Too good to be true
Kansas City, Kansas City here I come. Two newsletters in a month. What is this world coming too? A few newsworthy items to share with you:
Bernina Celebrate 8!
This is the latest promotion; All the specials and promotions from the Spring is in Bloom sale are continuing as Bernina Celebrate 8! These offers and promotions are only available to Dealers who are attending the launch of the new Bernina 830 at Bernina University in Kansas City. Your Bernina Lady is really going to Bernina University this year (July 15 to 21). I am so excited I am practically busting out of my skin. For those of you that have known me over the years you can just imagine how excited I am. I have packed a lot of classes into the few days that I am there so be prepared to many new ideas. The Bernina Celebrate 8! Promotion ends July 31, 2008.
You may sign up for the webcast of this new machine launch at the Bernina USA website. This machine is touted to have 70 exclusive features and the longest extended arm of any home sewing machine. I can’t wait.
Road Trips Coming Up
The Bernina Lady is New Brunswick bound on July 3 at River Gallery demonstrating the Bernina Products on July 5 and 6.
Sande Gunning, owner of River Gallery and I, are committed to bringing Bernina to New Brunswick. Sande will now carry a 440 Quilter’s Edition so that you may pop in and see it. Demo’s are also available. The 440 Quilter’s Edition is by far the favourite machine for sewers and quilters. It is nicely priced during the Bernina Celebrate 8 promotion. The 440 QE is available as a machine only, or as a sewing embroidery machine. Would you like to add embroidery later on? This option is available for you.
Sande will also be carrying a small inventory of Bernina feet and accessories to tie you over until the next Bernina Lady visit. I will continue to visit on a routine, scheduled basis. Drop in on either of these two days. Other machines will be available to view and try and you can see our latest creation: A sweatshirt created with wool and some fancy stitches. I’ve called it “Bernina meets wool.” Sande also has some yummy hand-dyed wools which I will attempt to make into a mini needle punched landscape. It could be interesting to see the final creation.
Incase the next Newsletter is delayed for any reason, I’ll let you know now that I will be at Harbour Quilt Company on July 26 with machines. Drop by and check out what the new 830 is all about. Demonstrations will also be available this day. This is Kim’s annual Christmas in July Event.
Bernina Club Classes are almost over for this semester. They will resume in September. These classes are available to all Bernina owners and they are free if you purchase your machine from The Bernina Lady. A small charge applies if you purchased your machine elsewhere.
Work’s in Progress will continue at Avonport Discount Fabrics on the last Wednesday of each month over the summer. This is a day for all sewers (not just Bernina owners) to drop in and sit and stitch on any project they are currently working on. If you need a little extra help or inspiration I will be there to guide you. It’s a drop-in kind of day so you can stay for the full day (9:30-3:30) or come by for the morning or afternoon. What a wonderful way to spend a day with fellow quilters, sewers and our machines. If you would like to borrow a machine for the day, please contact me ahead of time.
The next Newsletter will be all about Bernina University. Until then, have a marvelous June. If it’s raining outside, sit with your Bernina. This is right up there with reading a good book and having a cup of tea. And remember: If I am on the road, Carol is always available by phone or email (she checks my emails while I am away). My husband also listens to voicemail and contacts me should the need arise. I’m thinking he’s liking being a “Bernina Man.”
7:27 pm | The Bernina Lady Newsletter: March 2008
March Specials:
- Purchase the top of the line Artista 730E and receive “My Label” 3D Fashion Software Free
- Purchase an Artista 640/640E or 630/630E and receive the Bernina Stitch Regulator (BSR) Free.
- Purchase an Aurora 440QEE (Quilter’s Edition, Embroidery) and receive “My Label” 3D Fashion Software half price. Please contact Jeanne, The Bernina Lady for further details. Specials end March 31st, 2008.
On the Road in March
- Bargain Fabric Outlet March 7th and 8th, PEI
- Avonport Discount Fabrics March 15th
- The Cotton Patch March 27th
- Avonport Discount Fabrics March 26th - Works in Progress Day
- Harbour Quilt Company March 29th
Demonstrations this month will be all about the “New Bernettes” for Bernina and My Label 3D Fashion Software. Please view “on the road” tab at www.berninalady.com for times and details. Looking forward to seeing you there.
