Love Those Details

When my kids were younger and loved fussy kid clothes, I loved the detailing. I learned to applique for the first time on a homemade onesie (that is BEFORE onesie was a word or a thing). It was awful applique as I didn't understand stabilizer and my $99 sewing machine didn't allow me to reduce stitch length to a satin stitch. I bought that little machine when I started college and made all of my clothes except my jeans. Of course, everyone on my floor thought that since I had a sewing machine I would want to mend their jeans. (It didn't take me long to discover that I didn't need to reveal that I knew how to sew.)

In teaching myself to applique at that time, I didn't have access to fusible products as we have now. So, I improvised with stitch witchery which I used now and again for hems. Expensive for this process but I was thrilled with the results. My resource for learning these techniques was an ancient sewing book that I had pretty well memorized. Before my $99 machine, I could only do bound buttonholes--not even knowing that was an advanced technique. My sewing machine from high school was my mom's old machine, a Singer with a wooden case that I ran with a knee control and it only had a straight stitch. So being self-taught, I learned from a 30 year old sewing book (which now would be almost 60 years old) and now realize that the techniques I learned are fine techniques with great details and great finishes and are actually considered fairly high functioning detail work in sewing.

When I moved on to advance my applique skills, I add heirloom sewing skills and loved the concepts of pin tucks, winged needles and lace insertions. I became a Martha Pullen groupie, nearly looking holes in every publication I bought. I never learned smocking as it wasn't one of my favorite techniques but I was enchanted by cutwork. I have always studied fabrics and textures to try to figure out how they use them and what could be done to add more in detail. I really love gadgets like rolled hem feet, rufflers and bias binders. They are such smart tools. After having sewn on a lot of machines in my lifetime, I have a real appreciation for the fine tooling of these accessories on my Bernina machines. Not because I am a dealer but rather because I have had my share of the generic ones for the other machines and love my Bernina accessories which are tooled for performance and durability.

With machine embroidery...well that is the ULTIMATE sewing tool for me. Being able to do cutwork, applique, digitizing and so much more, my head spins with ideas!

This last week, I got to sit in a bit on our Master-Your-Machine classes on heirloom sewing. It was like looking in on Santa's workshop as I watched them do a lace insertion technique and fall in love with winged needle work. I wondered what happen to all the blouses I made over the years with those techniques. However, as I think about it...most of that stuff was my maternity clothes. (Oh yeah, passed them on to friends. I am sure they have had a good life.) What a delightful treat to remember these techniques. It is like finding a good novel and reading the good parts again. (Or am I the only one that does stuff like that?)

It also reminded me of Monica's apron she made while we were on vacation. Our kids grew up with mom sewing and always had ample access to sewing and crafting. However, I never pushed it. They all sewed at some level out of a desire to learn. To this day, I can't say that I have done a lot (except stay out of the way and smile and encourage) to teach them. I am available when they have questions, but like myself, they learn a lot by observing, questioning and researching. So, I was thrilled to see Monica take on an apron of this proportion. Details like a reversible apron, gathered bodice, draw string neck and classy pockets made this a challenge for her. But she is very proud of this as am I for her !

I have had lots of mothers tell me they have to work so hard to resist the urge to pull out stitches their kids sew or to not start working for the kids to rush things along. I have never really had that urge. I think it is because I know how much I grew in my own sewing skills by not having someone hover over me. I took on projects that good sense should have made me never consider. However, I also know I am not alone. Many sewers my age keenly remember winging it and learning on our own. I give a lot of credit to programs such as 4-H. If parents and leaders can just cheerlead and stay out of the way, kids can do great things. Next week, our kids camp starts at the store. I love it because I get to see the kids soar. We give direction but we always leave room for the kids to express themselves. I think I have as much fun as the kids do!

My kids didn't always wear or use everything they sewed, but they each have memories of the process. Keeping in mind that Monica's first sewing project was sewing a thumb mitten that she could put on her thumb at nights to help her quit sucking her thumb, I would say her apron is a long and positive way. But, I still wish thumb mitten would have survived the wash and wear (and probably eventual flushing) as it still makes me smile to think of it.

