A Christmas Present for ME!

I'm giving myself a very special present this year!  I've ordered the new Bernina Adjustable Ruler Foot (#72) plus a set of Bernina quilting rulers.

This new foot will work with my Bernina 440 model and I'll also be able to use the rulers with my HandiQuilter Avante.  

You may ask why I would get this foot since I have a longarm. Well, sometimes I have a smaller project to quilt and it is just easier to do the quilting on my domestic machine instead of having to load it onto the longarm.

I am a very good free motion quilter (have taught this for many years), but beiing able to use the ruler techniques we can use on a longarm on my domestic machine adds another tool in my toolbox.

Interested too?  I ordered mine from my friend Kathy at Snip & Stitch Sewing Centre in Nanaimo, BC.  This is a full service Bernina dealership and Kathy's staff have all the knowledge about Bernina.

Here's a blog post from Amanda Murphy about these new tools!

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I've been a 'Bernina girl' since I convinced my mom to trade in our old Featherweight on a newer sewing machine back in the early 1970s.  I KNOW....don't frown....I wasn't a quilter then and didn't know the value of a Featherweight!  I just wanted to be able to do buttonholes for the garments I made. I was tired of making 'bound' buttonholes!

That first Bernina 831 was a workhorse - still have it!  I had it serviced ONCE in 30 years - but only because I'd heard that you were supposed to.  I cleaned it regularly, oiled it as was shown in the manual and I STILL have it. This machine sewed everything from garments for me and my family, curtain (LOTS of curtains), craft items and, finally, quilts.

When I wanted to do Blank Stitch Applique, I bought another Bernina - but I had learned my lesson and didn't trade in my 831.

My 1260 is going strong too! Another wonderful feature that was new to me was the NEEDLE DOWN option. My free motion quilting became SO much easier with this option. And the buttonholes...well there are several types!

It's nice to have a 'backup' machine with more of the stitches I like to use. There are a couple of stitches on this machine that aren't on my 440 - you just can't have enough 'stitches'!

(PS - I have since received a wonderful gift of a Featherweight from my late Aunt so that makes 4 machines that I own).

It's going to be a PARTY!

This weekend is International Quilting Weekend (March 18-20, 2016) and it is time for a PARTY.

I have blocked time on Sunday to work on a few projects that have been languishing in my studio. How convenient that my DH has booked a golf game!

What will you be doing this weekend?  How about learning about quilters and their quilts?

The Quilt Show is celebrating too. Here is the letter they sent me to share with you:

Big news here! In honor of International Quilt Day (March 19, 2016), The Quilt Show (www.thequiltshow.com), the web TV show hosted by Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, will "open" all of its shows from the first seventeen series--that is, from show 100 through show 1713--for the entire weekend of March 18 –20. That means that—for three special days—everyone will have the chance to view these 221 shows, featuring some of the quilting world’s leading artists, for FREE. 

As you may already know, I appeared as the featured artist on TQS in Show #309. If you didn't have the opportunity to see this show first time around, now you'll have the chance to see it—and so many other terrific shows—at no cost in this unprecedented three-day offer.

I hope that you'll share this information with all of your quilting friends. It's a fantastic opportunity

to enjoy three days of learning and fun without leaving your home…all for free.

Enjoy the shows, and spread the word to all your friends!

ADDED BONUS!  

There will be PRIZES to be won - over $11,000 worth of cool stuff like: 

Fabric, Books, Mats, Rulers, a GO! cutter and the Grand Prize: a BERNINA 570QE!

Click this link to enter: http://bit.ly/IQW-2016 and GOOD LUCK!