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12 Days of Gifting Recap

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

Last month on our Facebook Page we ran a series of polls where we asked our fans various questions and you answered. Now at the beginning of 2012 we’ve compiled some of those polls into handy charts so we can all learn more about this great sewing community around us!

We asked, “What is a sewing technique that you’ve always wanted to learn or that still intimidates you.” The clear winner was free-motion quilting! Zippers are also apparently rather intimidating, and there’s a lot of interest in various applique, serger, and garment-making techniques. Here are the top 6 responses:

We also asked, “Do you do more machine embroidery or regular sewing projects?” Regular Sewing got just over half of the responses with 53.3%, while embroidery got 37.1%. 9.5% of you said that you sew and embroider an equal amount:

Then for fun we asked, “What is the longest time you’ve ever spent sewing one project?” A lot of you confessed that there have been projects that took 20 or more years to complete, and many are still UFOs (Un-Finished Objects)!

We asked what your favorite color is, and purple came back the clear winner with more than a quarter of you saying it was your favorite! Blue and red were distant second and third places:

Take a look at this pie chart and you’ll see that purple and blue together make up almost half all by themselves!

We also wondered, “What sewing accessory or notion could you not work without?” The favorite response was a good pair of scissors, and Kai scissors were very popular. A lot of you admitted to needing a good seam ripper by your side! Here are the top 5 responses:

It’s always interesting and fun to learn more about this sewing community that we’re so grateful to be a part of. We want to thank each and every one of you for making 2011 such a wonderful year, and we hope to see all of you in 2012!

Tags: facebook
Posted in Resources, Sewing | 1 Comment »

Make it With Wool Contest

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

This October the Puyallup Quality Sewing store will host Washington’s Make It With Wool (MIWW) Contest (formally held at Pacific Fabrics).

What is Make It With Wool?

MIWW is the longest, continuous promotional entity of the American lamb and wool industry. It began to help promote wool and generate new interest in sewing with wool among young sewers. Sponsorship of the program has remained strong with support from the lamb and wool industry – producers, feeders and woolen mills – as well as the sewing and fashion industry – sewing machine, thread and fabric companies and fashion magazines – as well as individuals and organizations interested in agriculture and youth.

Currently the Contest offers divisions for entrants from pre-teen (under 12) through adult. It is a very economical contest to enter, at only $10 for a National entrance fee. There are several cash prizes given to the winners of the different categories with a top prize of $2000.

If you are interested in entering this contest, check out their MIWW website. This is such a great opportunity get involved with a great program and to show your creativity. Who knows, you may win a prize!

Reva

Tags: make it with wool contest
Posted in Events, Resources, Sewing, Sewing Studio | No Comments »

New Sewing Shows on KBTC & KBTC back on DirecTV

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Did you know that KBTC is a great resource for sewing and quilting? KBTC airs many programs that focus on sewing techniques and projects. In fact, two new shows recently started airing: It’s Sew Easy and Sew it All.

It's Sew Easy

Sew It All

Here is the current line up:

• 8:00 AM – Creative Living
• 8:30 AM – Quilting Arts
• 9:00 AM – It’s Sew Easy
• 9:30 AM – Sew It All
• 10:00 AM – Sewing with Nancy
• 10:30 AM – America Sews with Sue Hausmann
• 11:00 AM – Martha’s Sewing Room
• 11:30 AM – Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting
• 12:00 PM – Quilt in a Day

Plus KBTC is back on DirecTV!

Now that it is back, KBTC will be repeating sewing programs for their DirecTV customers who might have missed them. The episodes that aired while KBTC was off DirecTV will be scheduled in the early morning hours beginning August 1, so you can set your DVRs!

August 1st through 15th:

• 4:00am – Sewing with Nancy
• 4:30am – Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting
• 5:00am – America Sews with Sue Hausmann
• 5:30am – Quilt in a Day

August 16th through 30th:

• 4:00am – Quilting Arts
• 4:30am – Sew It All
• 5:00am – Linda MacPhee
• 5:30am – Creative Living

*You can find KBTC on Comcast 12, Click! 3, Charter 12, DirecTV 28, Dish 8620, Digital 27 (28.1, 28.2 Tacoma), Digital 19 (15.1, 15.2 Centralia), & Digital K41KT (Grays River/Lebam).

Do you watch any of these shows? Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

Chris

Tags: It's Sew Easy, KBTC, Sew it All
Posted in Resources, Sewing | 4 Comments »

Do You Dream of Designing? Project Runway Starts Thursday

Sunday, July 24th, 2011

Don’t you just love the feeling of using your creativity to make something spectacular? This time of the year I sure can used ajump start to my creative process. Well just in time, it’s Project Runway to the rescue.

I just love the thought of being given a random challenge and seeing what one will come up with. Not that I my sense of style always agrees with what the designers on Project Runway comes up with, but the show does hold a full pallet of inspiration and ideas for projects that I am planning and working on. It sure has me looking at life around me with a whole different perspective.

The challenges remind me of the classes that we have in our stores. Have you ever noticed how each person in a class can make the same project but they all look so different when they add their own fabric choices and personality. I just love seeing what is created in a class!

This years season looks promising with a group of contestants that have such a wide variety of personalities and styles. We will also get to see designers who’s ages range from 21 to 57, one is even Snohomish and two are from Portland.

I have found a ton of information about the designers and have gotten a glimpse into what they are like by going to the Project Runway info page on LifeTime. Here you can even see what their work spaces look like. If you have Comcast, I did find that all of the video clips are “OnDemand” under “Tv Series”.

