I love my job at Strawberry Patches! We have the best customers, we really do. I had people coming by the shop today - all day, just to show me something or needing a question answered or just to tell me how much they love their Berninas! Just makes you feel wonderful that you can share your love of sewing and embroidery with them. Patti is a new comer to embroidery and she came by today feeling totally frustrated and ready to give up. I sat down with her, her machine and her laptop and was able to walk her through everything. The best part was (and we both got a real chuckle out of this) she had ordered some designs online and when I showed her how portfolio worked in version 6 she was amazed to see all the embroidery designs she had purchased online! A lot that she said she'd not seen before!! We worked everything out and before she left gave me 2 big hugs because she was so relieved to have everything working.
Then she came back in later and left me 2 Halloween cupcakes. We enjoyed those tonight after dinner. Yummy!! Thank you Patti!
I love my job at Strawberry Patches!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN~~

Last Minute Need For Halloween Food?

Click here to see all the goodies that you can whip up for a Halloween treat!

Happy Halloween !!

Minkee PJs

While wondering through lingerie in Sears, what of all things do I see on the wall in front of me?! Minkee!! Minkee pjs for us Moms! I didn't buy any but checked out the cut of them. We're talking super easy, quick and simple. Stretch and Sew ring a bell anyone? The pants are just the easy elastic waist style - just like super easy pajama patterns you've seen. No fit there except in the elastic. The top had smooth minkee with the bump trim. I'm thinking of all the pretty new minkees print patterns we have and how snuggly those would feel! Now, just add a large beautiful monogram and you have one very special gift for those hard to please gals!

Very Cute!!!

You still have time to register for this session. Just go to http://www.berninausa.com/ , about the middle of the page and click on the session time that best fits your schedule. But it's tomorrow so you shouldn't delay! And FREE!! So go on now and register so you listen in and watch the good stuff tomorrow.

How Does My Machine Complete A Stitch?

Click here to see how your machine completes a stitch.

I Wanna Be A Rock Star !!

We were hamming it up yesterday while everyone was at the courthouse! How does this relate to embroidery? Read on... when Amanda and I were at V6 software training SHE wanted to go shopping. Well, one of the stores we passed was a Disney store. This was a week before Caitline's birthday. What do they have sale but Hannah Montana costumes! She has gotten more fun out of this outfit it was definitely worth it. Yes, those are large sequins attached to the whole front. The pants are glittery stretch fabrics and she is struttin' her stuff for her fans in this picture. What a gal!

I'll be posting pictures soon of the birdhouses for November embroidery club.

More Pictures to Share

Braggin' Corner

Terry Kropp just sent me these lovely treats she made. She's happy to report everyone loved their gifts!

Unzipping Files Within Verison 6

You can unzip within Version 6 ! The image above shows the result of selection File/Open. The zip files only show when the files of type option is changed to "All Files". Then right click on the file the "Extract All" choice. The next screen that displays allow you to chose where to place the files that were compressed in the zip file. The default is to save them in the same folder where the zip is - but you can change that if you desire.

Embroidery Club was fun yesterday! Everyone completed their little vintage guest towels. I found the towels at http.embroiderythis.com if you're interested in purchasing your own. ALSO - no embroidery club in December.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let me be the first to wish you all a Happy New Year and announce that we'll be doing another sew in on that day at the store. I'm working on another mystery for you and hope to have everything worked out mid November-ish!

Braggin' Corner... Here's a set done by my Mom. These are from Patchabilities. I tried but the camera couldn't capture the frame, but it's actually a 3-part frame and is very cute and compliments the series very well. These are about 8x10, something like that. This is the same company that produce the pattern we used last year when we did the little ornament quilts.

Lily has done another masterpiece! Digitized and quilted this darling little quilt. Even used minkie on the backside. Wonderful job Lily!

Get Ready For Cosmo - IT"S HERE!!!!

SWEET NOSTALGIA

Suzanne has a new tower of color coming. The complete collection of Cosmo embroidery floss is making it's way from Japan. Here's a new block of the month to prepare in preparation of the floss arriving. This is for hand embroidery but the blocks can be digitized of course!

Click here for the site. OMG, just realized this site is from Canada - thought it was another Australian gal but not this time. Enjoy!

New Year's Day Fun

It seems that there is interest in doing another project on New Year's day 2010! So I'm looking for a project - have a couple possibilities but nothing definite yet. I know, we're running out of days in 2009. Please feel free to share any suggestions with me.

BERNINA WEBINAR

If you haven't watched the most recent webinar from Bernina, give yourself a treat and watch it. It's at the berninausa.com site, but only for a limited time.

BERNINA CLUB

Well, we tried to come up with a different name since everyone is welcome, yes even non Bernina sewing machine owners. Anyway, last night one of our ladies, Patti, brought several little camera cases she had made using a pattern purchased from a site she found on Etsy. What is neat is that you can download the pattern and don't have to wait for it to arrive via snailmail. Also, you can slide the strap right on your wrist and keep your camera handy but safe! It's a cute project and I can see these being made for Christmas projects, adding a touch of embroidery (of course!) before the pieces are constructed. Even a monogram on the flap would be a fitting touch! Of course I now own my own copy of this pattern - too cute to pass up! She has other patterns as well so check it out.

