I thought I’d try to collect some favorite bits and pieces from the Handmade Nation weekend and write about what I loved the most. Instead of posting photos one by one by one, I put 16 favorites (from me, Lee, Kim, and Diane, all collected from the excellent flickr pools here and here) into a patchwork quilt and hopefully they’ll speak for themselves a bit…

I feel very lucky to be part of a big and bustling craft community with a lot of people I love and admire. And being in one place for a few hectic, colorful days was really special. Diane and Lee have written some lovely posts about it all and I’ll just add that from start to finish it was filled with laughing, beautiful things to look at, cool surprises and handmade magnificence.

Seeing the film for the first time was incredible. I am very honored to be part of it and represent my Super Crafties and my craft fair and magazine peeps. A huge congratulations to Faythe on a fantastic accomplishment!

We had breakfast at Cadillac Cafe, a lengthy hang at Knittn Kitten, a quick stop at Queen Bee, a lovely evening at the museum premiere, a very fun afterparty at Namita’s, multiple trips to the waffle wagon, a super-interesting panel, a relaxed little crafty afternoon back at my house, a tiki evening of mai tais and pupu platters, a trip to Crafty Wonderland to find first-birthday (!) treasures, a sunny lunch outside, a Blazers-make-the-playoffs-meets-Japanese-craft-books wind-down, and a thrilling Final Four victory in the middle of it all.

Thank you to everyone who came to to visit us, to the museum for hosting the movie premiere, and to Crafty Wonderland for three awesome years of Portland craft this month!