Sometimes I like to just practice a few techniques and envision what they will be on a valance or a table cloth. I like to just play on samples and write notes on them. (But then I am probably the person who while I am reading a book, will skip ahead and randomly read a future segment, then watch the plot unfold trying to figure out how the author will get the story line to my random reading.)

So now that you got a glimpse at the weird way my brain works, I hope I have encouraged you to go and pull out the decorative stitches on your machine, thread it up with a winged needle (or better yet a twin-winged needle) and see what comes of it. Be sure to use a natural fiber (cotton or linen or flax) as it will only keep the holes with natural fibers.

All the Best to You, jill

p.s. If you want to learn more about the book Monica used, just click on the photograph and it will take you the link about it.

My Summer Vacation...

Having been an elementary school teacher, I am all too familiar with the routine of class starting with "What I did on my summer vacation..." I consider myself blessed (thank you University of Northern Iowa) that I was encouraged to think outside the box....way outside the box. I have always looked for the challenges and what is beyond ordinary.

It has been a few weeks since we went on vacation to a cabin with the fam. However, I JUST got around to unpacking some of my projects as the trip was followed with a trip to San Francisco with Bernina. Then when one is away from the store for such a long period of time, the mail and the responsibilities just don't go away. As I unpacked projects, I celebrated my learning on our trip.

I ventured out with a small suitcase of clothes and my largest suitcase with sewing projects. As I packed I dreaded the thought that some of this stuff would go untouched and return home and be put back in the cubbies to wait for another sewing venture. The thought of carrying that heavy suitcase upstairs and facing the guys (especially Henry) saying, "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TAKING IN THIS CASE?!"....well, it was overwhelming and I considered shipping it Fed Ex as my private stash of fabric.

When I gave up and lugged my suitcase upstairs to be loaded in the van, I was shocked to see that my girls each had two or three times as much stuff as I had packed. I felt much better as I watched them trying to stuff everything in the vehicles. A week of fishing and sewing and enjoying the beautiful weather and lots of rest and I am happy to report that I sewed on every parcel except for one in my bag and even that I made sure I did some studying and cutting before I packed it up to return home.

What I liked the best about this journey was I took mostly bundles of fat quarters. I studied them and selected a project, sew it, then I would study what was left and sew another. I worked every stack down into a little mound of scraps that I saved until the end of the week. Very little went to waste and I even had a hard time not scooping it up and layering it into Aquamesh and creating a free motion design scarf for myself. (Guess that venture will be another day!)

Now this week as I prepare for VIP....we are featuring Christmas in July....I can't wait to show what I did with this great new collection from Benartex, Winter Parade. This quilt took me only a matter of a few hours. It will be a great little throw for my godson, Kai. I used up the rest of the fabric in two other projects. I will be showing those this week as well. Hopefully some of you can join us. It is free to attend. However, we are asking that you give us a call (319-373-0334)or an email (sew@pineneedles.net) and let us know when you want to come. It is always a fun time as we get to show you what is going on in our sewing rooms and give you our tips and tricks and share the learning we are doing all the time. If you want to know more about the times, you can go to our VIP (VERY INSPIRED PEOPLE) section of our web site.

I am glad that I rarely have ordinary times...even on summer vacation!
All the Best to You, jill

Our Hearts in San Francisco

My daughters always give me a bad time because I like hearts. I like charms of hearts and the image of hearts. Of course, I love Brighton...while I don't have but three pieces of Brighton, I love the silver hearts on all of them. My girls think I like them because they don't like them. Well, if that were true, it would be about time I worked at getting under their skin! However, that isn't true. I love the image of hearts and love the symbolism and am probably just a romantic. So, forgive me if I break out in song....left my heart in San Francisco. Truly, this was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been in. I could easily go back there for more of a visit.

