I promised to bring you news from the Husqvarna Viking SewFest events across the country. These are special meetings held for Husqvarna Viking Dealers. This year we introduced two new sewing and embroidery models, the Husqvarna Viking Designer Topaz 30 and Designer Topaz 20. The sewing and embroidery machines have many wonderful features. If you have friends or family looking for a Husqvarna Viking Sewing and Embroidery machine that has many features including the Husqvarna Viking exclusive Sensor System and Sewing Advisor but very easy on the pocketbook, suggest they visit a Husqvarna Viking Store soon!
Kim Novak, Dealer Event and Program Manager shared the Education Programs and Events that are taking place all across the US. Go to http://www.husqvarnaviking.com/, USA, Events to find a fun filled Sewing and Embroidery event near you!
Highlight of the introductions was the new Husqvarna Viking Mega Quilter 18 by 8 long arm quilting machine with built-in stitch regulator on the new Imperial Quilting Frame with the “brain” provided by QBOT. See an earlier blog for more information about the Imperial Quilting Frame and QBOT. The new Mega Quilter 18 x 8 has 18” of space between the needle and the machine and is 8” high from the bed of the machine so that you will have loads of quilting space on the frame. If you have unfinished quilt tops or are ready to start quilting, this is the home quilting studio solution for you!
We also introduced some very requested accessory feet and some of the most beautiful embroidery designs I have ever seen! One of my favorites is #200 Husqvarna Viking In Full Bloom. These fabulous designs are for the Majestic Hoop and feature many 3D embroideries. The Talk of the Town Tote project included in this blog was created by Marie Duncan using one of these amazing designs. I also love #204 Elegant Art Embroidery which features a new “long stitch” digitizing that really looks like handwork. You will want to stitch this on garments as well as home dec projects.
The new Cactus Punch collection If Wishes Wore Wings by Nadine Knecht is a wonderful way to make special gifts that tell people you care. Nadine began making angels, wall hangings, notebooks, filled with words of encouragement. She hand dyes beautiful fabrics and has even provided the files on the CD for you to print her beautiful “hand dyed fabric” with your ink jet printer onto printable fabric. Wow! There are words to print and of course darling designs. You need to see this one!
The new Husqvarna Viking accessory feet are four that owners have asked for. First, the mini piping foot has a “tiny tunnel” on the underside which is perfect for the small cording that comes with the Piping Hot Binding tool. This size piping is perfect to insert between a quilt and the binding, into collars and cuffs of children’s garments and to finish edges on just about anything. Marie and I will use it in our class at the Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup next February.
The Clear A foot set is something many Husqvarna Viking sewers have been wishing for. This set includes a Clear A Foot, Clear A Edge Stitching Foot and Clear A Edge Joining Foot. Of course the clear means you will have the visibility you need for special technique sewing however many people prefer a clear foot for all their sewing and now you have just the feet you need!
The important difference between all Husqvarna Viking A feet and B feet is on the underside. B feet have a "tunnel" on the underside so that the foot will feed smoothly over a satin or decorative stitch that builds up some thread height in the stitch. When you sew lightweight fabrics without stabilizer and/or stitches such as a straight stitch, bridging stitch, etc that do not have a thread build up, the tunnel can allow the fabric to "tunnel into the tunnel" allowing some fabric movement and/or puckering. This is where the A foot really makes a difference in the quality of the stitching.
These new Clear A feet are flat on the underside which holds the fabric flat as the stitch is being formed. This is great for straight stitch sewing and for lightweight fabrics especially. Heirloom sewers will love the new clear A feet set for joining and edge stitching!
After the San Diego meeting we had dinner with our son Bob, granddaughter Lyndi and her friend Cory at a restaurant right on the Pacific Ocean. Bob and Cory came down to visit Lyndi at San Diego State.
Elizabeth Anderson from Stoneybrook Sew and Vac wore a wonderful jacket she had felted with yarn.
She also brought a black shawl with a really neat felting design. She has a great way to mark the design on the shawl. Use
quilting stencils and Pounce to mark the outline to felt with roving. If you have not used the Pounce, the white Pounce is like a chalk but it irons off beautifully. Be sure to “prime” your Pounce container the first time you use it. Simply bang it on the table up to 50 times to bring the Pounce into the felt pad. Then wipe the felt pad over the stencil. It is really amazing how well it marks and even more amazing when you iron over it and it completely disappears! In the picture below you see the right and wrong sides of the shawl. Either side could be the right side. With the Huskystar ER10 Needle Felting/Embellishing/Punching machine, one side is brighter and the other side more subdued in color. If you do not have one of these “sewing tools” yet, why not ask Santa for one?The project below uses the wonderful new Husqvarna Viking embroidery collection #200 In Full Bloom. You will love the way this tote is put together because you make each piece individually and the backing becomes the “frame” around the embroidery. Enjoy!
