Did you know the nation’s largest event for sewing enthusiasts takes place right here in the Pacific Northwest? The Sewing and Stitchery Expo is a non-profit educational event that features over 100 seminars daily, hands-on workshops, style shows and over 400 booths that specialize in the latest in fabrics, tools, and supplies! This year Sew Expo will be taking place March 3rd-6th at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. In addition to all the daily happenings, special guests Nancy Zieman and Ricky Tims will be flying in to make special appearances. Nancy will be presenting an exclusive never-before-seen program for the Expo audience. Ricky will be on the Expo Runway playing a grand piano, singing and quilting!
The Sew Expo has a new website that has all the details you need to know about the show. You can download a registration brochure which features all the seminar and class descriptions. Additionally you can register for the daily seminars on the Expo website. You can purchase Sew Expo tickets at all Quality Sewing locations while supplies last. Pre-sale tickets are only $10.00, they will be $12.00 the day of. The Sew Expo website also features an updated blog and some fun links including: Pillowcase PatrolAs a part of the “Million Pillowcase Project”, the 2011 Sewing & Stitchery Expo will be a collection point for handmade pillowcases. Create cheerful pillowcases for the children who are undergoing treatment at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. Plus Buzz Tools Embroidery Designs has provided fun, juvenile embroidery designs for the pillowcases, these designs are available for download on the Sew Expo website. Every person who brings pillowcases to the Expo will receive one free spool of Coats & Clark thread and will be eligible for a door prize! Totebag Challenge- Make Your Own 2011 Souvenir Totebag Contest rules and free optional embroidery designs are available on the Expo website!
Be Sure to Visit the Quality Sewing Booths – This year we will have an expanded notions and thread booth in the Pavilion. We have been shopping and negotiating with our various vendors for several months to bring you an amazing array of hot buys! We have combed our stores for close-outs and one-of-a-kind items that will all be priced to sell fast. We will also feature the new items that Nancy Zieman will show in her seminars, all at special Expo prices. We have many sewing experts on-hand this year and this will be a great opportunity to meet them. Across from the notions booth in the Pavilion, we have multi-needle embroidery expert George Moore and special guests long arm quilting experts Donna Springer and Denice Applegate Schober. Be sure to visit Angela Mullins, our guest digitizing expert from Floriani in our main booth in the Showplex. Across from our main booth, we will have special guest Ed Moore, the lead designer for Koala Cabinets. This event is not to be missed as it only happens once a year! View our 2011 Sew Expo Buyers Guide that showcases all the fabulous deals to be had at this year’s event.
We recently hosted the Love of Sewing Retreat with special guest Nancy Zieman at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. This was a unique opportunity for our customers and employees alike as Nancy only presents four sewing retreats a year. The event was a success and I think everyone had fun!
Two of Nancy’s samples that inspired me the most were the Trace n’ Create Lone Star Quilt Template and Trace n’ Create Dresden Quilt Template. These templates are fantastic because you can create a 36″ block in the same time it takes to make a standard size quilt block. Using these Trace n’ Create templates, you are able to make a 12″,24′ 32″ or 36″ quilt block. It takes just as much time to make a 36′ block as it does a 12″ block. Either one of these large blocks would work well to create a queen size quilt in no time using a quilting machine!
Using Nancy’s “No-pivot Method”, you will never use traditional methods again!
With the templates, you have perfect points every time!
It’s a new year and we wanted to share ways to benefit the community through sewing & quilting! These organized groups offer a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in our communities while doing what we love…to sew!
The Piecemakers Quilting Group
Giving back to the community while incorporating their love for quilting, the Piecemakers Quilting Group meets twice a month to assemble quilts that are distributed through Lutheran World Relief. The quilt tops are sewn by various members of the group, then the quilts are assembled at group meetings. On average, the Piecemakers complete 10 Quilts at each meeting! Quality Sewing donated a Brother NS40 sewing machine to help this group with their generous efforts. This group meets on the first and third Thursday of each month at Advent Lutheran Church in Mill Creek. Visit the Piecemakers blog for more information!
