A note from Li Hertzi, designer, illustrator, doll maker, fiber artist:

Over the last three months I have developed an overwhelming appetite for craft books from my local library. "Li honey, did you know you have over 70 books out?" asked the librarian (don't even get me started on libary cutbacks!). "Uh, um, well, my mother gets a lot of these" I say as I am thinking "Can she see how tall that pile of hogwash is, oh dear...." They are all, of course, for me... Tho' to be fair, my mother DOES get one or two large printers out at a time.

Why in the world does someone who has rooms of books need more? And I don't just get reading material on all kinds of different sewing and crafts; I get several on each subject. For instance, I fell in love with Kaleidoscope quilts recently. So off to the library I went. I sat on the floor and started leafing here and there. "Wow, they are all so lovely, but lets see, maybe I should limit myself to 2, yes... oh, but look at this! And this, oh, art quilts, ummmm now, that really IS my thing." How many? Six! And I am not even a quilter!

As luck would have it, a woman standing innocently in the knitting section was watching my pile grow with slight amusement. She asked, "Are you a quilter?" Ah, big mistake, I LOVE talking to strangers, especially ones that have sought ME out! Off I went, explaining how little "real quilting" I have done, what I had in mind for this quilt, the story of my life interspersed with commentary on making dolls, art and science. Finally she said, "I just happen to be president of The Northeast Ohio Regional Quilt Council." Nice, huh? (Of course, she uses a BERNINA!) Starting right at the top! She suggested several other books and mentioned the stack-n-whack method as well as the work of Paula Nadelstern - the lioness of Stacking and Whacking. WOW! Off I went again, this time on-line... read, read, read, think, think, ponder, think...

But (listen up, fellow bookies), have I DONE a quilt? Have I even started stacking? Have I explored whacking? No. Is there a lesson here? Yes indeedy-do!

When I have a beautiful, color-filled, rich, new book in hand, it seems like there are possibilities galore and my apparently limited time will infinitely expand the moment I open it - Magic will burst forth and my house of creative blocks will tumble! This is a wonderful feeling... It lasts at least as long as the book is open and in my hands, but it doesn't see to push the needle into the fabric or turn on the machine. I have to do that.

And... So do you.

SO, get to it! Grab a book, grab some fabric, grab some time and don't let yourself be distracted by the pictures, or the dishes or the kids. Once we get started, we will wonder why we ever dilly-dallied with our snoots in the books for so long! I know this is true, yes, here I go...

If your New Year's Resolution was to do something different this year, maybe this will be the ticket! Use your serger to make a quilt!

I had so much fun using the BERNINA Embroidery Software Quilter program to create "Going in Circles." The pattern I chose was the Drunkard's Path, and I used the software to audition how I wanted the blocks to go together.

I used a 4-thread overlock stitch to piece the quilt together, and a combination of chain- and cover-stitching to quilt the blocks. "Going in Circles" was stitched on a BERNINA 1300 MDC, but other sergers with these stitches could also be used. King Tut by Superior Threads was used in the needles and coverstitch looper, with Pearl Crown Rayon by YLI in the chainstitch looper.

Ed: Instructions for this quilt will be posted at www.berninausa.com in the near future.

A note from Jenny Raymond, fiber art author, designer, teacher and speaker:

"Lauren Grace - the quilt" was made on my BERNINA 730. I used the built-in embroidery designs to create the blocks. It includes blocks that are pertinent to Lauren: family blocks, cousin and grandparent blocks for both sides of the family.

Here's a photo of Lauren standing in front of her quilt, which won a blue ribbon in the embroidered category at the Nebraska State Fair.

On the connector 9-patch blocks I double stitched creating a heart. Inside the double stitching, I stitched once again with stitch #657, a decorative loop stitch. Inside this stitching, I created "bananas" using Diane Gaudynski's techniques. Isacord polyester thread was used for the quilting.

I used template plastic to trace a long curvy line on the quilt with a blue Marks B Gone pen, then used BERNINA 730 honeycomb stitch #8 with the stitch lengthened a little bit. This stitch was used as part of the "quilting" on the quilt along with stippling.

I outlined each block with a wide stitch #13 which is a slanted overcast stitch.

The label was stitched on the quilt backing. Another label is planned with other pertinent information, such as: Scripture used at her baby dedication, where she was born, city, hospital, all that type of information. It will be hand-stitched to the back of the quilt.

I spent about 50 hours finishing up this quilt, of course that's not the many hours doing the embroidery and the piecing.

