Debbi Lashbrook hosted a “Sewing Celebration” event in our store this past Friday and Saturday. We’d like to extend a big THANK YOU to Debbi for her wonderful presentation and inspiring projects. Loving Stitches is so blessed to be able to bring such fabulous national educators to our customers. We enjoy having them in the store and we hope you also enjoy learning from them and having fun at the events!
We are so proud to be hosting the “Deploy That Fabric” trunk show for Veteran’s Day during November. As you can see, many of the designs involve using old uniforms. The book contains 23 sewing projects using recycled military uniforms – it even contains instructions on the best way to deconstruct the shirts and pants!
The author, Jen Eskridge, is a military spouse who knows what it means to be a military spouse – both the challenges and the rewards.
This trunk show is such a perfect fit for Loving Stitches and our Ft. Bragg community. Please stop by to enjoy the show and be inspired to do some “green” sewing by recycling older military uniforms!
Pressing correctly is such an important part of any sewing process and few have ever been taught the correct way to use the various tools needed to perform specific pressing tasks.
All types of sewing – including hand quilting – require:
Today we all went our own directions to cover the various classes and boy did we learn a lot that we can’t wait to share with you! QuiltMotion, contour line applique, Runaround Bags, ideas for emails, ideas for classes, ideas for displays, and TONS more. AND there’s more to come tomorrow! We’re tired from the day, but we do have some more sneak peeks to share with you.
Here are some close-ups of the new 5 Series machines – the 530, the 550 and the 580.
Both the 530 and 550 have wonderful display screens. And just check out this screen on the 580! If you want to get away from EC on PC to do your embroidery, this just may be the machine for you!
Some of the girls are going to hands-on classes with these machines tomorrow, so we’ll be sure to tell you how the test drive goes! Also tomorrow, we’ll have a Sneak Peek at some of the new storage cases for your Isacord threads!
It was another information packed day here at BERNINA University. We still have 3 days to go, but we’re already thinking our heads will explode! Carol attended dealer meetings for most of the day where she learned more about the 5 Series as well as other things BERNINA has planned. If you happen to be in Zurich, Switzerland after September 2nd, be sure to visit the BERNINA concept store. We’re keeping an eye on things and hopefully there will be links available soon.
Another thing Carol learned was that BERNINA is going to launch a new website AND blog page later this year. She saw some previews of pages and it looks so much more user-friendly. We’ll be certain to share the news when it goes live!
We also had the opportunity to attend “Creative Clinics” which provide us with useful information about products that we already carry, or that we are thinking of carrying. Mr. Warren attended some technical question and answer sessions which allowed him to be with other tech-minded folks.
The girls went to the merchant mall where they could interact with some of our suppliers. This gives us the opportunity to make suggestions for improvements or things we’d like to see. Oh, and we picked up a whole bunch of those Frixion pens that just keep flying off the shelves. The neat part of these Frixion pens is that we got them in blue, a fine point black, and some lighter colors to work on darker fabrics! So be sure to look for those after we return. The merchant mall also allows us to interact with some of the designers – Sarah Vedeler, Angie from LunchBox Quilts, Smith Street Designs – to see what they have in development.
Speaking of Sneak Previews, here is a sneak preview of the 2011 OESD embroidery collections – they are just fabulous and we can’t wait for them to arrive!
Howdy Y’all! As you can see the girls are all set to “cowgirl up” at BU! We went to the opening ceremony this evening, which started our ideas flowing. Coming to BU is like coming to a family reunion, even if it’s your first time. When you purchase a BERNINA, you become part of the greater BERNINA family and the company treats you that way. BERNINA understands that a machine purchase is an investment, which they appreciate – and so do we! We do our best to support you and make you feel like family. Because without you, our customers, there would be no Loving Stitches, and there would be no BERNINA. Thank you.
H.P Ueltschi, the owner of BERNINA (yes, it is a family owned company) gave us a challenge this year. He challenged us to “dare to be different.” Knowing the personalities in the shop, you know this will be easier for some of us 
! But with this challenge, we will also come up with ways to challenge you to be different – to unleash your creativity, to try something new, to “think outside the box.”