Bags for YWCA
The YWCA’s Women’s Support Shelter is a domestic violence shelter for women and their families. For many, the Shelter and its related services form a sturdy base from which to start fresh, stable, safe, self-sufficient lives. The mission of the Wednesday Bag Ladies at the Tacoma Quality Sewing location is to provide tote bags for their fresh start. Simple totes, for adults & children, can be great canvasses for embroidery, quilt squares, raw edge applique, decorative stitches, etc. The Wednesday Bag Ladies meet on the third Wednesday of each month at the Tacoma store, read more about the Wednesday Bag Ladies.
Quilts for Vets
Our Federal Way Quality Sewing location has a group that meets the 1st and 3rd Friday morning of each month to sew and put together quilts for military personnel and veterans. Last year the group sent over 1,000 quilts to Afghanistan and made quilts that were distributed at local Veterans Nursing Homes. This group meets the 1st and 3rd Friday morning of each month at the Federal Way store from 10am-12pm. Supplies are provided, however donations are always welcome! For more information, please contact Audrey at the Federal Way Store (253) 946-5865.
Project Linus
Have you heard of Project Linus? Project Linus is comprised of hundreds of local chapters and thousands of volunteers across the United States. Each volunteer and local chapter work together to achieve one mission which is to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.” Project Linus has distributed over three million blankets to children in need since 1995. Read here for more information about Project Linus. The Puyallup Quality Sewing location is a Project Linus drop-off point where you can bring your completed blankets to the store then they will be delivered to the local Project Linus Chapter.
Pillowcase Patrol at the Sewing & Stitchery Expo
As a part of the “Million Pillowcase Project”, the 2011 Sewing & Stitchery Expo will be a collection point for handmade pillowcases. Create cheerful pillowcases for the children who are undergoing treatment at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. Every person who brings pillowcases will be eligible for a fabulous door prize! Click here for more information and to download the pillowcase pattern.
Do you participate in a group that makes items for a charitable organization? Comment on this blog post and share other opportunities you may know about or participate in with our readers!
Laura Ashley has always been a name that was connected to excellence and quality in every aspect of fabric and garment or home decoration products. Brother machines are also known for their excellence and quality, so it was a match made in heaven when Brother began to offer the special Limited Edition Laura Ashley NX-2000 machine for the sewer who desires excellence in their sewing.
The Brother Laura Ashley NX-2000 Sewing Machine is one of the most reliable, easy to use sewing machines in today’s market place. It has a large opening to facilitate working on quilts, home decor items or even bulky garments. The AHA (Automatic Height Adjustment) ensures smooth even feeding and perfect stitching even when hemming blue jeans. The lift and pivot feature with the automatic presser foot lifter makes many difficult projects so much easier to complete. A large extension table and presser foot knee lifter are included for handling bulky projects.
Perfect 1-step buttonholes are a must for garment sewers. 12 different buttonhole styles, in most sizes can be achieved by simply inserting the button into the buttonhole foot and letting the machine do the work of creating the perfect sized buttonhole (it even includes the necessary “ease” for the button to slide through properly)!
The three alphabet fonts in upper and lower case stitch out beautifully. These could be used for quilt labels, name tags in jackets or to personalize any item…Wouldn’t it be fun to stitch “I love you” in a garment hem or facing, just for the recipient to be reminded of your love?
The Laura Ashley NX-2000 machine comes with a wonderful assortment of 14 accessory feet. It also comes with the bobbin work bobbin case for sewing with heavy decorative threads. There are even some patterns to help you get started with bobbin work. The circular stitch bundle with the ability to stitch perfect circles from 30mm to 130mm in diameter while using most decorative stitches is included. Circles are so very popular right now and it is great to be able to stitch them perfectly each time. The adjustable braiding foot and the 3 cord cording feet are included with the circular stitch bundle for even greater versatility.
It has intuitive screen navigation with clear pictures of the stitches as you select them. It has the ability to put any utility stitch setting into memory to save forever or until your needs change, then it can be easily “reset” or changed to something different. This is a huge time saver when trying to get that perfect needle and stitch setting.
