IB♥L World Tour: Beaverton, OR

Imagine going to Mt. Rushmore and standing before the monument, only to have them speak to you.

Such was my day today. I got to spend the day with the family, and go to the Sew Mama Sew! Secret Lair, and have coffee with Terry Grant and Gerrie Congdon.

24 NOV: IBOL World Tour stop in Beaverton, OR. Home of Sew Mama Sew! and a Starbucks (actually, probably about 53 Starbucks, but only one of note).

All six of us made the drive from Eugene to Beaverton, via Salem (and lunch), and made our way to the Sew Mama Sew! Secret Lair.

Now, about SMS. A long, long time ago, when IBOL was gathering steam, I asked if there wasn’t someone following along who ran a fabric store, who could put together bundles en masse — and make them available online at or close to cost. I think I thought I was using my inside voice, but apparently, I actually wrote and posted this idea to this here site, and Kristin in Beaverton read it, thought about it, and sent me a very nice email. She could do just that.

And she sure did. 150 bundles, and then another 11 because, well, she had leftovers and someone — actually, the MIL’s cousin, of all people — had come calling, asking to sponsor ten or twelve bundles. Sew Mama Sew! supported fielding 161 bundles, because I was foolish enough to think out loud and not edit my writing before hitting the “Publish” button, and because, well, Sew Mama Sew! is just that kind of (sorta) small business.

Sew Mama Sew! is, after all, an internet-based fabric store. And yes, they rely on the USPS as much as IBOL did. They have fabric, they have boxes, they have a stamp machine — and they have a secret lair! Internet-based, they have no actual store, just a hallowed out volcano protected by angry ferrets, tigers, and sharks with lasers.

So, that’s Mrs. IBOL Guy, me, and Kristin of Sew Mama Sew! fame. We had a wonderful visit, I got to say thanks about 471 times to her and her entire crew, and deliver some nice Hawai’ian treats.

Unfortunately, as we were getting ready to go, I eyeballed my wife getting all envious of the fabric in the Sew Mama Sew! Secret Lair, and had to remind her to not even try to steal anything, lest we be attacked by the angry ferrets and / or cast into the volcano.

So, Kristin and the Sew Mama Sew! crew — thank you. Enjoy the treats. Keep on doing the cool things that you’re doing. I look forward to reading what you have in store for December. Thank you for helping with IBOL, and thank you for making time to chit chat today.

After our visit, we hurried on over to Starbucks, to see Jefferson and Roosevelt. When I talked with the wife about having some coffee with some IBOL supporters, I did not think it would be Terry Grant and Gerrie Congdon!

Both are about the nicest people you’d ever meet, and both had had such nice things to say what IBOL was getting all kinds of crazy. And both had brought with them some of their smaller quilted pieces, turning the afternoon into an impromptu quilt show in the Beaverton Starbucks.

Fantastic day. So nice to see everyone. There are a few more photos up on Flickr, and a couple of the same up over on Facebook, too.

Tags: Beaverton, Flickr, IBOL, IBOL World Tour, iraqibundlesoflove, Oregon, Sew Mama Sew, Volunteers