PROJECT QUILTING What’s Inside? Page 18 • BERNINA® News • My Grandma’s Quilt - An Interview with Alex Anderson • Quality Quilts • Quilters Love BERNINA® Loves Quilters • Wearable Edges • My Favorite Quilting Notions • Featured Foot: Patchwork Foot #37 • The Intelligent Cat’s Guide to the Care & Feeding of a Quilting Companion • Floral Delights Desk Calendar Cover • Sawtooth Star Quilt • Machine Quilting Pointers • Labels, Labels, Labels SPECIAL • Designing with the BERNINA® Quilter EDITION: • To Steam or Not to Steam? Keep Quilting Ironing for Quilters with Alex Anderson The power to follow your inspiration. Quilt by Alex Anderson Visit your Bernina Dealer and experience the new lightweight and powerful activa machines. Introducing the new activa 145S and 135S Patchwork Edition. Both are lightweight for easy portability and power-packed to penetrate the heaviest of fabrics. With the attachable accessory case, all of your sewing tools can easily follow you to kitchen to class to garden—wherever your inspiration blooms. Starting at just $999.* No one supports the creative sewer like a Bernina Dealer • www.berninausa.com *At participating dealers • ©2003 Bernina of America ISSUE 9 My Grandma’s Quilt, Page 4 The Intelligent Cat’s Guide, Page 14 Labels, Labels, Labels, Page 24 WHO WE ARE... WEARABLE EDGES SAWTOOTH STAR QUILT Meet the talented staff and stitchers who Get the ins and outs and ups and downs of Great for the confident beginner, the contribute tips, project ideas, and stories to binding a quilted garment. Sawtooth Star is one of Alex Anderson’s Through the Needle. Page 10 favorite blocks so she used it when Page 2 designing this project to keep you quilting. Page 18 MY FAVORITE QUILTING NOTIONS BERNINA® NEWS See the latest tools for saving time and Once you start quilting, you’ll want to keep getting professional quilting results. MACHINE QUILTING POINTERS ® quilting and BERNINA has the perfect Page 12 Try this unique machine quilting method program of classes to help you do just that! by award-winning quilter, Diane Page 3 Gaudynski. FEATURED FOOT Page 22 MY GRANDMA’S QUILT - AN INTERVIEW Precision is important when piecing patch- WITH ALEX ANDERSON work patterns and the Patchwork Foot LABELS, LABELS, LABELS Get to know the host of TV’s Simply Quilts from BERNINA® takes the work out of 1 Use decorative stitches and stitched lettering and find out how she started her quilting /4” seams. to create quilt labels for documenting career. Page 13 your work. Page 4 Page 24 THE INTELLIGENT CAT’S GUIDE QUALITY QUILTS TO THE CARE & FEEDING OF A DESIGNING WITH THE BERNINA® QUILTER Alex Anderson discusses the basic QUILTING COMPANION components of any quilt: fabric, thread, Make your quilt planning easier by using Savvy felines share tips and tricks about BERNINA® Quilter software to design it - and batting caring for their quilters. Page 6 with or without embroidery. Page 14 Page 26 QUILTERS LOVE BERNINA® LOVES QUILTERS FLORAL DELIGHTS DESK CALENDAR COVER TO STEAM OR NOT TO STEAM? Learn the secrets to why more quilters Brighten up you workspace with this IRONING FOR QUILTERS prefer BERNINA® machines for creating beautiful calendar stitched with designs Great ironing tips for the best results when their quilts. from Hatched in Africa. making your quilts. Page 8 Page 16 Page 28 1 Through the Needle GAYLE HILLERT SUSAN BECK BERNINA® News; Managing Editor My Grandma’s Quilt WHO An avid sewer since she was a young girl, Gayle has With a background in Art and Home Economics, Susan is managed to combine her vocation and her avocation. As interested in all types of sewing and crafts and has written Vice President of Education for BERNINA® of America, several sewing books. She loves to be creative on paper Inc. she is responsible for training, education and testing as well as in fabric and is the Director of Education for We Are... ® ® functions relating to all BERNINA products. BERNINA of America, Inc. JO LEICHTE ALEX ANDERSON SANDRA BETZINA Featured Foot, To Steam Quality Quilts; Wearable Edges or Not to Steam? Sawtooth Star Quilt Currently stitching a collection of purses and totebags, Jo Alex’s personal mission is to share her love of quilting Sandra is the dynamic host of HGTV's Sew Perfect, and is constantly on the lookout for quick, simple projects to with anyone who will listen by educating and the author of Fabric Savvy, Fast Fit, and the Power share with beginning seamsters. As Editor for BERNINA® encouraging those interested in quilting. She also Sewing series of books and videos, as well as the of America, Jo is instrumental in the production of enjoys enlightening those who really aren't interested syndicated Power Sewing column. She travels all over the Through the Needle. in the craft itself about this art, so carefully handed United States and Canada as a