Now is a great time to drop by your nearest Quality Sewing Center to see a demonstration on the AHA, perfect buttonholes and all the included items that come with the Limited Addition Laura Ashley NX-2000 machine from Brother.
I love wonderful designs that are used to quilt projects but don’t feel skilled enough to create these patterns perfectly by free hand. In many instances I prefer to do the quilting of my projects with my embroidery machine. This process is really quite simple.
Wind a bobbin with the same thread that will be used in the needle.
Layer your quilt top, batting, & backing—I will use a light mist of KK2000 Adhesive Spray to hold the layers together.
Mark the center of the area that you want the quilt design to go with a fabric marker.
Place the quilt in your hoop, making sure that the desired center is lined up with the hoop center.
If you are using a quilt design that is just lines, there is no need to add stabilizer since you have 3 layers of fabric & batting.
Tip—I really like using Battilizer for my embroidered quilt projects. No matter how many stitches are in a design, I find it works very well.
The results from using your embroidery machine for quilting produce such nice results.
Recently I was able to apply this technique on the new Brother PR1000 ten needle embroidery machine.
This machine has the ability to sew designs in it’s new jumbo (14” x 14”) hoop.
How this hoop works is that a design is created for the large hoop in the software and then sent to the machine.
The design is automatically split into 2 halves so the machine can sew it out.
The first half of the design is stitched, then the machine will ask if you want the other half to be next.
When answered with OK, the machine will ask for a positioning sticker to be placed on the fabric and it will use it’s camera to scan the fabric and locate the sticker.
Once finished scanning, you will be prompted to rotate the hoop and then the machine will scan once again, find the sticker and automatically align the second half perfectly with the first.
I cannot think of a more difficult type of design to realign than one that is just straight stitches. It was very impressive to see how well the quilt pattern that I used seamlessly matched up. You really have to look for where the design is split. What a great way to quilt a generous sized block! It was quite fun and easy. No matter what size hoop your machine uses, I encourage you to try quilting with your embroidery machine!
There is a new member to the Pfaff Sewing Machine family. Just unveiled at Pfaff convention, this machine boasts many desirable features that will benefit the quilter, home decorator, and garment creator alike. One of the features that I find most appealing is the 9” of well lit working space for large amounts of fabric. This helps make sewing draperies or bulky quilts much easier. The appearance of the machine is clean and you can tell by looking at it that it is ready to get working for you. It has a superior metal bobbin system and is ready to take on your next project.
For machine performance, top on the list are:
Ability to create decorative and utility stitches as wide as 9mm
Sewing speed up to 1100 stitches per minute—and the speed is adjustable
Dual feed— feeds top and bottom fabrics at same time for perfect seaming on all fabrics
Thread snips
Needle threader
Needle down
Mirror image of stitches
Needle and bobbin thread sensors—lets you know when you are out of thread
Automatic tie off
Auto start/stop button—for sewing without the foot petal
Automatic button holes—no more measuring!
Electronic thread tensions—no pesky dials
Twin needle feature
Dedicated bobbin winding motor
Large spool stands for using cones of threads
Knee lift for hands free raising of the presser foot
Extra high presser foot lift to accommodate thick fabrics and battings
Feed dog drop that is easy to access for free motion sewing
If you are looking for a machine that offers a multitude of benefits while remaining simple to use, stop in to any Quality Sewing location and give the Smarter C1100 Pro a try.
I was lacking some inspiration recently so I decided to head to the web to find other sewers who could help me stitch together a creative pattern. I’ve subscribed to a few podcasts over the years and I thought I’d search the iTunes store for any sewing podcasts. Turns out there are a few out there in addition to some high quality crafting versions as well, but I stuck with the sewing and quilting podcasts for the purposes of this blog. If you find any other helpful podcasts out there please leave in the comments below. We all could use a thread of inspiration from time to time. Or, if you have a favorite particular episode please leave a link to it in the comments — we’re always on the lookout for the best sewing, embroidery, and quilting demos online.