Looking Ahead to April 2008
April 4 & 5: Join Sande Gunning, River Gallery, NB and Jeanne Huntley, The Bernina Lady at the Saint John City Market.
Demo Day
We are very excited to be presenting two special demonstrations at Avonport Discount Fabrics on Saturday March 15th (9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.). Jeanne, The Bernina Lady, Carol and Kim, The Bernina Lady’s assistants will be presenting demonstrations on Hoop it All with Bernina and working with Superior Threads and Ricky Tims Dazzle Thread. Carol and Kim will be showing you how to use your hoop it all to work with large embroidery designs. Jeanne will be demonstrating how to use Superior Metallic Threads and Ricky Tims Dazzle Thread. Some bobbin work will also be demonstrated. Join us for this fun day at Faye’s. Faye now carries Superior Metallic Threads and Ricky Tims Dazzle Thread. The Bernina Lady carries Hoop it All products, Hoop it All stabilizers and OESD stabilizers.
New This Month
- Through The Needle Magazine Issue # 25.
- Tailoring Touches with My Label & Bernina - 2 disc set
- Bernina Presser Feet and Accessories DVD
- My Label 3D Fashion Software now available
Did You Know?
My Label 3D Fashion Software will print your patterns to fit you. We can use our home printers and tape the pages together with the reference marks. Some patterns would take many pages. If you have a print shop in your area that has a plotter you can e-mail your pattern or take in a memory stick or CD with your pattern on it and they can print it for you.
We are still trying to get an idea of price but in the Valley T&S Office Essentials & Printing has a plotter.
- Phone number (902) 765-8655.
- Web: www.tands.ca.
More information to follow when it becomes available.
5:43 pm | 2008 With Bernina Lady
Happy New Year to all. January is almost over, time does fly doesn’t it? I will try to make this post short as another newsletter/blog post will follow in early February. I have many newsworthy items to tell you.
Bernina Canada has addressed the issue of the Canadian Dollar vs. the US Dollar and prices of the machines have been lowered accordingly. The dollar factor has made doing business in Canada difficult for small businesses since September. It is up to us as consumers to try and support all our local businesses as best we can. Bernina Canada has given us this opportunity. Let’s show them what we can do with these new prices.
Remember that each new machine purchased from The Bernina Lady comes with 12 free classes and 15 per cent discount on all Bernina-branded accessories purchased by you for the first year that you own the machine. Dollar value for classes are worth between $950.00 and $1950. depending on the machine purchased. As well, should your machine have to go for service, a loaner will be left with you so that you are never without a sewing machine. Even though The Bernina Lady may be many miles from you, support is only a phone call away.
The “Bernette for Bernina” line has changed. The “Bernette for Bernina” are packed full of features for their dollar value. There are 4 machines in the new Bernette line up. The top of the line Bernette has 150 stitches, the 82e — 28 built in stitches, the 66 has 26 built in stitches and the 56, 23 built in stitches. Each machine has more features and stitches than its predecessors. The good news for all us quilter’s is that each Bernette machine now has a blanket or button hole stitch. You will be able to print off the new Bernette brochure from The Bernina Ladys’ website. The new models are now available and will be traveling with The Bernina Lady on upcoming visits to our host stores.
The Bernina Lady is off to Toronto for a few days in the beginning of February for training on the new Bernina “My Label” 3D software. More details will be available once we have been to training. You can go to www.BerninaMyLabel.com to receive information in the meantime. There is a demonstration video where you can actually enter your measurements and have the download show you how it all works. More details will be available about Feb. 14 from The Bernina Lady and will be available for print off on our website.
NEW ITEMS AVAILABLE TO YOU FROM THE BERNINA LADY
The Bernina Lady is now an OESD Dealer. OESD is Bernina’s sister company for embroidery designs. You are now able to order OESD stabilizers and embroidery designs either directly from The Bernina Lady or at www.embroideryonline.com with The Bernina Lady as your representative. You are able to order online through The Bernina Lady at the above webpage using Dealer Number 101-070296. The Bernina Lady expects to order supplies directly from OESD monthly or more often as required.
