My inspiration for this wrap was from an article in the Fall 2009 issue of Stitch magazine, a Quilting Arts publication. I wanted to find an elegant wrap to wear to the closing banquet at BERNINA University in Orlando. You just never know if the room is going to be too hot or cold!

Instead of making the wrap following the instructions in the article (the rebel in me coming out again), I chose to use my serger.

I used a 2-thread rolled hem with YLI's new Designer 7 thread in the looper to finish all the edges.

Then, instead of sewing the elastic by sewing machine, I used a serger chain stitch and changed to a 90/14 Topstitch needle for the chain stitch. I threaded the needle with Designer 7 and put Gutermann elastic thread in the chain stitch looper.

This elastic thread is super! I tried others, but without the same success I had with the Gutermann elastic thread. It comes in four colors: black, white, red, and navy. Check with your local BERNINA store; if they don't have it in stock they can order it for you.

I can't show you any of the garments yet in this blog - you'll have to wait until after the show in November to see my candids - but here are a few hair & makeup shots of three of our gorgeous models. The photo shoot was held at the Hyatt Regency in Houston, in a huge suite that I shared with Marcia Barker from Quilts, Inc. At night we slept with racks full of garments in our rooms; during the day her room became the hair & makeup station (and Olympics viewing station), while mine was the dressing room. It was a little crazy - imagine waking up in the middle of the night to find a huge crinoline standing beside your bed! - but I had a blast :)

Watch this blog and http://www.berninausa.com/home.jsp for more information on the BERNINA Fashion Show in November!

Don't you love this shirt?!

Last month I went to BERNINA University -- the annual meeting when dealers, store employees, and teachers get together with BERNINA of America and BERNINA International staff to have classes on great topics, share ideas, and learn about the latest things in the sewing world. Once again, this year was another great opportunity to chat with people from all over the US to see what's happening with sewing in their areas.

One subject kept coming up: how to introduce our passion for sewing to the future generations of sewers. Overwhelmingly, we all were interested in getting young (or not so young) people in our areas introduced to sewing and the gratification and delight that our own creations can bring. My efforts began at home years ago and continue with the technology talented generation, my children and their peers.

After my flight home I had an all-to-brief overnight stay in the home of my oldest daughter (one of my SewingKin v.1 sewers). There on her dining room table were two BERNINA sewing machines with projects that my two oldest granddaughters (the first two of my SewingKin v.2 sewers) were working on. Each girl was creating a new dress for herself. Now aged 16 and 14, these girls have been sewing for a number of years. The oldest, Katia, began when she was just shy of her 8th birthday, creating a "prairie girl" dress for herself as her first project. As she was just a little too short to reach the foot pedal, my brother Steve made a great wooden block with a fitted platform to keep the pedal from sliding off. Her sister, Natasha, got to share the block soon after, making a doll quilt. In these recent pictures, they were visiting me and each worked on a "re-purposing" project, refashioning old tee shirts and a stained nightgown into a new embellished tee shirt and a dress.

This summer, Joli (the oldest of my second daughter and third of my SewingKin v.2 sewers) is just shy of her 8th birthday. We have passed the "Uncle Steve block" along -- much to her delight, as you can see. Her sister Madi, two years younger, is impatiently awaiting her turn to use the block and create something wonderful.

Nine years ago my husband's dowry included another daughter for me... who now with her husbands wants to learn to sew. And there are two daughters in their house to watch us with anticipation of their debut in 3-4 years!

Lucky? You betcha!! I wish everyone could learn to sew on a BERNINA sewing machine. Even with my ready-made set of SewingKin I continue to find people who just don't know yet how much they love to sew! They need our help -- are you a helper?

BERNINA University -- Bernina of America's annual dealer meeting -- was July 9-12, and I'm just now catching up! BU is like a huge family reunion -- it was wonderful to see so many of my Bernina friends there -- dealers, teachers, resource people, and vendors, plus special guests from Switzerland, Canada, Russia, and Thailand. Some of the highlights:

• The US introduction of the new 3 Series machines -- the B330, B350, and B380. So sleek! I haven't had a chance to play with one yet, but you can be sure I'll have one here in my studio before long.

• The beautiful new limited-edition artista 635. Sooo pretty! (I'm a sucker for machines with blue trim -- my first BERNINA was the 1030, with a pretty blue faceplate.) Don't you just love the bubbles? There's a matching tote bag, too.