lecturer, teacher, and guest down from generation to generation. on television sewing shows. CHERYL SAVINI SUSAN NEILL KAY LYNCH My Favorite Quilting The Intelligent Cat’s Floral Delights Desk Notions Guide to the Care & Calendar Cover Feeding of a Quilting Companion Cheryl learned to sew at a young age, and began Susan is Marketing Director for Benartex fabrics; As a Card Production Assistant at OESD, Inc., Kay’s job is quilting about 12 years ago. As Major Accounts Sales her diverse background includes over 20 years to assist in the development of designs and embroidery Manager for Quilters Resource, Inc., one of her of advertising, marketing and merchandising cards for BERNINA® and OESD, and to create projects favorite activities is meeting creative and talented experience. She is responsible for the concept and using the embroidery designs. She has a BS degree in quilters from all over the world. text for Benartex newsletters, flyers, bulletins, website, Home Economics Education from Oklahoma State and advertising copy University. DIANE GAUDYNSKI JILL DANKLEFSEN JENNIFER GIGAS Machine Quilting Labels, Labels, Labels Designing with the Pointers BERNINA® Quilter The first quilt that Diane machine quilted was voted a As an Education Consultant for BERNINA® of America, Jennifer, an Education Consultant for BERNINA® of "Viewers’ Choice" award in 1989. Since then, her Jill is the resident master of stitch manipulation. She America, combines serging, sewing, and embroidery quilts have become more extensively quilted, and loves playing with them, changing them, and using in many of her updated interpretations of favorite have consistently won awards at every show entered. them to create textured fabrics for garment and craft patterns, many of which incorporate decorative serger Her style is definitely her own and easily recognizable. projects. techniques in unexpected places. 2 ISSUE 9 BY GAYLE HILLERT uilt making has a rich and varied survey presented by Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine, the profile of a Qhistory in the United States. When the dedicated quilter is: first settlers could not afford expensive linens and coverlets from England, it is said • 99% female that they sewed pieces of fabric together to • 58 years old make warm covers for their beds. • well-educated with 76% attending college • 81% have a room dedicated to sewing/quilting activities Later in US history, tradition has it that quilts were very much a part of the • own an average of 2 sewing machines Underground Railroad, acting as a signal • purchased an average of 100.7 yards of fabric in the to northbound run-away slaves. When a past 12 months quilt of a particular design was hung on the • 84% have a personal computer clothesline, the person escaping to the • 88% use sewing machine to piece north and freedom would know that the • 72% use sewing machine to quilt inhabitants of the house were in sympathy with the cause and would offer food or While dedicated quiltmakers make the industry strong, we also need shelter or both. to welcome and encourage others to start quilting, and keep quilting. Alex Anderson has made this effort a passion in her life and she Historically, a number of quilts were made writes books, lectures, and hosts the popular television show, “Simply to satisfy the requirements of a bride’s Quilts” to appeal to all those “quiltmaker wannabees” and encourage dowry, and quilting bees were a place for them to start quilting now. women to meet and share news, advice, recipes and wisdom—joining together to This issue of Through the Needle is dedicated to quiltmakers complete the thousands of hand stitches everywhere. If you are a quilter, we appreciate all you do for the sewing needed for the dowry quilts. industry and we encourage you to pass on your love of sewing and quilting to others. If you admire quilts and have thought about Quilts were also made to tell stories and to beginning one, there is no time like the present to start quilting. Visit preserve tradition. At the end of the 19th your local BERNINA® dealer, sign up for a class and begin a tradition. century, crazy quilts were sewn and embroidered to showcase a woman’s skill with a needle. This was the start of quiltmaking as a leisure art rather than as a necessity. Today’s quilters use quilting for creative expression and as an artistic outlet even though the end results are often practical and useful as bed coverings, art, and gifts. Today, the quilt industry is alive and well with many people deriving fulfillment from Log onto our website at www.berninausa.com to find out more about the art of making quilts. Although many BERNINA®’s new consumer show, The Creativity Retreat by people still quilt by hand, quilting by BERNINA®. We’d like to have you join us for sewing, serging, machine is becoming more popular.