We were there for close to a week at Bernina University...soaking up new tips, new techniques and being inspired to come back and share so much with you, our friends. We got a chance to see the new Designer v 6.0 software. The sketching options will amaze and thrill everyone. So intuitive, we are anxious to get our hands on it for our training in August and will be sharing more with our customers. We also got a chance to see a new tool for cutting designs out using your embroidery machine. Talk about making that a multi-faceted machine....who would have ever thought of it. Being a big fan of cutwork, traditional and contemporary, I have some great designs roaming around my idea bank and this cutwork tool is going to be just what I need to let that inspiration soar!!

And for you garment sewers (or wanna-bes) we put our heads together with Linda Lee and are going to be launching Project Sewing Workshop at the store. This is going to give you a chance to work with Linda's designs and to have fabric choices for fabulous garments right at Pine Needles. You will want to be sure to make it to VIP in July and August as we release information about how you can get a chance to win some great prizes just for expanding your wardrobe with the Sewing Workshop. A couple of us from the store will be attending Linda's workshop this summer and will be working on planning Linda's fall visit to the store. You will want to watch the fall newsletter for those details.

Perhaps our favorite part of BU is the fun we get to have with other sewing machine dealers and fabric store teams from across the country and around the world. Our enthusiasm for the Bernina products and the fabrics and notions and publications is almost a genetic bond with us. We not only get to see these people at our trainings and market and convention, but we have developed some great lasting friendships. I always come home energized by all the great ideas I gather from across the country. So, indeed, forgive me for being away from my blog activity, but I was doing what I tell all of you to do...live a widely interesting life and report back when you get a chance to inspire others.

We got to share this Bernina University with Therese and Joel, our daughter and son-in-law. It is great to hear their perspective and watch them grow in knowledge and insight about how to bring more sewing excitement back to Cedar Rapids.

Hope to see you soon in the store. Be sure you get signed up for some of the coming events and see what San Francisco and Bernina University inspired in our sewing world!
All the Best to You, jill

ATTN: RICKY TIMS: Stuff Held For Ransom

Dear Mr. Ricky Tims,

This is a note of property being held captive in Iowa. No items will be injured if you cooperate with us.

On May 9, you departed Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In your departure, you left some precious belongings at Pine Needles Sewing Center in an effort to lighten up luggage for return-travel to Colorado. (Please inventory items in photograph. Garments not photographed out of respect for privacy. Ummm....errr....I mean we are taking turns determining if there is a staff member who will fit the silver belt buckle.)

DESCRIPTION:
•Two quilts...Kool Kaleidoscope #8 and Rhapsody
•One pair of stylish boots of a cowboy-artist
•Various articles of clothing
Items will be returned upon a return visit to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Means of conveyance: Harley motorcycle (odometer read is currently less than 300 miles....time to put miles on that baby). Your cooperation with this endeavor to reunite you with your precious belongings is appreciated.

(If you want to see close up images to replicate Ricky Tims' work, be sure you click on any of the images in this email to see Ricky's work and his music on our web site.)

However, after further investigation of the condition of the quilts, it is noted that the sleeves on said quilts are in need of repair (note photograph). Should Mr. Tims not be willing to exhibit better care (than safety pins) for quilt sleeves, we (the holders of the quilts) reserve the right to not return the quilts lest they fall into such a state of "sleeved-by-safety-pin." Upon receipt of ransom coverage, Mr. Tims would have to issue and affidavit of promise to maintain better care of quilt sleeves. Although, it IS noteworthy that such care is given the sleeves as to make the sleeves of hand-dyed fabrics (nice touch!).

Upon return visit to Iowa, along with reuniting you with your belongings, we will be sharing with you the fruits of our incredible creative journey with you at the concert and classes held on May 8-9 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa as the guest of the Sew Inspired Team at Pine Needles Sewing Center.

Most Respectfully, Your Friends at Pine Needles Sewing Center

P.S. To further assist Ricky on this venture to have his quilt returned, submit your response with information for Ricky to read about his publications or his visit to Iowa in the COMMENT section at the end of the email. This may assist Ricky in determining if he will return to Iowa.
P.S.S. Okay...so this is a hoax. (The request for comments for Ricky to this email is NOT a hoax.) While it is true Ricky Tims left belongings with us at the store, we have respectfuly returned them to him as he requested our assistance in lightening his travel load. Imagine our surprise (and delight) that he left us to study and enjoy his quilts for a bit longer after his departure.
P.S.S. Thanks every so much Mr. Ricky Tims for gracing us in Iowa with your visit. We truly do hope that you consider coming back and teaching us more at some time. See you in Colorado soon to enjoy the lovely landscape you have shared with us in photography, song and stitch!