• The Fashion Show -- aren't these garments gorgeous? I love working backstage and seeing all the exquisite details. A digital camera is a great way to capture my favorites, and much faster than taking notes and making a sketch.

• Classes -- I wasn't planning to teach this year, but I stood in for a teacher that had to return home. So I got to teach one of my favorite things: making t-shirts on a serger :) Here are some of the students with their finished shirts.

There will be more blog posts about BERNINA University over the coming weeks -- stay tuned!

I always change my kitchen and dining area for whatever the holiday is -- they've been dressed in patriotic red, white, and blue since the first of June in honor of Flag Day and for the 4th of July.

Independence Day is this weekend, but it's not too late to make some fast and easy placemats for your 4th of July get-together! Get out your serger and gather together red, white, and blue fabrics and serger threads. Cut fabric strips of various widths. Thread your serger for a wide 2- or 3-thread flatlock; I used Maxi-Lock Swirls in Rocket Pop #53-M62 in the looper to create the multi-colored stitching. Flatlock the strips together as shown, then serge around the outer edges. For more sturdy placemats, sandwich a piece of flannel between the pieced top and a backing before serging around the outside edges.

My tablecloth project - "Sunny Side Up" - with instructions is in the Summer edition of Quilts & More magazine, page 90. I made the quilt on my BERNINA using my 90-Minute quilt methods.

PS - My "Sgt. Pepper" quilt is on pages 100-103 of the May/June 2009 issue of Fons and Porter's "Love of Quilting" magazine.

I used a stabilizer relatively new to OESD's lineup - AquaTear. This product is a biodegradable tear-away stabilizer, so it gives lots of support to the stitches during the embroidery process. But when you get through, drop it in the washer and all the little bits and pieces rinse away!

I used a product from Designs in Machine Embroidery called MagnaQuilts and Borders, and boy, was I amazed at how easy "endless" embroidery is with this hoop! I had used the hoop before, but I was using it to hold the quilt layers as I stitched the embroidery designs to quilt the three layers together.

I used the BERNINA 830 to create the Endless Embroidery design. The last color change stitches two "X" marks. All I had to do was lift up the top part of the hoop, slide the fabric up, and place the upper portion of the hoop in place. The first color change of the next set of designs sews the first two "X" marks. The machine prompts you to adjust the needle position as necessary to align this set of "X" marks with those previously stitched. With this hoop, you can adjust the fabric instead of moving the design itself. It is soooo easy!

Ed - This project - Nancy Bednar's Reeds & Grasses Tablerunner - first appeared in our blog on June 16, 2009. Kay's assignment was to create four copies that will travel with our T-n-T programs throughout 2010. We all loved Nancy's project so much that we decided to take it on the road! For complete instructions for making your own Reeds & Grasses Tablerunner visit www.berninausa.com.

Create a simple shape for one "leg" of your snowflake.

Use the Wreathing Tool to create your flake.

Select "Yes" to merge overlapped objects.

Select the Outline Tool: Outline Count = 1, Offset = 0, Outline Type = Satin.

Delete the first color chip to leave only the satin-stitched snowflake.

Select the Advanced Applique Tool, place fabric into the selected area - and you are ready to sew!

Why should the recipient be the only one to see the results of all that hard work? And those wonderful holiday decorations you spent hours and hours making, working into the wee hours of the morning - why should your family and friends be the only ones to see them? You know all your sewing friends at berninaUSAblog.com will appreciate all the effort you put into them, even if the giftees and guests don't.

Write a description of your favorite holiday project in the comments section, then post a photo on the contest photostream at http://www.flickr.com/groups/1305455@N23/pool/ (optional). While you're there, check out all the super projects from our other blog readers, and get inspired for next year's holiday season!

To give you a head start on next year's holiday sewing, the prize is a boxful of holiday goodies chosen from Jo's stash of books, patterns, blanks, fabric, thread - from BERNINA of America, OESD, Brewer, and Benartex.

Contest ends January 15, 2010. We'll pull a name out of the hat on January 16th, 2010. Sorry - the prize can only be shipped to an address in the USA, but we hope our out-of-country friends will share their holiday ideas with us anyway.

