Remember I told you about machines with "bling" to support the American Heart Association? 15 embellished machines were on display in Kansas City, and BERNINA dealers & staff voted for their favorites by purchasing $1 tickets and placing them in little fish bowls by each machine. The five most popular were auctioned at the closing banquet, and all of them will appear in a BERNINA fund-raising calendar for 2009.

The "bling" spanned the gamut from a very minimalistic red machine by Vern Yip of Trading Spaces to designer Jared Gold's tricked-out model. My personal favorite was by Robbi Joy Eklow, aka "Goddess of the Last Minute" for Quilting Arts Magazine.

Watch for more machine "bling" over the next few months, plus information about other Sew Red events.

Did you know that heart disease is the #1 cause of death in women? And now Bernina of America has a new corporate giving program - Sew Red - to spread the word and raise $$$ for the American Heart Association. They've made arrangements for 15 designers and teachers - including several celebrity stitchers! - to "bling" BERNINA sewing machines. The tricked-out machines will be auctioned during the BERNINA 8 event in Kansas City this summer. Speaking of which - the ultimate new BERNINA sewing machine will be unveiled then, too! Erika & I won't have any news about the new machine until we see it at Bernina University in July, but we'll share photos and links to some of the "Bling Your Bernina" machines over the next few weeks. I can't wait to see them! Stay tuned...