A note from Sylvain Bergeron, BERNINA of America Webmaster by day, quilter by night:

The journey of a simple idea... I had an idea 3 years ago, after creating a couple of quilts with all-over embroidery. My design niche being "embroidery is the quilt," I had been composing abstract designs out of basic geometric blocks. The next logical step was "what if the whole quilt is one big embroidery mofit?" Since my design philosophy is usually to jump in the deep end (without first looking whether the pool is filled;) I started out digitizing... The basic elements would be concentric circles in multiple sets and colors that would overlap, with one set emanating from the center of the piece. I was looking at a 5 x 5 block span, each 4 x 4 inches. I created a lattice for the block layout and started digitizing circles... lots of circles... I would have to cut and strip away strips between the blocks to create gaps between the blocks (which would be replaced by sashing) so the final design would actually be based on the original placement of stitch lines. By cutting into the original file, I would end up with a ton (and I do mean the 3 zeros ;) of segments... aka tie-ins and tie-offs in my embroidery... with a matching number of manual clippings.

On filling the pool... Well, I have to say that in this case I ended up watching the pool fill up :) Life happened... parenthood, other quilt ideas (one of which took me to Tokyo for the 9th Quilt Nihon Exhibition), etc. So my Slow Cooker Creative Method (TM) kicked in and the idea simmered on-and-off. I went through 3 design stages, none of which lit the proverbial light bulb. Then I got my 830 and the light bulb did go on... halogen style! With an automatic thread trimmer I no longer had to fear all that thread trimming. And the pool being filled, I did indulge my propensity to the deep end... I determined that a 25 x 25 inch square piece just couldn't render the image I had in my head... of color waves washing over each other from opposing corners, with a center dot (the focal point) creating an all-over ripple-in-the-pond effect. So why not 11 x 11 blocks? each one 5 x 5 inches ;-)

Did you know that a laptop can serve as a waffle iron? When you're churning up 12 million stitches in one embroidery file it can! I had mine running pretty hot for a couple of weekends in the final stage (stage 4) of the design work (btw, I have since acquired a workstation with a 24 inch monitor - more on the monitor later - for my design work... My laptop likes me again ;) I may be a slow cookder creatively by when the idea reaches maturity, I get a creative fever and things start happening fast. Luckily for me, my BERNINA 830 could keep up with my pace. So after a couple of busy weeks in the quilting studio (the master bedroom of my house btw), "Focal Point: A Geometric Stained Glass Window" was well on its way.

Be a good son... call your mother :) I have a little tradition in the making... when the blocks are all embroidered and trimmed to size, I lay them out on my living room floor, climp on the couch and take a picture. That is what I call the proofing stage. As a joke, I call my mother (who has been an inspiration in how to stick with a project to see it through) to let her know that my next piece passed the test. She always asks how many hours have gone in so far... at over 200 hours, it's a good thing that the concept panned out... we have a good laugh.

The best part is... I am very grateful for the scknowledgement this piece just received in the Fall IQF in Houston. While as a quilt artist it's good to get feedback from my peers, the positive encouragement received helps give momentum to my next project. And while "my thing" in quilting (aka "Embroidery IS the Quilt") can be considered a niche, shows like IQF help give exposure to my work. One of my goals is to show how the digital embroidery technology can be used as a design tool. The precision it affords in thread placement on fabric lets me create images in thread that just couldn't be realized with hand-guided free-motion stitching (there is not enough caffeine in the world to make that possible :) My other goal is to get the image out of my head and onto fabric... so I can make room for the next idea. So far, for every quilt I make I get 2 or 3 new ideas... so the more I make, the more I fall behind... As the saying goes ... I can't die - I have too many projects :)

Back to that monitor: If you design large pieces (and especially for large hoops), I highly recommend that you invest in a large monitor that can pivot. I now have a 24 inch monitor, which allows me to work at actual size (ratio 1:1) for my large oval hoop when the monitor is in the regular landscape mode. When I rotate it to portrait (vertical) mode, I can fit my jumbo hoop stitching field at actual size also... so I can preview my work "as is" with less zooming in and out. Since the design phase is where I enjoy the creative fever the most... the monitor has been one of my best investments so far.

What's next? I'm currently working on a wall hanging for a charity fund raiser... then I embark on a project of particular significance for me personally. A photo quilt, life sized, of my best friend whom I lost to breast cancer 9 years ago. It will be done in time for the 10th anniversary of her passing in 2010. I look forward to every moment spent making this next piece.

A note from Doris Paul, BERNINA 200E owner in Hawaii:

I've learned to enjoy my artista 200E, learned to use my computer to transfer patterns/etc. and have constructed 13 beautiful quilts from beginning to end (sizes from single to extra large king). I've also made numerous pieces of clothing and other items. I've kept my 1030 but have found that the artista is very strong and capable of hours and hours of fine sewing. That you for all the neat videos and helps that are available! I've been a BERNINA owner for many years, and they're the BEST!

One of my largest quilts was an extra large king, pattern from Quilting Illusions by Celia Eddy. Over 2000 pieces to assemble! My daughter from California requested it with pillow shams to match.

Bargello design, large king size

From Quilting Illusions by Celia Eddy

Seagrass by Sylvia Pippen

Aloha - Doris