The Bernina Lady now also carries Through The Needle magazines. Through the Needle is a publication available through Bernina Canada. This magazine focuses on us, the Bernina owner. There are patterns, stitch recipes, and plenty of inspiration in each publication. The Bernina Lady currently orders five issues but can increase the order if need be. If you are interested in receiving this publication regularly, please contact Jeanne direct either by phone (902) 538-0026 or through our Contact Us page.
The Bernina Lady is also a Dealer for Hoop it All Hoops and stabilizers. You can place your order directly through The Bernina Lady. Please visit www.hoopitall.com for a list of products available. A quilter’s favorite hoop is the Hoop It all Quilter’s Square Double Wide — it allows us an embroidery field of 11 7/8″ without rehooping the fabric. There are also hoops available for hats and many, many other things. If you have a machine other than Bernina, you may order the Hoop It All Hoop for your machine as well from The Bernina Lady.
Plans are in the works to do a presentation of the Quilter’s Square Double Wide at all my host stores in the very near future.
Jeanne, The Bernina Lady, is always on the hunt for the most delicious of threads in which to embellish her quilts with and collecting thread is almost a good addiction as collecting fabric. Not every one store can carry the many; many varieties of threads that are out there but each of my Host Stores have a variety of threads available to you the quilter or sewer. New and now in stock at Avonport Discount Fabrics (www.avonportdiscountfabrics.com) are all 351 colours of Mettler PolySheen 40 weight embroidery thread. The Bernina Lady favors these threads for embroidery and embellishing as they have a nice sheen, are very strong and only require the use of a size 80 universal needle (a bigger needle might have to be used if the embroidery is dense). Thank you Faye.
Did you know?
All of The Bernina Lady’s host stores offer mail order services? Please see the list of our host stores to contact for more info.
Finally, for those of you that are current owners of the 200/200E or 730/730E. A software update is available for your machine. As well, if you are interested in having your 200/200E retrofit with the Bernina Stitch Regulator the price for the BSR Retrofit has come down. Please contact Jeanne either for an update to your software or for further details on the BSR retrofit.
Again, thank you for all of your support; it’s what keeps The Bernina Lady going. The Bernina Lady is here because you are there.
Thank you everyone.
9:04 pm | Hoop it All With Bernina Lady
The Bernina Lady is please to announce that we are now a Hoop It All Dealer. Why did The Bernina Lady become a Hoop It All Dealer? The hoop it all takes all the work out of hooping. One hooping will do a large design. Less hooping time means more sewing time.
Hoop It All Products were developed in Phoenix, Arizona and there are products and hoops made to fit all major brand name machines.
What are they? Hoop It Alls are specialty hoops, brackets and tables that will fit on our sewing machines and allow us to embroider all sorts of different sizes of designs and shapes.
Probably the best known Hoop it All is made for embroidering on baseball caps. There are hoops available for sewing on special materials such as velvets. These hoops allow us hoop particularly large pieces of fabrics.
In most instances, you would hoop your fabric only once on the hoop it all and then rotate the hoop as you sew your design on your block. Multiple hoping is not necessary in many cases, depending on the size of your design.
The hoops and deluxe tables are ordered for your particular model of machine. That is, an Aurora deluxe table and hoop will not fit an Artista machine. Similarly an Artista machine needs an Artista table and hoops.
How do you know which one to Order?
Start with the model of your machine (Artista, Aurora, Deco), then your model number (Artista 730/200, 640, 185/180, 170, 630, 165, Aurora 430/440, Deco 650/600/500).
Decide what you most want to embroider: large designs, hats, quilt squares.
The best way to order your first Hoop It Alls is in a “combo pack”. A “combo pack” includes the deluxe 3 part table (your machine and module sit on a base included in the 3 parts and then there is a “front” and “back” table that attaches to the base. This allows for support for these large hoops. You would also order the hoop you wished in this “combo”. As an example, the most popular hoop that I can see the most of us using is a Quilter’s Square Double Wide. This is a square hoop measuring 14.25 x 14.25” (it has an embroidery field of 11 7/8” square – perfect for a quilt block 12 1/2”. The Quilter’s Square Double wide will also come with a mounting bracket to attach to the hoop that attaches to your machine module.
