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).

Row, row, row....

Are you ready to 'start your engines'?  Row by Row Experience® 2016 starts NEXT WEEK - on Tuesday to be precise.

This amazing event is in every Canadian province, all US states and Europe too. So, no matter where your travels take you, you can collect free row patterns from the quilt shops you visit.

I have designed rows for 5 shops this year, 3 here on Vancouver Island, 1 in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia and 1 in New York state.

This year's theme is 'Home Sweet Home' so all the rows reflect the local shop's vision of what 'home' means to them.

Here are a pictures of the rows I have designed. Shops will be handing out the FREE patterns and they'll also have kits available for purchase so you can make your row just like the 'in store' sample. Happy ROWING everyone!

Bib 'n' Tucker, Victoria, BC

Black Sheep Quilt Shop, Duncan, BC

Snip & Stitch Sewing Centre, Nanaimo, BC

Hamels Fabrics & Quilting, Chilliwack, BC

Fabric Mart NY, Yorktown Heights, NY

Catching up............

I can't believe we are already more than half way through November! And I haven't shared any news for more than 2 weeks.

So what have I been doing? Recovering from Quilt Market - I caught a cold a couple of days after I got back from Houston so that set me back for a few days. Then I had lots of follow-ups to do after Market.

 A family dinner and spending time with my Granddaughter (after I recovered from the cold) were also scheduled. I made her first Christmas Stocking - nice and big so it will last for years and years.  The pocket is made from a sample panel of flannel fabric. There are 5 other panels with the snowman doing different things. Another project is in the works for those panels. I'll share the results after Christmas.

Decorative Machine stitching - just a bit of GLITZ!

I travelled to Snip & Stitch Sewing Centre in Nanaimo last week to talk about what is NEW in the quilting world and show the upcoming fabric collections from Northcott. Several students also joined me for a 'Demo and Make/Take' Day. I showed students how they can use Strip-Rs and No-Sew Circles fabrics to make some amazing projects.

No-Sew circles make this project quick and EASY!

Strip-R's - the fastest way to Bargello!

Students used my 'Ripless Paper Piecing' technique to make a Winter Tree Mug Rug. The new Clover Wedge Iron worked beautifully for paper piecing. Compact, thin sole so pressing is perfect and it heats up quickly and hot enough to use for all your patchwork and paper piecing projects.

I demo'd a couple of  rulers from Sew Kind of Wonderful. The original Quick Curve Ruler can be used for an amazing array of projects. Here's my demo sample.




The Quick Curve Mini is their latest offering. Check out all the arrangements that can be made with these blocks.

And here is a photo from their booth at Quilt Market. They have written lots of patterns for both rulers and also have a book with new projects and ideas.

Kathy, the shop owner, hosted me overnight at her home. She's getting ready for the holidays too. Check out these PJs her grandchildren will be receiving.....and even some for the DOLLY! She used Northcott's Lumberjack Flannel - so soft and cuddly and CUTE!

Dolly needs PJs too!

And, if that wasn't enough to keep me HOPPING in the last few weeks.....I have also written and published TWO NEW PATTERNS!

First up is CRISSCROSS - bold, graphic, easy strip piecing! Fabrics are from Northcott's Artisan Spirit collection Painter's Passion. You can also select your favourite 5 high contrast fabrics to make this 80" square quilt.

I designed Gemstone to showcase upcoming Island Batik fabrics - and I loved this design so much that I made it with the batik...................

and for my friend Jill as a 'Welcome Home' gift....................

and still another version for my granddaughter!


I've got another wallhanging size ready for binding. That will be next week's project.  I'll do a tutorial about how I sew my binding completely by machine. Stay tuned......






These new patterns are available in the Patchworks Studio Store.


Wow...this has been a LONG blogpost....but lots to catch up on.  Talk to you next week!