Techies Unite!

I spent the day in Charlotte with 15 other Bernina techs getting our first hands-on (and in) on the new 780 machines.  I got to use one of these babies this summer at Bernina University and it is so cool!  It's got this new hook system that is jaw-dropping (if you're a little geeky, anyway).  I literally sat in class today with my mouth hanging open at one point.  It was awesome!  If you get a chance, go to your nearest Bernina dealer and check it out!  (Most dealers have them now or will in the next couple of weeks.)

Oh, and the one you see won't be half naked and speaking German...like mine here...

Where Does the Time Go?

It flies when you're having fun.  That's where it goes.

Since my last post...

1. Judged the Gate City Quilt Guild Quilter Show in Greensboro with Lorraine Covington.  I love judging with her for so many reasons.
2.  Helped Sew Original set up the smallest vendor booth ever.  We can pack a lot of great stuff in a small space that's for sure!

3. Finished a T-shirt quilt (with Bonnie's and her longarm's help) for Jaynie and Dante.  It's on it's way to Cape Cod right now!

4. Went on a greenway hike with Leanne and Bonnie and discovered the God's Acre at Bethabara.  It sits on a hill, hidden in the woods - very peaceful and wonderful.  I do love to wander the graveyards.

5. Had a wonderful sew day with Leanne in the barn - a celebration of her last few days before her new job. I've been working on a king size chicken quilt for a friend in California and the barn was a perfect place to finish the top.  We also went to lunch at Sander's Ridge where another friend, Starr, is the chef.  Her pimento cheese will make you swoon.

6.  Had another sew day at Bonnie's to get the chicken quilt quilted.  We ended the day with pizza and a couple of movies for a binding fest.  Shelby took turns, snuggling up to the chicken quilt and to Bonnie's Florabunda.  She wouldn't tell us which was her favorite but...

7. Quiltkeemosabe and I took a class on doing cathedral windows by machine.  Sarah Chin of Blueprint Textiles taught the class based on her pattern.  It was great fun (even after I realized I was old enough to be Saras mother).

8.  Spent quite a bit of time as shih tsu furniture while doing hand applique.

 9. Met another quilting rock star - Tula Pink who was fascinating...not to mention I'm in love with all of her fabrics.  Here's Tula, me (and shelby) and Lee when Tula and Karen Gray dropped by Sew Original.  Later, Tula did a program at Graylyn where we got to see her new fabric lines and here her incredible story.

 10. Came home one day and met the neighborhood hawk up close and personal.  How creepy is it that he's looking right at me?

11.  Serviced a gazillion sewing machines.  Here's a hint...occasionally remove your stitch plate so you can get the lint out...before it become structural.

 12.  Celebrated Missy's birthday (won't say which one but it has a zero in it) with dinner at Fearrington House.  Her husband treated our bee to dinner then Cyndi and I (and Shelby) got to spend the night at Chez Missy.

Even though she said no presents, I couldn't resist...I found this kit in Pieceful Hearts Quilt Shop in Lisle, Illinois.  I added "Friendship is a sheltering tree" because it is...

13.  Laura and I went to NC Quilt Symposium in Cullowhee and I took a couple great classes:

Border solutions with Cindy Williams

Machine quilting with crazy threads with Carol Taylor

 There will be more on Symposium because that little adventure needs its own post.

14.  Been instigating with new friends and old friends - there will be sales opportunities in the near future - but more on that later too.

15.  Gave my machine maintenance program at the Heart of the Triad Quilt Guild which was great fun.

16.  Bought a new Bernina 580 and a serger...yes I have lost my pea-pickin' mind.

17. Celebrated my Dad's 70th birthday by sitting around the kitchen table with him, my mom, my brother, his wife, my husband and Shelby...telling stories on each other.  It was perfect.

18.  Been incredibly stressed out and overwhelmed.

19.  Lived life and dreamed big dreams.

20.  Thinking it's time for some of those big dreams to become something....stay tuned....

As  Mrs. G. says...life is good.

Words to the Wise

If you love your sewing machine, here's a little tip...

You know those little cans of compressed air?

Don't use them to blow the lint out of your machine.

The lint has nowhere to go, you see...except deeper into your machine.

Here's a machine I saw earlier this week.  It's not an old machine and was serviced just a year ago.  The outside and the bobbin case area was clean as whistle.  But, the inside...the part the user can't get to (or shouldn't get to) was covered in lint.  The owner had been "cleaning her machine with canned air.

Here's the back view...

and the front view...

The canned air blows the lint and threads all the way to the handwheel and can cause all kinds of problems like binds, impeding your feed dogs, not to mention soaking up all the oil.

This is the top of the machine just under the bobbin winder.  Lint and threads around the circuit boards can cause damage to the boards...cha-ching!

All that lint in there can cause tension problems and can cause your thread to not loop properly - no loop means no stitch.

Here's just part of what I pulled out of this machine.

So...word to the wise...no canned air.  Use your lint brush in the parts you can reach and bring your machine in to your dealer's service department annually for a check-up.

WE can used canned air because we see your machine naked.