Click here for the site.

Don't Miss This!

Today was such a fun day with our software classes. Version 6 from Bernina has a lot of neat features that we enjoyed playing with today. Bernina was kind of enough to schedule a webinar that began after the afternoon session! It's now available on their web site so you should check it out. Pam, Lily and Ann Marie all stayed and watched the webinar with me.

Debbie Lashbrook tied together the new cutwork software, the version 6 embroidery software, the My Label software, the border calculator software and the 830 machine to create a capri length trouser with cutwork design she created. Then took 2 scallop stitches from the sewing stitches and took those into the V6 software and created a scalloped design that she could use across the bottom of each pant leg. She had taken the stitch combination into the border calculator software to determine how many repeats she needed. It was an awesome display of how everything ties together to create a unique garment. It was an excellent display of how the cutwork needle tool and software work to create terrific cutwork designs. It's truly amazing that only 4 cutting directions of the tool will create any design. You really need to watch this while it is still on their web site. Just go to www.berninausa.com and click on the webinar time and you will be able to watch the rerun of the same session we saw earlier today.

It's a Vacation Day!!

Yes, today is a vacation day for me. Even though we have 2 classes scheduled today to show you what's new on Bernina's version 6 embroidery software, it's really a vacation day for me! I love this software!

You've come a long way, baby!

Watch for date coming for the Saturday version of this class.

Also, this Saturday is Embroidery Club! We're doing the shadowwork guest towel. This is a project from my Jenny Haskings training. I was able to find the exact same towel that we used in our training. I've only got a limited number of towels though so don't wait if you're interested in doing the class.

Supply List
>1 Double needle 6mm
>1 embroidery needle
>If you have embroidery foot 9 or 15 please bring what you have.
>Embroidery thread colors:
green
ice blue
need 2 for the double need work but one can be a bobbin just wound full
medium blue
light pink
light tan
>1 bobbin filled with regular embroidery bobbin thread
>1 empty bobbin
>fabric marking pen
>ruler
>dissolvable stabilizer - with sticky is good but you can also use the 505 spray if you have no sticky. Be prepared to use more than one layer of stabilizer and it must be dissolvable.
I will have guest towels available for purchase.

It's Mine! All Mine!!

Can you believe it! I placed my order yesterday. I am really looking forward to getting to know my new machine! Just look at the size of that large embroidery hoop! Man o' man am I going to love sewing out quilt block sized designs in that. Of course here's the next project my daughter has lined up for me. You might recall that I embroidered a bunch of shirts for her Scion car club....well the new thing that she wants me to embroidery on is her car dashboard cover! Now I'm looking at mine too and trying to figure out what to stitch on it. Wouldn't it be awesome to have more than one so you could do different things. One idea is to spell out something like maybe a holiday greeting or something reversed so that you could only read it from the car in front. I guess it would have to be fairly large sized lettering but we've done that before.
Anyway, now I really have get my @#$ together and get my sewing room straightened up for the new arrival! Of course wouldn't I just love to have one of the fancy sewing cabinets we saw at Quilt Market! Actually the wood was so beautiful it would blend right in with my living room furniture. I'll just take over half of the living room and of course still keep my sewing room, I don't think Herbie would mind too much! Ha! Just kidding, dear. >wink<
Don't forget that Bernina Super Saturday and purchases over $4,000 can be financed for 48 months interest free. What a deal. I'll be working in the store this Saturday so come see me if you have questions about anything Bernina!
Have a great day tomorrow!!

Words of Wisdom

Click on image to enlarge for easier reading.

HOUSTON, WE HAD A PROBLEM

Well, thanks to the thunderstorm that hit as we were boarding yesterday to come back from quilt market we had a slight problem! But it just meant a delay until the thunder and lightening had passed. Then when we landed in Phoenix the flight attendant welcomed us to St Lake City! Those crews from SouthWest - they love to kid around but I think she was just distracted before she started making her announcements and totally forgot where we were landing!

But we're back from everything new and wonderful at quilt market 2009. And as we saw it was the 30th anniversary for Fall Quilt Market. Got in kind of late last night but today is back to work day. Could use just a little R&R. I can't believe I haven't been on the computer since last Friday morning. But, it is good to be home! Suzanne has posted lots of photos she took so check those out if you haven't yet. I'll update later. Have I said it's good to be home?

Up, Up and Away!

And we're leaving on a jet plane but I know when we'll return. I'm taking my little netbook with me so I can share notes from show. I'm hoping that we'll have some great embroidery news to share with all of you when we return. So have fun sewing and embroiderying while we're gone. Remember Oct 17th - Bernina big Sale!

I Want My Mug For My 830 Collection

See the perfect mug on Ebay. Can you tell I'm getting ready to love my Bernina 830? Click on mug if you want to order your own mug. Click here to order your own Bernina 830.

