Birthday Bash 2017 Recap

The gang's all here for our traditional employee photo before the start of Birthday Bash 2017!

There’s no party like a quilting party and our Ninth Birthday Bash was no exception! What better way to celebrate 9 years in business than with fun, games and fabric and a game show theme to keep the show rolling throughout the celebration?

The best way to start a Birthday Bash is with a Dinner with the Doans! The Doans, plus 200 of our quilting family, joined us for dinner, dessert, and of course, a little friendly family competition. This year the Girl Doans squared off against the Boys for an entertaining version of Family Feud. The Boys earned the victory on this night, but we know the Girls will be ready for a rematch! 

Birthday Bash 2017

 

Before birthday festivities officially kicked off, we snapped our traditional all-employee family photo in front of our newest mural in Hamilton. We think the gang looked absolutely electric in the lime green t-shirts!

The gang's all here for our traditional employee photo before the start of Birthday Bash 2017!
The gang’s all here for our traditional employee photo before the start of Birthday Bash 2017!

All three days were bursting at the seams with games and activities for the entire family! Our “Win, Lose or Dance” on the patio was a happening spot, where participants could show off their finest moves for a chance to win some fabric!

Guests from around the globe boogied around the patio for a chance to win fabric prizes!
Guests from around the globe boogied around the patio for a chance to win fabric prizes!

We busted out some Couch to Quilt “suitcases” for our Sew Case Showdown game on Friday morning! It was a huge hit!

Friday night featured our first ever BINGO night hosted by Man Sewing’s Rob Appell! Rob donned his referee uniform and called numbers, up and down, across and “on the bias”

Birthday Bash 2017: Man Sewing Bingo

We know a good quilty party wouldn’t be complete without some trunk shows! Jenny and Man Sewing’s Rob Appell shared their quilting journeys in memorable presentations throughout Birthday Bash.

Jenny Doan displays a quilt during one of her trunk shows at Birthday Bash

Rob Appell shows off one of his quilts during his trunk show at Birthday Bash

Giving back to our community and those in need is very important to us, and this year we hosted a Charity Quilt “Bake Off” with help from the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild to create 32 full-size quilts! These quilts were designed, pieced, quilted and bound by some amazing volunteers over a two-day period, and best of all, 16 quilts will be donated for disaster relief and 16 will be given to local Kansas City charities. 

Charity Quilt Bake Off at Birthday Bash

Through some of our “ticketed” events, we were able to collect hundreds of paper products and dozens of peanut butter and jelly packages for our local Caldwell County Food Pantry! Money raised during our daily quilt raffles went to support this organization as well.

One of our favorite parts of Birthday Bash is the Sew-lebrity Sew-off, where Jenny and Rob go head-to-head for a 45-minute sewing competition! This year Jenny created a shiny lamé championship belt and cape, while Rob whipped up a batik seascape! With almost an hour of sewing, stories, and entertainment, it’s clear that the true winners of this friendly competition are the audience who watched Jenny and Rob’s sewing skills in action!

Jenny and Rob went head-to-head in the Sew-lebrity Sew-Off!

With our Ninth Birthday Bash in the books, we want to take a moment and express our sincerest thanks to all of those who came together to make this celebration possible. Our amazing guests, those who visited us in Hamilton and online, fantastic employees, and wonderful vendors and sponsors all deserve a round of applause for helping us make our birthday the best one yet!

Birthday Bash 2017