Newsletter January 2021 (copy 01)

Newsletters

February 16, 2021

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Hello Lovely Ladies!
As life and routines were starting to get back to some kind of normal after an interesting summer, I sincerely hope the latest move to Level 3 in Auckland is a short term issue. Today we have put the hand sanitiser out on the tables again, and encourage you to sign in to record your visits to our store, if you’re not using the scanner app on your phone. Our classes are in full swing for 2021, and we feel confident that social distancing is being practiced in store and in classes, so we will continue the term as normal bearing this in mind. We still have a couple of vacancies in some classes – in particular Tuesday morning’s Beginner Patchwork class with Carol, and Wednesday afternoon’s class which runs from 1:30-4pm.

For some people, being able to commit to a whole term is a bit of a challenge, so we have now created an option to book in as a drop in sew-ist if there is enough room around the table. This will only apply to Tuesday and Friday mornings, and Wednesday afternoons. The cost will be $10 per class – bookings are essential.

Our website is LIVE and we have been getting more requests through this forum. The online shop is still being tweaked and will require constant ongoing maintenance. As new fabric starts coming in I will start to load it to the online shop – at this stage it will only be our most popular fabric ranges that will be listed, but as we are becoming more well known physically and online, we are noticing an increased interest in online shopping, and so we need to run with this trend.

Carol and Caroline are settling in well to their new job roles; Caroline has made some lovely displays with more kits and bundles being put together as new fabric collections pour in. Carol is getting her head around entering new products on our system…as we get busier I don’t know how I ever managed to do all this by myself! These girls have been such a Godsend to me!

Remember we also have one whole shelf of discounted fabrics down to $15 metre with a minimum cut of 1 metre for the month of February. This will make way for lots more fabric due shortly, so we just want to move out some of the old stuff!

We have recently received new shipments of fabric from Riley Blake – Rose & Violet’s Garden – a vintage floral & stripes collection in pastel pinks, creams and mint.

‘Solana’ by Robin Pickens has arrived in a whole range of bright and cheerful colours to match lovely big sunflowers in teal blues, mangos, yellows and apple greens. It’s a stunning collection!

Yesterday we received a delivery of 5 boxes – one is a new stand that has been filled with the Sue Spargo Eleganza Primitive range of threads – some lovely soft and subtle colours are in this range. These threads will retail at $9.00 for plain and $9.90 for variegated spools.

We also have 3 boxes to unpack today of a new shipment of SIRDAR Country Classic 4 ply yarn! This is the first of the yarn ranges to arrive prior to some cooler days ahead, so once its all loaded in our system and on the shelves I will post the colour selection on our Facebook page. SIRDAR is a well known brand but hasn’t been widely available in New Zealand for some time, so we are delighted to be able to sell this 4 ply and we will also have knitting patterns available to go with the range. We plan to add a 3-ply and another exciting new brand of yarn to the shelves over the next couple of months.

Our latest Advanced Kid’s Programme in January was fantastic – we had a couple of Beginner’s from the previous week ascending to the Advanced class making the ByAnnie ‘Over the Shoulder’ bag to hold their phone and/or wallet in. Some of the girls also made their own pin cushion.

With the success of these Kid’s Holiday Programmes we have set the following dates for the year, so that families are able to plan their holidays around sewing classes.
April 20th/22nd – Kid’s Advanced Class
April 27th/29th – Kid’s Beginners Class
July 13th/15th – Kid’s Beginners Class
July 20th/22nd – Kid’s Advanced Class
October 12th/14th – Kid’s Advanced Class

THE SANTA, THE TREE, THE TURKEY & ME
We are a step closer towards releasing this BOM – it seems like I have been waiting MONTHS for our background fabric and kits to arrive. The good news is that I have the first 4 months of kits now tucked away, and all I’m waiting on now is the Essex Linen for the background blocks. Hopefully this will arrive before the end of February, so we can get this block on the go and if you’ve signed up for it, you will have everything finished for Christmas 2021!