You see I've got a set of bobbins, a foot and the bobbin case mirror for the 830. I'm starting to collect the little things for my own Bernina 830. It's like I told Suzanne, I'm building my 830 like Johnny Cash built his Cadillac!

Met with Lyn the quilter today! She liked my quilt, but she's probably not met too many quilts she didn't like. Anyway, she now is in possession of my project I've slaved over for the last several months and has promised to work her magic on creating a magnificient quilted project for me with her "signature swirl". I think she's a budding digitizer and I'll be working with her to create some terrific embroidery quilting designs for us, so watch for future news along that line. She is one talented gal. Like I tell my students in BSR classes - if you like to doodle then free motion quilting is just an extension of that. What better way to spread your doodling than to immortalize it in machine embroidery! What a deal, she wins, we win. I'm liking this.

Meeting With The Quilter

Yippy! I'm meeting with Lyn today to have her work her magic on my quilt. This is the one that I will be offering a software class or just as an embroidery project in 2010.

Here's a free download from Birdbrain for a Halloween design to digitize.

Another View Of The Halloween Quilt

This version sewn by Deb Yadon. She skipped piecing or embroidery on the border and just sewed fabric strips for the border and binding was stripe cut on the border. Another way to get it done.

**

Did you download your October block from Bunnyhill yet? It's really cute. Mom and I were talking about how cute this block was makes us curious as to the next two blocks also. Guess we'll have to wait and see, won't we!!

Have my latest quilt ready to take to a quilter. This quilt will be a class in 2010 - both for software class and for anyone just wanting to do an embroidery project. My goal was to make a lapsize quilt but it got out of control and finished at about 82 inches. That's some lap, huh!

There's just 4 more days before we leave for Houston and all that awaits us there at Quilt Market.

Label for Willowberry's 2009 BLOM

Ok, my Mom informed me today that Cheryl at Willowberry has posted the quilt label for her cute Verandah Views embroidered quilt. This is the project that is posted as a pdf for you to download and trace for hand embroidery. Of course I always look at something and see how to do it through machine embroidery. I realize that you can always use a hand project so we'll call this project a cross over!! Anyway, the blocks are not large at all and some of the embroidery had to be done with a single strand of embroidery thread. Of course my Mom has done each one by hand. I think she even used the embroidery hoop she's had for years - they just get better with age you know. My Mom has all the blocks done and and the top is completely sewn together. She purchased batting today (probably will have enough for another whole project because the size is about 27" square).
I'll get a picture posted of the top as soon I can. I didn't have my camera with me today.

Deb Yadon had left her Halloween quilt at the shop today so we were all able to admire it. I have a picture being sent to me and will get it posted as soon as it arrives.

Oh, I almost forgot. Not sure what was special about today but from what I saw this morning at 8am while having coffee at Starbucks at the Market Place it was Old Guy In A Ferrari (old fart in a Ferrari) morning. There must have been 20 of them come in and drive by Starbucks on their way to park in the parking log by Applebees. It was a site to watch these Italian driving machines hike over a darn little speed bump! They are a beautiful machine though just really looowww to the ground. I know this has nothing to do with embroidery but it was sight,let me tell you!! That was a lot money in that group of cars for sure.
Nice.

PRIMAVERA BLOM

New block from Embroidery Traditions.
This design collection is created especially for the Bernina 830 large hoop size!
Each block is gorgeous!

Multi-Hoop Project

Now here is a free design from Kennys Kreations. They have a beautiful Baltimore Album quilt collection available and this is a free offering to go with those blocks. For the 830 it is 2 hoopings and for the other Bernina machines it is 3 hoopings. Beautiful applique. The designers are a lovely Mother and daughter from Australia and I was fortunate to meet them in person at Quilt Market in Houston the last time I went - probably 2-3 years ago. Those Australian women sure do digitize the most wonderful designs.
Speaking of Quilt Market, it is coming up next weekend in Houston. I have my list of embroidery related vendors that I want to see their projects in person. Who knows, maybe we can find a cool block of the month for embroidery! I have a new vendor for something like this and they will be there so I've got their booth number to track down.

Autumn Project

Here's a cool Autumn project that I've got everything ready - the fabric, the designs, etc. Just need to stitch out the designs.

I decided to replace the pieced leaf blocks with embroidery.

The project instructions can be found here. Courtesy of Wilmington. There's a much clearer picture on the instructions than what I'm able to show you here.

Now the design I found at Embroidery Online. The designs match the flowers in the fabric . This is the result of the feature in your Bernina software that allows you to create an image from your design work page. Look for design HE138. I think it was $8 for the single design.
Mind you this is the design twice. I duplicated, then mirrored it. I copied one or two additonal flowers to fill in some of the spots where the designs meet. I made 2 mega hoops that I would duplicate the length of the quilt top. Again, this is going in place of the pieced leaf blocks.

The fabric we have in the shop is the border fabric shown in the project and I love the autumn colors! We've also got the other fabrics as well.



Here's a better close up of the fabric to give you a better idea of the flowers and colors. I love the colors. Get your fabric today and get started!