Newsletter March 2021

Newsletters

March 16, 2021

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!Hello Lovely Ladies

We have had a very busy few weeks as classes have cranked up and new opportunities have arisen to try some new projects. Several weeks ago we had Julie Veck from Bernina with us training Caroline and Carol on sewing machines, and also teaching me some new skills on the Bernina Q16. It’s always good to get some Professional Development and to learn some new skills. We have some new projects in this newsletter designed to do exactly that, so I hope I can tempt you to try something different

We had our first successful Quilt-As-You-Go class on Saturday with Julie Brunton, and this went very well.
We have Julie booked for 2 more Saturday classes on 10th April and 8th May. Now that I know what Julie can teach I’m telling you that you won’t want to miss out on these workshops! Places are filling fast, given that most of the ‘My Redwork Garden’ blocks have now been completed and the girls are wanting to get their quilts on beds for the winter. The next 2 classes are open to anyone wanting to learn Quilt-As-You-Go techniques.

When I originally advertised these classes last year I was expecting the gorgeous Maryland fabric to be in store by now. Unfortunately with shipping delays this fabric won’t be in the country until 5th April at the earliest, so I can’t guarantee it will be in store for the next workshop, but hopefully it will be here before May.
I feel for some of our main fabric warehouses at the moment. The March Moda fabric shipment and ByAnnie products have all been delayed by at least 6 weeks which means the warehouses can’t distribute to shops and therefore shops can’t sell fabric to customers – so we have to just take what fabric we can get when it arrives.

BERNINA eBOOK SERIES – TABLERUNNER USING RULERWORK SKILLS

If Quilting-As-You-Go is a bit big for you, but you still like the idea of being able to quilt a small project yourself and learn some ruler techniques in the process, then this table runner might be just the thing for you to make.
Bernina have released a Table Runner pattern in their eBook series called Ruler Work for Quilters. You get to make up a Table Runner in fabrics of your choice purchased from The Eye Of A Needle and then Carol will teach you how to quilt it using simple ruler techniques.
You will need the ruler foot appropriate for your sewing machine, The Bernina Ruler foot is #72, but other brands will have their own number. You will need to purchase the Bernina Ruler kit for this class. The kit comes with 10 different rulers. Carol is passionate about ruler work, so we will be looking at having a lot more workshops teaching various rulerwork techniques, which makes the ruler kit a good investment at $335. We will need to order these kits, so if you are keen, please let us know as soon as possible, so we will have plenty of kits available before we start classes.
Dates for the first class will be Friday 14th May & Friday 21st May from
10am-2pm. Our regular class fee will be $80 which covers both days tuition.

UPCOMING KID’S HOLIDAY PROGRAMMES

A reminder about the Kid’s Holiday Programmes coming up after Easter and for the rest of the year. Places fill fast for these classes. The Advanced Class in the first week of the April School Holidays will involve making our very popular Project bag. I have several of these bags and could do with one for each project I have on the go. The kids can use them for storage of books, sewing projects or school assignments, or what a great gift to start making for Christmas now!
This class will cost $50 for 2 days + fabric requirements and will be held on Tuesday 20th and Thursday 22nd April from 10am-2.30pm.
Students must have completed a Beginner Class to be able to attend the Advanced Class.

We have created another Beginner Class originally advertised as April 27th & 29th. I have had to change the days for this class which will now be held on Monday 26th & Tuesday 27th April.

Further dates to put in your diary for Kid’s Classes will be:
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
I’m delighted to finally be able to dispatch Block 1 for this very popular BOM after our background bolt of fabric arrived last Friday. All those folk who signed up will receive their first block this week and everyone can get stitching to have this project completed by Christmas 2021.