Know the Symptoms

Cheryl wisely pointed out in a response to my last blog post that we should know the symptoms of heart disease. Paula's death is so fresh for all of us that I had wanted to wait a bit to speak about the need for all of us to be mindful of our health and how heart disease is the number one killer of women in America. When Cheryl pointed this out to me, I really think it underlined the need for me to speak this now.

Take the time to do some reading. I found the following articles to be most noteworthy:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-disease/HB00040
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3053

Being with Paula's family, enjoying the pictures of her with nieces and nephews and her own children and all of the sewing in the pictures she did for the people she loved, I was keenly aware of how sad it is that she died so young. Like many of us, Paula was so good at caring for others. Let's all take her message to heart and take care of ourselves that we can continue to do that which we love for whom we love.

all the best to you, jill

Remembering Paula

On Friday night, May 7, we had a grand evening with Ricky Tims for his concert and dinner. Our friend ad co-worker, Paula Anderson, stayed with us until all the guests had left. She then shared her version of Convergence with Ricky.

Paula went home, had her husband rub her aching shoulder, let her dog out and then back in for the night. Her husband went to bed as she was unwinding from an exciting evening. In the night some time, Paula passed away. Paula Anderson was 54 years old. She leaves behind her husband Charles and daughters, Gina and Becky.

For those who knew Paula Anderson, we knew that she was modest about her work and that her work was incredibly detailed and meticulous. She was her own harshest critic. Yet, she had a kind heart for everyone else.

It was not easy to snap photographs of Paula as she was shy about cameras. However, when she was engrossed in her sewing at a recent event with our staff, I was able to capture her in a place where she found great respite...by a sewing machine and with friends who cared about her.

Paula has been a sewing friend of ours since we opened the store. She was one of the first who enthusiastically found us and came to learn. She came to working with us in January of this year in our office. We have been so privileged to enjoy her cheerful demeanor and diligence to help our customers and be a fabulous team member at our store.

Paula regularly told us and customers that she was working her dream job at Pine Needles. And in so many ways we were privileged to see it and share the joy with her. We were all treated to the blooming of her sewing when she would bring in new things she was sewing and share her learning with incredible joy.

On her day off last week, she took the time to learn Ricky's Convergence Quilting. Wow....we got to see her fabulous creation from Ricky's hand-dyed fat quarters. I was so privileged to be with Paula as she waited until the end of the evening to show her creation to Ricky. He was so inspired by her work that he signed her quilt with the affirmation, "Way to go, Paula!" Her smile gives us great comfort, knowing that she sewed her way to joy.

It is with great sadness that her passing has come. Our family and our Pine Needles family will miss her tremendously. We are so privileged to have had her as part of our team.

I personally know that the message of Paula and others like her is that we continue to share the inspiration and love through our sewing and our compassionate caring for one another. The whole of our creative experience gives voice to the beauty in each of us.

We will miss you our dear friend, Paula....jill

Qubed with Our Friend Kaye England

Last night, several of us at Pine Needles got together and did our own test drive of Kaye England's technique for sewing together a quilt top. This process has always fascinated me because it is a chance to sew the quilt top together in one sitting...that is, one doesn't have to keep running to the design wall to pick up separate units. You pick up all the pieces at one time and then through a system of stacking the blocks and positioning yourself in your sewing space, you then pick up and sew the sets together into units of two. Then you sew into units of four and next into groups of eight. The goal is to cross-lock seams so that all of the seams are not all dragging in the same line. Sewing units in cross-locks will help our quilts hang more squarely as well as give a balance to the design of the quilt.