I was able to present or help in these sessions and enjoyed watching new sewers and people who had never before sewn or embroidered complete their tote-bag. We customized the 830 screen with a wallpaper of their choice from the many to select from, set the needle minder for the needle installed in the machine (so we wouldn't forget), and started creating our embroidery in the Jumbo Hoop! We took 2 designs from Diane Gaudynski's embroidery folder of feathered quilting designs and created our design and embroidered. Then, with the touch of one button, we went to the sewing screen and created a stitch combination using Drag & Drop and Connecting Stitches and sewed that under our embroidery. The final step was to use the BERNINA Dual Feed to sew up our bag.

Everyone had a new tote they could fill up with their shopping treasures from Houston.

Hello fellow sewers! Check this out, there's a new place on the web to find anything and everything about sewing, www.WeAllSew.com. This is the best sewing stuff on the web, from blogs, Facebook pages, how-to videos, Flickr feeds and even Twitter handles, all sewn up in one place!

WeAllSew.com highlights Sew to Serve, connecting you directly with organizations and projects that need sewing volunteers. Marine Comfort Quilts (http://www.MarineComfortQuilts.us) is dedicated to bringing some comfort and love to families of military men and women lost in service to our country through quilts and quilting. Find many more worthy places to sew some love by clicking on Sew To Serve!

Free stuff! Yup, there's even a whole section of links to free sewing stuff, like these embroidery designs (http://FreeEmbroideryStuff.EmbroideryDesigns.com/), quilt patterns (http://www.FreeQuiltingPatterns.info/), and projects like these great fabric containers (http://TheLuckyDucks.blogspot.com/2009/10/scrap-buster-scrap-bags.html). And talk about fresh, new links are being added to WeAllSew.com weekly, so always expect to see the newest sewing stuff!

Stay in the sewing loop by joining us on our Facebook WeAllSew.com fanpage and our @weallsew Twitter feed, and enjoy the sewing love.

Because, after all, I sew, you sew, we all sew!

I've taught this summer at two Bernina dealerships: Sew Flakes in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; and Jane Michal's store, Phat Quarters, in Galena, IL. In addition, I've taught at a bunch of other venues, and am scheduled for several more this fall. My calendar is available online at my website, if you are interested in that information.

My episode of The Quilt Show with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson aired on March 30 (episode 7, series 4), and the project I demonstrated featured an embroidery design from the Bernina Jubilee Collection of lace designs. Check out the photos on my blog for some of the workshops I've taught for that Wall Flower project.

My newest book was just released in September by Good Books, Inc. of Intercourse, PA: String Quilts: 10 Fun Patterns for Innovating and Renovating. All of the samples were stitched on my multiple Bernina sewing machines, and the same photo of me as the one on my blog appears in the book.

Seems like I've been sewing (or at least in love with fabric) all my life. I can remember making doll clothes when I was 7 or 8 years old. And, with the help of my neighbor / girl friend's mother, I made my first dress when I was 14. She taught us how to read a pattern and how to follow all the construction steps. I remember feeling very proud of wearing something I had made for myself and I was off and running with the sewing machine.

I've had a long career as a quiltmaker and instructor, working by hand, with my Bernina, and now even with a longarm machine. My daughter, Jan, is also a talented designer and quiltmaker. I feel fortunate that she finds value in what I do and has decided to join me in this adventure. Recently we've also turned our attention to teaching a new generation to sew.

We're excited to be sharing our sewing and quilting talents with young people and we've found both boys and girls enjoy the creativity and the satisfaction of making something for themselves. You can see more pics of the kids at work on my website: http://www.anitashackelford.com/kids-at-work.html.

Our youngest "student" was 4 years old. Young children have a short attention span, but they are eager for any new experience. They can choose colors and fabrics for their quilts, use crayons or paint sticks, and cut out simple shapes with scissors. Teens and tweens can make decisions about colors and layout, use a rotary cutter with guidance, and the sewing machine with instruction. They bring lots of enthusiasm and a creative eye to the work and the studio is really buzzing when we work with this group. Fresh fabrics and trendy projects hold their interest and keep them coming back for more.

Our new book, Teens & Tweens: Quilting Fun with Family & Friends will be available this month (September 2009). You'll find 17 projects, including accessories, clothing, home dec and lots of quilts, sure to capture the interest of beginners and more experienced sewers, too!