I went to Sweden right from SewFest so will have lots to share in the next blog.
Happy Sewing!
Sue
Talk of the Town Tote
By Marie Duncan, Education Creative Coordinator
Everyone in town will be talking about your beautiful tote! But beware, the stipple police may be there because you “crossed the line!”
Sewing Supplies
Husqvarna Viking Designer Diamond Sewing/Embroidery Machine
Majestic Hoop #920 222 096
Husqvarna Viking Embroidery Collection In Full Bloom #220
3/4 yard Fabric For Background of Embroidery and Back of Tote
1 Yard Silk Dupioni for Lining/Border
40 wt. Rayon Embroidery Thread
Bobbin Thread
Batting
Inspira Tear-A-Way Stabilizer
Fab-U-Motion with Stitch Regulator by Cruise Control
Clear Open Toe Foot # 413 03 19-45
Clear 1/4” Piecing Foot w/Guide 412 92 74-45
Dual Feed Foot
1/4” wide Steam-A-Seam
1/2 yard of 1/2” wide Ribbon
Open Toe Free Motion Spring Action Foot #413037646
Purchased Purse Handle
Quick Easy Mitred-Binding Tool #140002480
Cut:
20” x 22” for embroidered bag front
Cut ribbon into four 4” long pieces
Stitch your favorite embroidery! Think BIG! We used design 2 from the In full Bloom Collection 220. This design features 3D Embroidery flowers. Follow the instructions in the Embroidery Booklet. You could also cut a piece of fabric 20” x 22”, mark off a 13 1/2” x 14 1/2” embroidery area and fill it with your favorite embroideries. BEWARE, we are going to break the rules! No stipple police allowed!
Remove the fabric from the hoop. Trim 1 1/2” from the edge of the embroidery on all sides to equal approximately 15 1/2” wide and 16 1/2” high. This will be the size of your tote, so adjust as desired.
Place your trimmed embroidered front on batting cut the same size. Cut lining 2” bigger all the way around. Place the front and batting on the wrong side of your lining centered. Pin in place.
Set your machine for free motion. Attach your Fab-U-Motion. Thread with sewing thread in a color several shades lighter or darker than your fabric, on top and bobbin.
Prepare to “break the rules”! The goal is to enhance your BEAUTIFUL embroidery! If you need to cross the lines to do it, then go for it! Stipple around your embroidery!
Cut the bag back the same size as your bag front. Place on batting the same size. Place the back and batting centered, on the wrong side of lining cut 2” bigger on each side. Stipple the back through all the layers, using one of the colors in your embroidery. When the whole piece is covered with stitching, thread with another color from the embroidery and stipple again. Repeat with a third color to create free motion abstract art on the back piece of your bag.
Trim the lining on each piece to 2” larger than the stitched fabric all the way around.
Following the instructions that came with your Easy Mitred Binding Tool, bring the lining around to the front and miter the corners.
Snap on your Clear Open Toe Foot. Thread with sewing thread in the bobbin and one of your embroidery thread on top. Select E1:23 , Stitch Length 8.0, Stitch Width 4.0. Touch as needed to adjust the position of the stitch. Stitch the mitered border in place.
Measure the width and height of your piece. Cut your bottom and sides 4” wide x these measurements plus 1/2” for seam allowances. Ours were cut one piece 16” x 3” for the bottom and two pieces 17” x 3” for the sides. Cut batting and lining strips the same sizes. Place the lining and the outer fabrics right sides together on top of the batting.
Snap on your Clear 1/4” Piecing Foot w/Guide. Select a center needle position straight stitch. Stitch all the way around each piece leaving a 3” opening for turning on one long side.
Clip the corners, turn and press. Insert Steam-A-Seam in the openings and press with steam to fuse the opening closed.
Attach your Dual Feed Foot. Stitch down the center, lengthwise of each side and bottom strip.
Using a 5/8” seam allowance, stitch the bottom strip to the tote front along the bottom edge beginning at the miter seam, and ending at the miter seam. Repeat attaching the back to the bottom strip.
Insert the side strips by beginning at the top edge of the tote/side seam (not at the miter) and stopping at the miter on the bottom. Sew with the tote front or back up, not the side strip. Repeat for all the side seams.Stitch the bottom to the sides the same way, beginning and ending where the previous stitching ended.
Insert the 4” ribbon piece into the purchased handles. Fold the ends under 1/4” and pin. Place the handles centered, on the bag and pin to the bag.
