Hello, Everyone!

I am so pleased to have the opportunity to talk to you about the excitement the 8 Series launch has created here at our BERNINA consumer event. It was such a proud moment when after six years of development, we were finally able to reveal this incredible machine and share its features with the world.  The engineers and developers in the BERNINA factory in Steckborn Switzerland have worked countess hours to create a big, beautiful BERNINA - spacious and comfortable, speedy and full of benefits that will make the creative sewers world more enjoyable and more efficient… that nothing compares to the feeling of its debut.

And now, you too can experience all the precision and exclusive features the 830 has to offer here on bernina8series.com. This enlightening and interactive website provides everything you will want to know about the 8 Series, including videos that illustrate its outstanding space, unsurpassed speed and ergonomic genius.

So go ahead and check out the machine that has changed the history of sewing. We hope it inspires you as much as it has everyone here at BERNINA.

Talk to you soon! And remember to keep checking back for more entries and details on the magnificent 8 Series.

My first quilt wasn't nearly as nice as Erika's, but it's been well-loved for over 25 years. I didn't have a clue what I was doing - the fabrics range from lightweight cotton bandanas to dense cotton/poly sheeting. It's folded like this so you can't see the parts where the thinner fabrics have worn completely away!

I love scrap quilts - each piece of fabric has its own story. Some of the squares in this quilt are from my mother's and grandmother's and aunts' fabric stashes, some from garments I'd sewn. The blue & black plaid in the corner is from a pair of shorts I made, the olive green from a top my mother wore in the '60s, the sheeting from my father's aunts...it's fun to sit down and go through them all one by one.

I stitched this together the summer before I started college. I'd been sewing my own clothes for years, but I didn't know much about how to put together a quilt. I had no idea how to apply the binding - it's still attached, so I guess it's doing its job, but I'm glad you can't see it up close! Binding a quilt isn't hard; you just need to know what to do. The Binding Basics Online Class at http://www.berninausa.com/home.jsp has instructions for several binding methods. My four-patch quilt uses - sort of - the single binding technique, using purchased binding. These days I cut my own bias strips and use the double binding method; I like to repeat fabrics from the blocks around the edges, and the two layers of fabric over the edge provide more protection than a single layer. (My quilts get used and loved and laundered a lot; if they were hanging on a wall a single fold binding would be fine.)  

There are so many tools now that make assembling a quilt easier - rotary cutters/mats/rulers, 1/4" presser feet (BERNINA Patchwork Foot #37 and Patchwork Foot with Guide #57), edgestitching feet (BERNINA Edgestitch Foot #10/10C), needle stop up/down features, adjustable needle position - so much easier than scissors, cardboard templates, and a single "all-purpose" foot!

I don't think I'd even heard of machine-quilting when I made this quilt, and I knew I didn't want to stitch it by hand, so I tied it with lengths of acrylic yarn (which has tangled and pilled over the years - I'd use embroidery floss or topstitching thread today). I come from a long line of hand-quilters, and I can hand-stitch when I have to, but I much prefer machine quilting. I've always liked to draw, and machine quilting is very much like drawing a line with a sewing machine needle instead of a pencil or pen. I can machine quilt just about as quickly as I can draw, so it doesn't take me long to complete a quilt once I get it set up. And it's soooo relaxing! Next week I'll show you some of my more recent pieces - which reflect some of the things I've learned through classes and books and looking at hundreds (maybe thousands?) of quilts.  

Don't miss the CBS News Morning Show this Sunday - March 16 - they're doing a segment on quilting and an interview with Ricky Tims! Also featured will be the International Quilt Festival in Houston. Read more about it at TheQuiltShow.com. (photo by Justin Shults)

3/17 - If you missed it, here's the link - Jo

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3944748n

I finally finished my first ever quilt!

I started with four embroidered squares that I had made while demonstrating the Happy machine at the Houston Quilt Festival. I added hand-dyed fabrics that I made, and came up with the design on the fly.

I used the Bernina Stitch Regulator to free motion quilt, and I was really getting the hang of it when I finished! I used the clear foot attachment for the BSR to guide my echo quilting. I also used the Walking Foot for the first time when I applied the binding, and I can't believe I have been sewing so long without it! Holy cow does it make sewing through several layers a breeze!

The embroidery designs are combinations of the Bernina Creative Genes collection and some other lacy designs. I'll post about how I made these kaleidescope designs in the Bernina Embroidery Software soon!