For the new bag I used some scrumptious Benartex Batiks that I bought at Bernina University in June - "Rainforest Triple-Dyed Balis" - so new that I can't find them on the Benartex website yet. I should have photographed them for you - they were all rolled up together in a cute package - but here are the fabrics that were included:

I made the bag following the included instructions - except: Instead of quilting the main fabrics I used free-motion bobbin work to hold the layers together.

First I hand-wound several bobbins with YLI Multis in a tan/olive colorway, and threaded the needle with regular cotton thread.

I used the Black Latch Bobbincase with my artista 630 - this is a special bobbin case on which I can easily loosen the tension without messing with my regular bobbin case.

I got out my Machingers for the free-motion work - these are rubber-covered fabric gloves that create a great "grip" on the fabric while still letting your hands "breathe."

I used Teardrop Embroidery Foot #26 for my stitching, but could also have used the BERNINA Stitch Regulator.

Here's what the fabric looked like when I was finished stitching. It's subtle, but pretty.

Another change I made was to use purchased handles, which I attached with Lazy Girl's Handy Tabs - little lengths of ribbon that are the perfect size for attaching handles. They'd also make great little labels.

I also used Lazy Girl's Bag-E-Bottom size D to stabilizer the bottom of the bag - it keeps everything nice and sturdy.

Here's the basic process for attaching the handles. Slip the Handy Tab through the loop at the end of the handle, then stitch it in place - upside down - where you want the handle to be. There's no need to finish the raw ends. Careful - keeping the handle out of the way can be a little tricky.

Turn the handle up, then topstitch the Handy Tab in place. Again, it can be a bit tricky keeping the handle out of the way - you might want to enlist the help of an assistant for these steps.

Just like on my previous Miranda bag, I couched some cord (more YLI Multis) around the flap/tab instead of topstitching it.

And here's the finished bag! It should get to the birthday girl sometime this week - can't wait to hear how she likes it!

Next: I just got some fabric to make the new Lazy Girl "Claire" pattern - but haven't decided yet what sort of embellishments I'm going to use. When I figure it out, watch for another Lazy Girl blog!

I have a show of my art quilts here in Knoxville; it is currently open and will be until Sept 8th. I gave a talk at the opening and told how impressed I was when we visited the Bernina factory in Steckborn, Switzerland. I'm hoping to get my show on the shuttle list for the AQS show. I have 23 pieces in the gallery at Tenn. Valley Universalist Unitarian Church. It's a wonderful venue that changes artists every two months. You have to be juried in. I'll also be demonstrating 2-3 days in Gina's Bernina Shop's booth. I'll be doing a variety of things, but our district manager wants me to focus part of my time on using the needle felting tool. I'm SO excited about sharing with the convention attendees. I have several samples of my work in the booth. Now that my daughter's wonderful wedding is past and the show is up, I'm so excited about getting back to my studio. We just got back from a trip to Marion, IN for our good friend Merikay Waldvogel's induction into the Quilters' Hall of Fame - cool!

There's a preview Version 6 webinar coming up on August 6 - the link to sign up is on the Bernina of America home page - www.berninausa.com.

I used Patchwork Foot with Guide #57 for the piecing - the little guide on the side of the foot ensures that all of my seams will be exactly 1/4". The fabrics I used were three different colorways of the Benartex "City Blooms" collection.

For the quilting I did three different styles. On the first one I used the regular presser foot (Reverse Pattern Foot #1) and stitched meandering lines from side to side - I think this is one of the easiest ways to quilt, as you don't have to follow any lines or worry about running out of room to stitch. I wasn't using a backing, so didn't have to worry about layers shifting. If I'd had a backing in addition to the batting and patchwork I'd have used Walking Foot #50 or BERNINA Dual Feed to keep the layers from sliding as I stitched.

For the second pillow I used Edgestitch Foot #10 to stitch-in-the-ditch. The guide in the center of the foot made it easy to follow the straight lines of the patchwork.

For the final pillow I dropped the feed dog and attached Freehand Quilting Foot #29. Then I did big stippling over the entire surface. By "big stippling" I mean that my lines were about an inch apart - usually stippling lines are much closer, about 1/4" apart. I could also have used my BERNINA Stitch Regulator for my freemotion stitching - it helps me keep my stitch length consistent, speeding up or slowing down according to how fast I move the fabric.