QUILT-AS-YOU-GO CLASSES

As we come to the end of My Redwork Garden’s BOM, we expect the dates for our Quilt-As-You-Go classes to fill fast. The first class will be with the My Redwork Garden ladies in mind on Saturday 13th March.
There will be two more classes on Saturday 17th April and Saturday 8th May. Please in the first instance register your interest in store and mark the dates in your diary. This class will be especially useful if you own a BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator) that comes with some Bernina sewing machines – but you may not know what to do with it.
We now have the amazing Bernina Q16 in store which will also be available to try in these classes. My homework this week is to get my Driver’s Licence on the Q16. Carol is busting to have a turn as well, so we have this week to get practicing before Julie from Bernina Head Office comes to put us through our paces next week.

Hopefully Moda’s Maryland’ panels by Kathy Schmitz will be in store by April so you can practice some free motion quilting and sign up for these Quilt-As-You-Go classes.

BERNINA CLUB WORKSHOP
WITH OR WITHOUT DEBORAH LOUIE

Unfortunately our classes booked with Deborah Louie in April have been postponed until August 2021. Obviously we are all really disappointed about this, but I had an email from Deborah yesterdayday and she is hopeful she will be able to travel by then.
This has meant that the alternative project needs to come in to play now for those dates we had set aside on 12th and 13th April. Deborah has recently launched a new workbook on how to create projects using your walking foot. I have just ordered this so once it arrives I will then re-think my plan for this class.

The class will be best suited for those of you with Bernina machines; it isn’t exclusively for those who have bought machines recently, but if you want to learn more about what your machine can do, then this will be a great opportunity to learn some new techniques.

If you previously indicated interest in Deborah’s class, your name will automatically roll over to the August date. I will send out a separate email regarding the April class once I receive the workbook and make a plan.

BERNINA NZ Quilt Challenge 2021

Following the success of the BERNINA NZ 12 x 12 Quilt Challenge over the last couple of years, they’re doing it again!
The theme for 2021 is ‘My Favourite Decade’.
Lived it or just love it? Are you inspired by the architecture and design of the 1930’s, mid century modernism of the 1950s, the fashion and colour of the 1960s or an icon of a particular decade? They would love to see it transformed into fabric!

All entry details, including terms and conditions, are on the entry form, entries need to be in to your local BERNINA Sewing Centre by the 11th April 2021. Click on the link below to download the entry form.

The ‘My Favourite Decade’ Exhibition will travel with the BERNINA NZ Roadshow and other events in 2021. Roadshow dates and locations are yet to be confirmed.

The winner of the challenge will be determined by a Viewer’s Choice vote, the quilt maker with the most votes will win a fabulous new bernette 77 Sewing Machine. Visit us on the Roadshow, place your vote and you too will be in the draw to win a bernette 77 Sewing Machine for yourself, just for voting!
Have fun! We look forward to seeing your creations!

The entry form contains all the information you need to know to enter the ‘My Favourite Decade’ 12 x 12 Challenge. Download it here.

Entry Form

Yesterday my Bernina B770 had its first major service and firmware update since we opened the shop 3 years ago. I have always been proud of how well I look after my sewing machine, regularly cleaning out the lint and fluff that builds up, and often oiling my machine more than what my machine tells me to. David showed me the build up of lint that you don’t see until all the covers come off. I was rather horrified at how much the lint can clog up your machine under the covers, even if you think you’ve cleaned it well.

So here’s a plug for any sewing machines that have been well used but not recently serviced. If you have bought a sewing machine from us in the past 3 years, but haven’t had it serviçed at all in that time, then you should probably book it in soon. Some of the bigger machines are eligible for 2 free services in the first 2 years after purchase – and we would usually notify you if that is the case. However, if you feel your machine is a bit clunky or not sewing as well as it used to, then a standard service ($95 for most models) might be a good idea.

March always seems to be a busy month for us, and this year is no exception, with the Taumarunui Quilter’s Exhibition on the weekend of Friday 5th – 7th March. We have been invited to be a merchant at this exhibition once again, so we are very much looking forward to that.

Wine Country Quilts have also asked us to advertise their next exhibition on 26-28th March at the Hawkes Bay Showgrounds in Hastings. The exhibition was postponed in 2020 because of lock down, so here’s hoping this year it will be twice as good!

For us that will be the start of a long weekend as we will then head to Wellington to Bernina’s Regional dealer meeting. We understand there are a couple of AMAZING new overlockers about to be launched in NZ, so this is when that will all happen. Watch this space for more exciting announcements from Bernina!