Each staff member selected a group of fabrics and cut them into 64 squares so that the layout would work as 8 squares across and 8 squares down. The quilts will be available for Kaye England's class on Saturday. We will also be using the kits for future classes on teaching this technique. It was great fun to see the fabrics that "spoke" to each staff member. We also challenged everyone to finish quilt their quilts using different techniques. We anticipate people will be using embroidery machines, BSR, applique embellishment and even fancy threadwork. This is going to be a lot of fun to see what blooms up in VIP, Very Inspired People. Free for anyone to attend with five different time options, you will want to look into joining us for this great time to learn. I ALWAYS learn lots in VIP from my Sew Inspired Pals.

We each used the floor as a design wall. Certainly if one had a design wall that is how we would normally put it together picking up each row. We watched Kaye's DVD, Qubed, for our coaching. It was fun to watch Vicki Tracy having a race with Kaye England on piecing on a serger vs. a sewing machine. What rollicking fun this was to watch. The whole DVD is an inspiration for one of my favorite quilt block techniques....squares and quadrangles. Simple? Indeed. But Stunning!

We eached finished our quilt tops and then went out for dinner and a good chance to laugh and talk through what we learned. This is not a technique that most will master the first time around. However, we all could see the great value in refining our sewing skills by working through Qubed Techniques. I posted a slide show of our progress on our web site. Check it out.

Last night when I came home and went to bed, I couldn't get to sleep thinking about the technique we had just experimented with, I drew out the blocks and played with the configurations. It came to me that this technique will work fabulously for blocks as well as whole quilts. I am also planning to work this through with charm packs for fun and simple quilts.

Most people don't really understand how we sewers can be so interested in putting a quilt together and not always so anxious to finish our quilts. It is about the process and not always the product. However, in this project (Qubed), I can really see that this is like creating a puzzle and getting good results regardless of how exactly the puzzle goes together. I don't do Soduko, but I do like to work my brain on puzzles like this!

If you can't make the Saturday event with Kaye England, look for the coming classes with our staff. Make sure you check into attending our Friday party with Kaye England. She is hosting our kick-off party for Be There, Get Your Square. Along with getting 28 fat quarters in Kaye's fabric collection, Back Home Again, those participating in the party and the Be There event will get the patterns for making Kaye's 12-blocks for Back Home Again and specials and fun.

Another great and fun event I have been participating in is a web site with a group of other shop owners, My Quilt Village. Presently, we have been working on a blog about our first quilts. I just finished reading all the posts to date. Treat yourself to a walk through the blog and be eligible to win a prize. Go to www.myquiltvillage.com

All the Best to You, jill
P.S. Do you wanna join my sewing puzzle?!

Denim Collars

I have been playing with sewing on a denim collar of a ready-made jacket. This was an incredibly rewarding experience in the learning phase. Even once I got it sewn out, I can say I learned a lot. I had a lot to show my friends about what to do and what not to do. Isn't this the heart of an artist...enjoying the process without having to count the final project!?

My first steps were to put the denim collar in a scanner. I scanned one half of the collar. I never knew that denim jacket collars are not straight across. This one has a wave in it. I imagine this is to accomodate for the bulk that happens when the collar turns in the back...whoa....what a great engineering detail by garment designers. One of my favorite alteration people taught me years ago how a hem may not be straight across on a hanger. That may seem incredibly obvious to those of you who are couture sewers, but it is real revelation to those of us who are novices. For me, this is a "WAY AWESOME" concept. How brilliant that a maternity dress would need a hem longer in the front than in the back. Okay...so I am way past maternity-wear....but didn't think you wanted to hear me say, "my dress to cover my beer belly would need to be longer in the front."

Scan the collar, upload it to my Bernina Designer Plus software. I then drew a line that would be sewn FIRST onto Stabil-stick. The line would give me the placement for my denim collar. Next, when my sewing machine prodded me with "Color Finished. Attach New Thread," I took that nudge to tell me to add new medium...sticky glue to hold the collar in place. I love playing tricks like this on my sewing machine. She doesn't know I am now inserting a totally challenging project. Then I dampened the stabilizer to stick the collar down. The important part here is...LET IT DRY COMPLETELY. While I was working on this project, a friend showed me a project she had stitched on Stabil-stick. The thread gummed up on the back. She was confused until I asked her if she had let it dry completely. This stuff is like glue and if you won't let it dry completely, that glue is going to force through and catch thread or bobbin thread or (perish the thought) get into the mechanisms of the sewing machine. I am sure the technicians wouldn't be wild about that.

