at least for me, was hearing from so many people who want to learn to sew, or who used to and want to get back to it.

When I was in middle school I took home ec. My craft back then was cross-stitch — something I could do quietly in my room with the little money I had. Over the years I’d pick up a craft here and there, but nothing stuck. About 15 years ago I bought a sewing machine, played with it a little, and every time I needed to thread the thing I’d dig out the DVD that came with it and squint at the instructions. It felt too hard. Eventually it went to the top of the closet, and after awhile I sold it.

When I decided to try again, I had to buy a whole new machine — but by then I was a regular YouTube watcher, and it was a completely different experience. We really are living in some kind of renaissance for learning things on your own. Whatever you’re trying to figure out, there’s someone out there explaining it, demonstrating it, showing you their own way of doing it. I’m still pretty new to sewing, and that’s been the thing that’s made it possible.

We sold some things at Daisy Days, and that was great. But my favorite part of the day was talking to people and watching that spark show up — the one where you can tell they want to try. I was there too, not that long ago.