Monthly Meetings

Pamela McCrae

Rescued, Reimagined and Remarkable - The Art and Joy of Upcycling

September 12, 2026; 11:00 am to as long as we wish

In Person, Saltwater State park, no recording

Sept. 12 is our 40th Anniversary Picnic, complete with all the makings of a great day, including a celebratory cake, mingling, presentation, showcase, fabric for sale, and, we hope, beautiful weather.

Where and When? 

We will meet at Saltwater State Park in Des Moines, at the Creek Shelter. We start at 11, so please arrive by then! You will need to have a Discover Pass or pay a $10 admission fee per car. Please carpool if you can! We can party as long as we wish. If the weather is rainy in Des Moines and we have to cancel, we will get an email out as soon as we know, so if you are questioning whether the party is on, please check your email that morning. 

What’s the Plan? 

We will have a chance to visit and meet people we don’t know and admire what folks are wearing! We will have a fun, wearable arts speaker and if you want to join in, you can dress in something you’ve made, or something colorful or creative, and/or bring pieces to show. You are also welcome to bring your current art quilt and any wearable art pieces for the Showcase. Artist Trading Cards? (ATC) Create and bring some ATCs to exchange with other artists. These can be fun to make - as fancy or simple as you like. They should be 2.5” x 3.5” with your name on the back. They can be soft or hard, quilted or not, and you can use any method you like to make the front. Something that you love to do or that speaks to you would make a good front. We don’t want too many rules, so just play! 

Food? 

We will have CAKE! And CQA, through our hospitality committee of one, Wendy Bannister, will provide plates, utensils, napkins, drinks. The rest is up to you, so bring a dish to share. (By the way, if you’d like to join the hospitality committee, let Wendy or me know.) 

What to Bring 

• Your Discover Pass or $10 
• Something creative to wear (if you want) 
• Artist Trading Cards 
• Something for the potluck 
• Something for Showcase 
• An outdoor/camping chair if you have one 

Because this meeting is about visiting and celebrating, it will be in-person only and there will be no Zoom and no recording. 

More about Pamela McCrae

Pamela McCrae is a lifelong sewist, creative maker, historical costumer, and passionate advocate for upcycling and sustainable sewing. She began sewing garments at the age of nine and was designing and making much of her own clothing by thirteen. A self-taught sewist, Pamela soon began sewing for friends and creating costumes for a ballet troupe during high school. A lifelong love of wearable art, haute couture, and one-of-a-kind garments was further fueled by visits to the designer ateliers of Paris. 

For Pamela, creativity has always been about seeing possibility where others might see something ordinary or discarded. She is drawn to found objects, vintage textiles, unusual trims, embellishments, and forgotten garments, imagining how they might be transformed into something new and unexpected. In recent years, repurposing has become an important part of her creative practice—not only because of the satisfaction of creating something unique, but because keeping beautiful and useful materials out of the landfill is a meaningful way to care for the environment. 

Fifteen years ago, Pamela and her husband began their journey into historical costuming with Somewhere in Time, Unlimited (SITU), a Seattle-based historical costuming group founded more than 50 years ago. Her love of historical fashion, craftsmanship, and vintage materials has had a profound influence on her work and deepened her appreciation for giving existing textiles and objects a new life. Pamela has served as SITU's Event Coordinator for the past seven years. 

She joined the Greater Seattle - American Sewing Guild (ASG) nine years ago and is the Event Coordinator and Bellevue Neighborhood Group Leader. She also leads the Upcycling and Sustainability group, where she encourages members to look 

 “Nothing gives me greater joy than taking something that might have been discarded and imagining what it could become. For me, upcycling isn't about giving something a second-best life, it is about giving it a new, fabulous story.” 

Pamela believes sustainability does not require us to change everything at once. Each of us can make small, creative choices to use what we have, keep materials in circulation, and leave the world a little better for the next generation. 

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 At this point in time, most meetings are virtual via Zoom. March, June and September meetings are in person at Seattle Pacific University. 

Visitors are always welcome at our meetings, and there is no admission fee. Meetings run from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month. Meetings are via Zoom or on the Seattle Pacific University campus. (See directions, maps, and room information, below.) For in person meetings, bring yourself a sack lunch if you wish.

Membership

To become a member click here and go to "Join the CQA".

Month	Speaker
October 10, 2026	Salley Mavor, Fabric Relief Artist (Zoom + Recording)
November 14, 2026	Monika Auch, The Intelligence of the Hand and How to Stitch Your Brain (Zoom + Recording)
December 12, 2026	Alison Schwabe (Zoom)

 Would you like to attend our next meeting via Zoom? Contact programs for the link.

 Directions to Bertona Hall on the Seattle Pacific University campus:

GPS entry: 107 West Bertona, Seattle 98119

From I-5, take the NE 50th Street exit and drive west. Turn left (south) on Fremont Avenue N�about two miles. Get into the right lane as you cross the Fremont bridge and take the first turn-off to the right and then immediately right again onto Nickerson Street. Follow Nickerson for about half a mile, and turn left (south) at the stoplight for 3rd Avenue West. You are now on the SPU campus.Turn left onto 3rd.

Enter the parking lot on your left by turning into the driveway beside the Subway. Our building is on the east side of the parking lot, a one-story red brick building. Parking in the lot is free for us on weekends; ignore the restricted parking and "No Parking" signs.

Click here to see a map of the entire SPU campus.