At this point (dry stabilizer and solidly placed collar), my sewing machine doesn't know it is stitching through a 3-D piece. And my Bernina doesn't care that she is stitching through several layers of denim. I used a denim needle on my project which may seem obvious but I was concerned about the density. Had I had thread breaking, I might has switched to a top-stitch needle as it has a larger eye on the needle. I didn't have that issue.

I did find that I would have had a better result if I'd have used a cut-away in the Stabil-stick rather than a tear-away. I always seem to forget that denim has a fair amount of stretch to it and would get better results on more dense stitch-outs if I used the cut-away rather than tear-away. Also, after watching Ashley's presentation at Embroidery Secrets, I would like to try changing the stitch density on designs that I stitch out on denim or other heavier fabrics.

When our friends come to Embroidery Secrets, it is always GREAT learning for everyone. I am so incredibly amazed at how much improvement I have seen in peoples' stitch outs. If you come to (or want to come to) Embroidery Secrets, it is always free to attend and is held monthly on the first Tuesday of the month and the same session is repeated on Wednesday morning. While we use Bernina machines, the designs and the teaching we provide are good for all machine embroidery.

This next month we are starting our Embroidery Challenge of the month. Just stitch out something with the circles that Roxanne has digitized for everyone. While she introduced hers for quilting, there are so very many things you can do with circles...embellish denim, sew with bobbin work, create trapunto, twin-needle, shadow applique, texture layers... Then everyone who brings their design work to May's Embroidery Secrets will be eligible for a drawing for a $50 gift card. This isn't a contest. You just have to stitch them out and bring them to E-Secrets. If you want to participate, email Roxanne at roxanne@pineneedles.net. Be sure to tell her what format you need for your sewing machine and she will email it back to you.

Have a Happy Easter....Hope you get lots of happy eggs in your basket...jill

My Real Office

For all of my work career, I have never had a real office of my own. I usually shared a closet we called an office with a couple of people or whatever space I could carve out for a card table and a file cabinet. When we planned our new space in the new store, I really dragged my feet on a place of my own. Fear that I wouldn't use it. Anxiety that it would become the great dumping grounds all stopped me. Finally, it was clear that the builders and my husband didn't understand the sense of my reluctance and they carved out a space for my office. I tried several times to give it away but now after a year of being in it, I am finally accustom to my own office. I am even slowly letting it become my place. Getting furniture took a long time. Putting files in the cabinets is definitely a work in progress. I get lonely sometimes and have to wander out. I am likely a more social creature than I think I am....as I would much prefer to be in the main office where I could be in the "happening place."

However, from my office, I get to talk to all of you. Keep up on the details in the world and work on plans for your sewing, for my vision for the store and meet with the Amazing Team Pine Needles as they push on to be inspired and to be inspiring.

Occasionally, I share the office with my pet and Therese's, Macy and Olive. They seem to think they own the world....even my desk!! They took to trying to send emails out via my computer. Dogs with attitude!

My office has grown on me and it looks more like me everyday....scary in a way. However, as with all of our pet spaces....they need to be a sanctuary for us to collect our thoughts and find our creative best. To that end, I am very grateful to my husband for keeping on me to embrace this office! He still thinks there needs to be a place for a recliner (augh) that he can take an afternoon nap. Recliner and my space just don't go together. So sometime I would imagine I will find him curled up on the floor with a quilt or two.

jill

Art Quilting

Some of you may know that my dream as a child was to move to Paris, live in a flat and create art...paint, draw...roam the streets. While other girls were writing out their name as "Mrs. Jane Smith", I was trying to figure out how I was going to muster up the resources to fly myself to Paris. Doesn't sound like most visions of a young girl, but I can tell you it was heady stuff for me. I am sure I emerged into this world dazed and amazed by the visions of the world around me. Yes, I can even find splendor in the texture of places that most people find distracting. Urban images are very powerful to me.