The highlight of the opening ceremony was the introduction of the 5 Series machines, which are pictured here. We’ll be learning about these machines this week, and we will share that information with you. We just wanted you to see them for the first time here!
We’re all taking TONS of photos here, so be sure to continue to check out our blog and facebook page throughout the week. We’ll even put together a slide show to share when we “Bring Back BU” to you – so watch for our special events and information sessions after we return!
We have a guest blogger this time, our dear friend Mary Ann Hardee attended the 2011 Quilt Symposium and volunteered to share her thoughts about it.
The 2011 North Carolina Quilt Symposium at Peace College in Raleigh was a big success! Not only was the quilt show inspiring, but the classes opened up new arenas for quilters with much to learn (like ME!)
Our own Karen Potts took the squares she won in the challenge two years ago and created a beautiful quilt. She talked to several who were delighted to see their own square as part of her quilt. It was a great way to give back!!
I took two classes with Sally Collins, known for her precision quilting. It was truly amazing to see her tiny pieces, so precisely pieced. Then she had us creating tiny squares as well. I can’t wait until my sampler is complete. Jan Krentz was another great teacher.
The points for my Lone Star are ready to be blocked so it should not take long to complete that project as well.
Next year’s symposium will be in Cullowhee and mark your calendars now… we will be hosting symposium at Methodist College… just a hop, skip and jump from our own Loving Stitches, May 23 – 26, 2013!
~Mary Ann Hardee
I know every quilter has her stash, and I am no exception. Some of us have small stashes, some of us have large stashes, but we all have them…and love them because we just love fabric!
If you haven’t seen it, we have this great new book in the shop from ScrapTherapy called “Cut the Scraps!” In it, Joan Ford explains her ScrapTherapy program and the sizes she uses for the projects. For our smaller bits of fabrics, this is a wonderful way of organizing them!
The book contains 20 projects, and these aren’t just quilts! There are pillows, pincushions, bags and table runners. But you could always adjust the size of a quilt to make it a table runner or table topper anyway.
I know a lot of quilters like to be matchy-matchy when making their quilts, but scrappy quilts are beautiful in their own way. And since most of us are watching our pennies nowadays, scrap quilts are the best way to make use of the fabric we already have!
As you know, I am the Princess-in-Training at Loving Stitches…and all my Aunties are my maids in waiting, helping me with my walking, but soon I’ll be walking all by myself! Today, I wore my own tiara to recognize to celebrate the big event on the other side of the Atlantic.
Along with everyone else, I want to wish good luck to William and Catherine. Wasn’t her dress absolutely beautiful? My Nana said the dress reminded her of a modern version of Grace Kelly’s dress. And William was so handsome in his military dress uniform.
Although I, as a Princess-in-Training, did not receive an official invitation to the big event, it was still fun to watch. Congratulations William & Catherine!
You just wouldn’t believe all of the things I have learned since turning one year old on March 7th! I can drink out of a straw, sort of feed myself, and almost have this walking thing down to an art! In my spare time I have been studying the way Nana and her friends quilt so that I can share some tips with you each month.
I thought if I interviewed my Nana, she should be able to give me some tips because she has been sewing a LONG time. She told me that keeping your machine clean, oiled and in top condition was one of the most important things any quilter could do. Nothing wastes precious sewing time faster than having to restitch a seam because the needle is skipping, adjust the tension during a project, or pick lint out of a seam because the machine wasn’t cleaned before being used.
She also told me that using one of the newest left-twisted threads like Aurifil or Presencia meant less cleaning required because these threads are practically lint free! I LOVE these threads, well I love all the COLORS of the threads anyway! When I can sew, I am going to pick red thread. It’s my favorite!
I hope my tips will help you enjoy your sewing time more and that you will be watching next month for Tip #2! Nana is telling me it is nap time so I will have to say bye for now.
Your Friend, Mikayla Brielle Watkins
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