As you may want to embroider larger designs for a quilt block as in the Latte Quilt, Aquamarine Ambience, Pictogram Quilt by Judy Nowak you will probably want a mega bracket as well as this will allow us to work with mega hoop designs.
Once you have your deluxe 3 part table then you only need to order additional frames. Additional frames might include a super double wide (14.25 x 23) or a Big hat frame or a Super Giant Long (8.5 x 23). Your deluxe 3 part table allows you to use all of these additional frames. You only need to order the new frame sizes as you need them.
The Bernina Lady is also able to order hoops for other brands of machines, not just Bernina.
Do I really need a Hoop It All? No, as you have available to you 4 different sizes Bernina hoops. But the beauty of Hoop It All is it allows you to sew large designs on larger pieces of fabric without multiple hoopings.
The Bernina Lady is also able to order rolls of stabilizer for the hoop it alls. Much of the stabilizer is pressure sensitive so you simply hoop the stabilizer and then press your fabric onto the pressure sensitive material. There are water soluble stabilizers, tear away stabilizers and others available. You order the stabilizer by the size of your hoop.
Please contact Jeanne if you would like to order a Hoop It All for yourself. For more info, you can check out their website at www.hoopitall.com or see photos of work done with this product here.
8:47 pm | Understanding Maximum Stitch Widths
What is a stitch width? Simply put, it is the side-to-side width of your decorative and utility stitches. The wider the stitch width and the longer the stitch length, the bigger your stitches.
You have had a look at the new Limited Edition Aurora 450 and it tells you that it has a maximum stitch width of 9 mm. You’ve noticed that the Aurora 440 Quilter’s Edition has a maximum stitch width of 5.5 mm. Sew, what does that mean?
In the photo below you can visually tell the difference between a 9 mm stitch width and a 5.5 mm stitch width. The 9 mm stitches are significantly bigger. The 9 mm stitches are in the top half of the square. The 5.5 mm stitches are in the bottom half of the square.
Which machines give a 9 mm stitch width? The Artista 730, Artista 640 and the Aurora 450 Limited Edition all have a 9 mm stitch width. Older 9 mm stitch width machines would include the Artista 180 and the 1630.
Which machines give a 5.5 mm stitch width? The Activa machines (models 210-240), The Aurora 430 and 440 and the Artista 640.
The Bernette machines and the 1008 will give you different stitch widths.
For those of you with 9 mm stitch machines (especially those of us that are quilter’s), you will notice that if you put your walking foot on a 9 mm machine that your maximum stitch width is now 5.5 mm.
How can this happen? Take note of your pressure feet. If the foot has a number, e.g., 20C then this foot will give you 9 mm stitches. If you put a 20 foot, (no C) on your machine then you will receive 5.5 mm stitches. The little eyeballs on the 20C and the firmware of the machine work together to give you that maximum stitch width. A 5.5 mm machine will not give you a 9 mm stitch width ever. But a 9 mm machine can give you a 5.5 mm stitch width by using a non-coded foot (no C). Each machine comes packaged with the feet to use on your machine.
If you have a 9 mm machine and you wish to do decorative stitching or satin stitching, you will achieve the look you are wishing by using a gold latch bobbin case. This bobbin case has a little “pigtail” at the top of the bobbin case. Simply thread your thread through this “tail” and it will automatically tighten your bobbin tension. You want your satin stitch to look like a smooth ribbon. This extra bobbin case will allow you to achieve this result. Similarly, if you are embroidering you want a little more bobbin tension use the “pigtail” bobbin case as well.
If you have a 5.5 mm machine and you want to do decorative stitching or satin stitching there is a little hole in your bobbin case. Thread your thread through this little hole and it will give you a little more bobbin tension.
Hopefully this clears up the mystery of 9 mm stitches vs. 5.5 mm stitches. The choice is yours according to the machine that you have.
11:31 am |