Recently, our family went to see RENT. I loved it. I squirm in my seat at the thought of the visual and auditory and emotional splash of it all. I am not a linear thinker. My life rarely has gone in a straight direction...more an emergence in multiple directions. So, I think something like RENT fits my brain well. I don't need to know the whole story when the show is done. Don't have a need to have everything resolved, neat or tidy. While I look like I am pretty predictable, those who know me well, know that I am definitely a Bohemian artist in my soul. Not that that should cause anyone to worry. I just want to make sure you understand my next rambling about a new explosion of vision at the store. I loved the texture and color that emerged on the stage, especially of the costuming. I was born to express myself in fabric and thread. It just took me a little longer to embrace that as my medium of choice.

Ashley and I are likely kindred spirits and we have long been talking about venturing more into art quilting. This isn't a linear path and we wanted to make sure we weren't leading people into thinking there were right and wrong answers. After a lot of dreaming and talking, we developed a series of classes that Ashley started presenting recently called Art Quilting 101, 201 and 301. These are classes that are journeys.

Of course, in my job, I must practice some semblance of order which means I get to pay the bills, order the products, keep staff on task and keep our communication with our visitors consistent and fairly reliable. Other than making sure that my shoes are in the right place in my closet, this is about the limit of the organization I can stand.

Then when I am tempted by a class such as I witnessed recently at the store, I just want to escape my little office and go play with the other people who are busy reaching inside their minds for inspiration and expression. We had some very brave and inspired people emerge from the store after our first segment of Art Quilting classes.

Trudy recently returned from a Carribean vacation. She selected fabrics for her vision that represented the sunset and the flora from photographs she brought back with her. This just made me happy to see the fabrics sprayed out on the ironing board. Actually, I think Trudy was so inspired that just selecting and playing with the fabrics was a delight to her. I think Trudy is moving along the ironing board with a hot set of dance steps as she is remembering the waves beating on the beachfront. Take us back with you, Trudy!

Kay was busy interpretting fields from an overhead view of the world. A true gardener and artist of floral and greenery, Kay leans towards landscapes of fields and their subtle but distinct shading. The look on her face speaks volumes.

Valerie joined our Art Quilting class recently and did her own version of an undulating horizon of taupes and grays. Valerie often refers to herself as a novice of sewing. Yet, she constantly dazzles us with her adventuresome spirit. Recently, she purchased camisoles from the intimate apparel department and made them into Cami-totes for her family members. Complete with lace and embellishments, these were stunning versions of art that combined her garment skills with quilted pieces she has been exploring in War of the Scraps. Truly and artist with a new kind of paintbrush.

Mary is always open for a new adventure. While she typically works in structured piecing and is incredibly skilled at taking the tiniest bits and pieces and meshing them together into powerful graphic interpretations, Mary embraced this exercise wholeheartedly and explored the variety of stitch options her machine offers. A close-up of Mary's work introduced this blog.

Thanks ever so much for sharing a bit of your journey with our readers. I hope this is just the beginning of your new journey and anticipate that each of you will have more to share with us as you continue your trek into your own imagination.

All the Best to You,
jill

Design Wall...AKA: Pool Table

When we moved to our current home, there was a large room in the basement that screamed "Sewing Room" to me. Of course, it also was large enough to accomodate Henry's pool table and the air hockey table. After some wrangling where I tried to figure out what other rooms the pool table could go and live, I forfeited "some" space. Of course, the space I had calculated was a corner. However, the only real place for it to go was centered under the lamp/fan in the room. So the pool table moves over to encroach upon "my space." Henry feels a little bad about that and we agree to disagree on the space.

I have to give him a LOT of credit because he has been a great sport about this. Both the pool table and the air hockey table are more often covered with our sewing stuff. Even when we move the stuff off the table, no one growls that the table is sporting errant threads and remnants of our projects. They brush it off and play pool happily.