Our next stop was Central, South Carolina. We were on a country road and our GPS could not find the store and we had no phone service. I asked Herb to pull over so I could study the map then looked up and Heirlooms and Comforts Quilt Shop and Husqvarna Viking Center was right across the road from where we stopped! Here owners Bobby and Sara Ballentine and their people are getting ready for the America Sews on the Road Show at a local college the next day.
As the ladies arrived for the program, the beautiful Husqvarna Viking Designer Diamond on the front table was embroidering in the huge Majestic Hoop. They came up to the table in groups and could not believe the huge hoop and Ultimate Interactive Screen showing the design! What fun!! I’ve found I have to be really careful to clear the area around my Designer Diamond and to pull it away from the wall and not to sit too close to the front. The Majestic Hoop is so large it can bump into the wall or you before you know it! 
This group from one guild drove over an hour to attend.
We had a great turn out in Tulsa and the ladies were excited about all the projects and techniques. Embroidery sure is a wonderful way to share the joy of sewing.
After seeing much of the town and countryside and asking directions at a gas station and from some men working on the streets, we finally arrived and found that we had the most desired location in Strasbourg. A huge bedroom with another room and bed for Lyndi, all right on the river with windows overlooking the view of the old city that is in all the tourist books.
Take a look at these curtains on the windows—trimmed in faux fur! And talk about “puddle”. Even the bedspread was faux fur. It was an interesting room but very clean and very nice and big bathroom. Of course no air conditioning in hotels and it was very hot the whole trip. We take so much for granted! 
The Sound of Music tour was wonderful! 4 hours of music and stops at the key locations where the movie was made. Our guide shared loads of details about the real family and the movie family. This is the beautiful villa they used for the back yard (there was a different villa for the front yard) and the lake where Maria and the children fell out of the boat. We learned that it was very cold the day they taped the “fall out of the boat scene” and little Gretel could not swim so the piece in the movie is quite short after they hit the water because one of the crew had to jump in and grab Gretel!
I’m sure you are tired of trip photos but I want to share our last stop. On our way back to Frankfort to fly home, we stopped to visit Kimberly Einmo and her family in a suburb of Stuttgart. Kimberly and her husband Kent have lived in Germany before while Kent was in the Air Force. Now retired he continues to work with the military and they are on assignment there. Kimberly has written a couple of quilting books for NQA, has developed licensed quilting notions and she travels back to the US often to present quilting programs all over the country. Her fabulous quilts hung in every room of their home make it really special. It was such a joy to spend time with her in her sewing studio and catching up. We “sew” appreciated their hospitality!
Many people ask what I do when I am home in Westlake. Here I am at my desk where I answer e-mail, write projects, proof read, answer questions, plan programs and tv shows write this blog and “sew much more”, What you don’t see is all the samples, books, reference materials, etc. around me. I’ll put the “other side of the office in a later blog!
This is the beautiful bedroom we stayed in at my cousin Sherry and husband Bruce’s home. Don’t you love the pillows and spread! When Sherry was first married she purchased a sewing machine from me and sewed this type of upscale home decoration for clients along the North Shore. Now she creates wonderful and unique designs for her home. Wouldn’t she make a great guest on America Sews? Would you love to learn the secrets to making your guest room look this inviting? Saturday morning we had the opportunity to visit the Hooke family at their home in Lake Forest and to spend time with David Hooke, at his engineering and manufacturing facility nearby. David is the inventor and manufacturer of the Quilter’s Cruise Control, Fab-U-Motion with Stitch Regulator and the QBOT—the newest accessory for your quilting frame and machine. 
We were really excited to learn more about the newest technology for quilters, QBOT! This new accessory for your quilting frame and machine brings Quilting Based On Technology to the comfort of your home. Now you can quilt just like the industrial quilting machines at a fraction of the cost. 
And below are some of the fabulous quilting patterns that come with your QBOT! To get started, simply select the pattern you want to quilt, QBOT will set the size according the size of your blocks or area automatically and perfectly! Touch start and QBOT does the rest, automatic computerized quilting as QBOT moves your Mega Quilter across the quilting frame. You can step away and do something else but if you are like me, I’ll bet you will have to stand and watch the machine move down the frame stitching the quilting pattern. It’s hard take your eyes off it but I am very glad to have my hands off as when I guide the machine on the frame sometimes I’m don’t stitch as straight as I would like to. QBOT solves this completely and of course the Quilter’s Cruise Control stitch regulator makes sure each stitch is the same length.
Here’s two more of the beautiful quilting patterns/designs.
Here is Lyndi and I with store owner Giesela! Don’t you love the beautiful fabrics and the pieced tote on the table. See the window valance? It was so amazing! Reversible, made of Log Cabin blocks with a hole where the center block would be. We did not find out how to make that one however I kept thinking about it and our last stop was to visit Kim Eimno and family in Stuttgart and she is going to go to the store and get the info. More next blog.