I also embroidered a dragon on the front before I stitched it together. It was so simple to embroider while it was still flat - no need to worry about catching the back in the stitching! I used the artista 630 to do my embroidery - check out the new limited edition 630 Platinum at your local BERNINA store - but any embroidery system could be used.

The dragon is design FB290_48 from Zenscapes pack #12185. You can purchase the single design or the entire pack from www.embroideryonline.com or your local Embroidery Take-Out dealer (who might also be your local Bernina store).

One of the classes I'm teaching this year is partly about teaching sewing classes, so while I'm gone I thought I'd give you a peek at some of the projects I've been working on to show in class. This one is the Messenger Bag from Cassie Barden's book, The New Handmade: Simple Sewing for Contemporary Style. I made mine almost exactly like she did hers, but before I sewed it together I added covered cord around the edges of the front flap.

To cover the cord I first cut 2" wide bias strips and pieced them to form one long strip. Be sure to cut them on the diagonal so you have true bias strips - if you cut them on the straight of the grain they won't curve around the corners. I wrapped the strips around my filler cord (about 3/32 diameter) and stitched them with Bulky Overlock Foot #12. This foot has a channel in the sole that's just the right size to accommodate the bulk of the cord, so with the needle moved to the right it's simple to stitch right next to the cord. If you don't have this foot you could use a zipper foot - you just have to make sure you're stitching next to the cord. I used the same foot to stitch the covered cord to the right side of the flap - the only difference was that I moved my needle position one step closer to the cord for a snugger fit.

The designs are really great, too. There are swirls and hearts and crosses that have been created in sets specifically for special placement on garments. For instance, the heart set has a back yoke design, with a matching cuff design, a jacket back design, a jeans leg design in two different sizes, as well as a matching mini design. The matching pocket design has a placement line built in, so you can get perfect placement every time! You can really come up with a pulled together outfit just by mixing and matching the designs!

But don't think that you can only use these designs on clothing. Go to the link below and see how great they look on a beach tote bag. (And download the instructions for free.) You will also find instructions there on how to use the placement line on pockets and how to do reverse applique.

http://www.embroideryonline.com/springpromo/instructions.aspx

If you really want to have your creative juices recharged, just stop by a Bernina booth at one of your area Quilt Shows and be inspired! We love seeing our BFF's - and that stands for BERNINA FANS FOREVER!!

Nina used all the Diane Gaudynski (www.dianegaudynski.net) built in motifs from the BERNINA 830 to make the quilt - the squares are all silk dupioni. The speed and quality of the 830 embroidery module is evident - this beautiful quilt makes quite a statement - it is full of joy. ...And it is an honor to have Diane's (also from Wisconsin) lyrical, flowing designs as part of the BERNINA 830 embroidery package.

And joy is what I wish for you - if you have purchased a BERNINA 830 in 2008...CONGRATULATIONS! If you are planning to purchase in 2009...even more CONGRATULATIONS!

Have a wonderful, creative holiday season and all the best in 2009!

We have representatives from Sweden, Great Britain, Denmark, Russia, Slovakia, Australia, South Africa, Finland, Belgium - just to name a few countries and it is always good to get together. Despite the different languages, we always find that we speak the same language when it comes to being creative with BERNINA.

The first day was spent getting to know the BERNINA 830 and all the wonderful new features. Although everyone had visited the www.bernina8series.com website, no one had seen or touched the machine.

Day Two generated embroidery enthusiasm as we combined motifs with Word Art, embroidered endlessly with Endless Embroidery, and rotated, mirror images, imported sewing stitches into embroidery and learned how easy and effortless and FAST embroidery is on the 830.

Of course, getting together with like-minded people always includes good food - take a look at this great dessert made in honor of our 8 Series machines. Is there anything sweeter than a chocolate 8?

And while we were together, we shared the events that had occurred in each country in 2008 to promote creativity. The NSP from Italy shared her serger/overlock "quilt" made with gorgeous threads, fibers, and even a little copper sewn on the BERNINA. Isn't it unbelievably beautiful?!

It was a great week and on Friday everyone left enthused about the BERNINA 8 Series machines and ready to introduce the machine to their countries in spring 2009.