Now, the TV is on my side of the room and Henry's chairs are on the other side of the room. After years of farming, his hearing has changed a bit. So, I get to be in between him and the TV when we are in the basement together. I am thinking speakers behind HIS chair might be the solution here.

I think it is great that as we age, we decide which battles are worth a battle and which just have a different solution. My goal is that when we get to the nursing home we can still share a room...wonder if the pool table will be coming with us. I know the sewing machine will be there!

All the Best to you.....jill
p.s. I think a pool table makes a great backdrop for spools of thread. YLI Vineyard in the left pocket!

A Bad Day Sewing is Better Than...

Therese and I spent the day sewing, actually machine embroidering. We think we can document every mistake in the book from our work yesterday. What I loved about it was that neither of us got discouraged. We just kept saying, "Our customers are going to love knowing we did THAT." "...and THAT" "...and THAT".

The more notable lessons we learned are as follows:













1. When using an embroidery machine, be sure to tighten the embroidery hoop before running the machine. My Bernina 830 is reliable enough to have stitched out most of the design before it finally decided stitching a design that wasn't tightened was quite enough. Funny thing about this error is that I did this twice!! (See how I salvage this one at Embroidery Secrets.)

2. When one leaves the sewing room to go to lunch, consider that your machine might run out of bobbin thread. (Note this design has stopped...all that empty space to the left was supposed to be filled with stitching.) While this seems obvious to most sewers, many of us enjoy the privilege of having a bobbin sensor that stops the machine when the bobbin runs out of thread. However the key to that is to engage the sensor. That would mean that the sensor is located in the DOOR of the bobbin case. To properly engage a bobbin sensor, CLOSE the bobbin case door. Good thing I can walk my stitches backwards to catch up with my brilliance!

3. I have always taken great pride in my grammar and spelling abilities. Having had a grandmother who drilled me on spelling and some of the most rigorous English teachers, poor spelling is a bother to me. After a full stitch out, I proceeded to letter this flap of a handbag without a spell checker! My students in embroidery classes are going to feel so much better about their own sewing experience. Perhaps we should just say we are sewing these mistakes so that our customers can see how to NOT embroider.
4. When operating an embroidery machine, it is very easy to get engrossed in the stitching process. After having gotten our hair caught in a needle bar from getting too close or (my personal favorite) trying to clip jump stitches WHILE the machine is running (good thing we are married to sewing machine technicians), we know how far away to stay away from a performing embroidery machine. Plus, our new Bernina 830 rocks and rolls along so fast and beautifully that we have real respect for her. However, that is not to say that we remember to wind up all our threads properly and keep them away from bobbin winders and fly wheels. Yummy...thread wads! I think we will quit calling it "wasting thread" and start calling it "collecting textures for our art quilting endeavors." To that end, I
think we will start calling fabric cutting "errors" and sewing "boo-boos" by different names..."creative launches"..."opportunities for expression." Rather than see these as shortcomings, we can look at our sewing fiascos as windows of opportunity. Whatever the direction of our sewing journey, Therese and I know we can always count on our faithful pets, Macy and Olive to monitor every step along the way. While the "girls" don't yet sew, we trust they have enough respect to not drag off important parts of our newest ventures into textile collection. And if one of them chews up a sewing project, we could just needle felt it into wool, knowing that the chewing made it a more pliable fiber to be used in a new developing art form.
For those of you who want to know the rest of the story of these poor-fated embroidery experiences, know that Therese and I rescued every one of these sewing experiences and in many cases took our learning and will help our students avoid these mistakes. If we can't get you to avoid our pitfalls, we will surely teach you how to laugh at them and to take yourself a little less seriously. Make sure you check out the calendar at our store and register for the free events such as VIP and Embroidery Secrets.
We are presently getting ready for VIP over the next three days. At lunch Therese admitted that she had little to share that was "finished" and she felt bad about that. However, I reminded her that "finished" is a relative term when it comes to artists. Further, finishing something doesn't mean as much to an artist as "being in process." We are CERTAINLY in process and having a grand time on this journey.
Stay tuned for more antics from my sewing room!
All the Best to You, jill