Are you the type of person that likes to see how a project is done before attempting it yourself? I am. The other day I snooped around YouTube for sewing channels to follow and thought I would compile my findings on the blog. If you’re following any sewing channels that aren’t listed here please include your picks in the comments section below. Some of these channels are from businesses and others are just normal people, posting for the fun of it.
List of fun sewing channels on YouTube (yes Quality Sewing even has one):
This week we at Shop Quality Sewing are pleased to bring you Audrey Schmitt’s story of how she invented the “No Wobble Ruler,” which has helped countless customers create marvelous quilts with less frustration. If you’ve been struggling with trying to cut out perfect half-square pieces for your quilts then read on about how Audrey overcame this obstacle and ended up creating a useful tool in the process. Keep quilting!
My name is Audrey Schmitt and I am so excited to share a unique tool I invented, out of sheer necessity: the “No Wobble Ruler.”
First, about myself. I have been working for Quality Sewing & Vacuum since 1997. In my years with this outstanding company I have had many opportunities. I am constantly learning and teaching new sewing and quilting techniques. Through my experiences at Quality I realized the need for a tool to trim out my half-square triangles. There was nothing perfect available; the tools on the market would wobble and slide off the seam making it impossible to make an accurate cut. So, I asked my son, a tool maker, to make a ruler with a groove to accommodate the seam.
He went right to work and made a prototype, brought it to me and it worked perfectly, thus solving the problem. He made a mold for the 2.5″ that I needed with tooled an edge on all sides to prevent my fingers slipping off the edge. The rulers were a hit and because of requests from customers more sizes were added. We now have four sizes the 2.5″ 3.5″ 4.5′ and 6.5″ rulers, and these rulers are made in America!
Please take a look at the web site www.shopqualitysewing.com and or my web site www.audreysewingbasket.com to view my rulers. Or check out the video below for a detailed demonstration about how to use the rulers. They make great tools for your quilting needs, and make a wonderful gift for your quilting friends and family — they will definitely add these rulers to their top tools list. If you’ve used the “No Wobble Ruler” before please share your experience by leaving a comment below and share a link to your recent quilting projects.
No, I’m not talking about the weather, although I must say that its mildly frustrating to be still wearing sweaters when it’s nearly the middle of June!
Bundling is adapted from the garment industry. In factory terms, it traditionally refers to the practice of processing bundles of related garment components (such as shirt fronts with prepared pockets) to specialized workers who perform each task.
While we don’t normally need to use industrial techniques to do home sewing, we can still borrow a few tricks to streamline our own production process. One of these is to utilize a version of bundling by preparing multiple garments for construction at once.
Most of us have a part of the sewing process we don’t enjoy as much as the others. For me, it would have to be cutting and marking. Partly this is from sentiment – for me, an uncut piece of fabric is an entire world of possibilities. With each circuit of the rotary cutter those possibilities become more limited. But also, it takes a lot of space, intense concentration (I’m often cutting it close on yardage – literally) and attention to detail.
So I bundle – I cut several projects at once. When I’m ‘in the groove’, so to speak, I try to stay in it. Each garment is cut and packaged up in a large resealable bag (Top Foods has Jumbo bags – 2 Gallon size – that work really well) along with its pattern, interfacing, notions, etc. I may not get to them right away (we won’t talk about the ‘bundle backlog’) but when I’m ready to tackle the project I know that they are waiting for me, ready to go!
Did you know the nation’s largest event for sewing enthusiasts takes place right here in the Pacific Northwest? The Sewing and Stitchery Expo is a non-profit educational event that features over 100 seminars daily, hands-on workshops, style shows and over 400 booths that specialize in the latest in fabrics, tools, and supplies! This year Sew Expo will be taking place March 3rd-6th at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. In addition to all the daily happenings, special guests Nancy Zieman and Ricky Tims will be flying in to make special appearances. Nancy will be presenting an exclusive never-before-seen program for the Expo audience. Ricky will be on the Expo Runway playing a grand piano, singing and quilting!