BERNINA CLUB WORKSHOP ALTERNATIVE
DAISY PATHS CUSHION & TABLE RUNNER

In the last newsletter I mentioned an alternative Bernina project since Deborah Louie is unable to get to NZ before August. Last week I received booklets from Deborah for a project called ‘Daisy Paths Cushion & Tablerunner’. I am currently putting together a sample for the Daisy Path Cushion and we will offer this as a 2 day class on Friday 23rd April and Saturday 24th April. (These dates are different to what was previously advertised.)
Several people have witnessed me cutting out fabric for the project and have told me they made the cushion in Deborah’s class at Symposium last year, and how much they enjoyed learning new skills on their sewing machine. 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 and I would strongly recommend this class to you.
I have 8 workbooks available so the class will be limited to 8 people. If you have previously expressed interest in Deborah’s class your name will automatically be rolled over for this new one.

The class will cost $100 for 2 days and will include Deborah’s Workbook. You will need to buy fabric from The Eye Of A Needle to make this cushion – we will have kits available if you wish to copy our sample.
Because there is also a tablerunner tutorial in the workbook, there will be an opportunity to continue with a follow on workshop once a month on a Friday morning.

JEN KINGWELL’S GYPSY WIFE – SEW ALONG
EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

I have been asked if I would consider running a monthly class (either on a Friday morning or Saturday) to make Jen Kingwell’s Gypsy Wife quilt.
This would be like a Block of the Month, but you would choose your own fabrics. The whole idea is to create an opportunity to just get together once a month to stitch the same blocks together in class.
You would purchase the workbook from The Eye Of A Needle initially and gather the fabrics you need to make a selected block each month – the idea of this is that everyone would be making their own quilt block but with the company of others on a regular basis.
At this stage I am taking expressions of interest, and I would look to start this probably around June, which will give you time to start gathering your fabrics now.
The quilt is a sampler, with many one-off blocks, a smattering of square-in-square small blocks and vertical stripes. It finishes throw-sized at 59” x 68”.

FOUNDATION PIECING CLASS WITH MARYANN PATERSON

We have been very fortunate to be able to lock in 2 days with Maryann Paterson to teach a small foundation paper piecing class. Maryann is a Qualified Quiltworx Instructor and has taught a lot of foundation piecing classes at Grandmother’s Garden.
The dates we have booked are Friday 8th and Saturday 9th October. Maryann will teach techniques to make a Bear Claw Cushion as shown in the photo below.
The class will run from 9:30am – 4:30pm with a half hour break for lunch. The cost of the class will be $60 per day. October might seem a long way away, but to get a qualified tutor of Maryann’s caliber requires booking a long way out!
Please register your interest in the class in store or online, and we will get more information to you a bit closer to the time

The cut off date for entries to My Favourite Decade Quilt Challenge is 11th April.
If you’ve been considering entering this challenge, you have just over 3 more weeks to come up with your own design!

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

I have a few projects on the go at the moment trying to get samples for classes finished. I always like to throw a ‘By Annie’ pattern in to the mix for good measure, as I love making these bags and there are plenty of patterns to choose from.
This latest one is called ‘Grab Some Grub’. The beauty of this little satchel is that the lining fabric is a laminate, better known as oil cloth, which means you can wipe out the lunchbag as often as you like as it’s waterproof. I have used one of our Kiwiana laminate fabrics and teamed it with a NZ fern batik fabric. We will look at holding a class to make these bags just as soon as our shipment of ByAnnie products and patterns arrive. Something for you to think about in the mean time – and please register your interest in store in the first instance.

The last but not least news is that today I received a big box containing 8 dozen handkerchiefs! I know a lot of people use tissues these days, but I still quite like to carry a nice handkerchief in my bag. Hankies also make great gifts! When I was choosing some of the designs last week I have to admit to wanting to use several of the samples for sewing projects…so we might have to come up with an idea of how to use a hankie in another way!
We are in the process of setting up a display for these and should have everything out by this time tomorrow. We have some lovely tartan men’s hankies as well as checks, white, embroidered and plain colours for women. They will be priced from $2.50 to $7.00

I know this has been an extra long newsletter; it’s taken a while to tell you everything that’s going on in store this month!
Take care out there…and GO New Zealand!!