The new season of Project Runway starts this Thursday, July 28th @ 9pm on Life Time.

If you are not able to watch the series at the scheduled time, it is usually re-aired during the following week. Also in the past, LifeTime has posted the current episode on it’s website within a couple of days and is available for a short time period.

This is a great way to share an experience with the younger ones in your life and may even ignite a spark of interest in sewing. Even though my family does not share the same interest in sewing and design that I have, it has been fun to interact with my husband and two teenagers through this show while listening to their opinions on what each show presents. Also, my best girlfriend lives in California and this show can always give us something fun to talk about! So consider “watching” the show with your friends, kids, grandkids, or nieces/nephews. If you are not able to watch it together in the same room, compare thoughts with each other via texting, email, or Facebook. You just might be amazed at how much a simple TV show and Social Media may open up dialog and actually give you one more thing in common with someone you care about.

Join me in watching! We can all watch it together and chat about it on the Quality Sewing Facebook page.

I will meet you there!

Reva

Posted in Events, How To Guides, Projects and Techniques, Resources, Sewing, Sewing Celebrities, Show and Tell, Tips & Tricks | No Comments »

Pacific West Quilt Show is Coming Soon!

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

Are you ready to be inspired? This may be just what you are looking for! The Pacific West Quilt Show (formally known as the APNQ Quilt Show) is coming to the Tacoma Convention Center August 26-28, 2011.

The Show is presented by Pacific West Quilters and offers a Juried & Judged Quilt show & Contest with prizes equaling $25,000 and more than 500 quilts on display. There will also be many other events of interest to quilters and sewing enthusiasts including a Quilt Auction, Merchant Mall, Fashion Show, and Lectures.

The centerpiece of the quilt show will be the 227 finalists in this year’s contest from the 18 US states and Canadian provinces of the Pacific West region: Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, The Northwest Territories, Oregon, Saskatchewan, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and Yukon.

In addition to the contest quilts, there will be hundreds of quilts in several Special Exhibits. These Exhibits encompass various themes, Living Colour, Spice of Life, Wish You were Here, Telling Secrets, Basic Necessities, Invoking Spirits, and the Elements: Earth, Wind, Fire & Chocolate.

Love to shop? There’s also will be a Merchant Mall featuring over 100 vendors where you will find beautiful fabrics and all types of sewing items as well as see the latest in sewing and quilting technology. Make sure to come see us at the Quality Sewing booth!

Reva

Posted in Crafting, Events, New Products, Quilting, Resources, Sewing, Sewing Celebrities, Show and Tell | No Comments »

I Love Our New Puppy but Our Carpet Doesn’t

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

This past fall we got a wonderful new addition to our family. Roca is the sweetest puppy ever! The only drawback is that we had just had our carpets cleaned and our sweet little pup didn’t come pre-trained or with a bladder larger than a postage stamp.

Now that you can surely imagine my plight, let me give you a further twist to my dilemma. We are on well water that is high in iron and tends to spot our carpet brown when used to clean a spill. I always feel like I am trading one spot for another.

There is a product that I saw at one of our stores by Riccar Floor Care called Dry Carpet Cleaner. I got a kit, to start with, called the Pet Survival Kit, which comes with the Dry Carpet Cleaner. What did I have to lose? So I thought that I would give it a try. After all, my husband thinks the carpet is ruined anyway.

At the advice of the store manager, I followed the package directions and restrained myself from overdoing it. I was told not to use to much product or scrub too much. It seemed wrong to use what seemed to be so little and to not scrub extensively. I must say, the stains, even though old, came out beautifully! I know where the spots were, but I really can’t see them.

Here’s how it works… Use the Pre-Treatment Spray to moisten the area and let it set for 5-10 minutes. Use the sifter that comes with the powder and dust the surface, covering the stained area. Let it stay there until it is completely dry (mine stayed overnight because I forgot about it). Vacuum to remove. It was actually very easy to use and really was no work at all.

Somehow all of the stain is absorbed by the Riccar Dry Carpet Cleaner, and it leaves no tell-tail sign that my puppy had ever been there. The fibers of the carpet are not matted down or damaged like they can be from the use of a machine.

I was very impressed and plan to always have this on hand. But I sure hope that our pup is now old enough to not present this particular issue again.

Reva

Posted in Home Decor, How To Guides, New Products, Resources, Show and Tell, Tips & Tricks | 1 Comment »

Embroidering with Metallic Threads & the Designer Diamond deLuxe

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

Have you ever embroidered with metallic threads? I just love how they look. However, when using these temperamental threads, one thing that needs to be considered is that normal tensions and sewing speeds don’t always work well for metallic threads. Even when the machine is adjusted for them they can be tricky.

I had a very different experience this past week. Some of our stores had the privilege of having an educator from Viking come and show us the features of the new Designer Diamond Deluxe. One of the most amazing advancements of this machine is the new automatic Deluxe Stitch System.

What is that? This new technology is a secondary tension system that when turned on, replaces the traditional style tension disks of the machine. It is a set of rollers that smoothly glide the fabric through and releases the appropriate amount of thread for the thickness of the fabric and thread that you are using. So no matter how thick or thin your project, the feeding of the thread is adjusted automatically. In most cases, you will not even give tensions a single thought.

The project that we stitched out was a very sheer scarf using designs that were created on the machine and using metallic thread in both the needle and in the bobbin.

Metallic threads in both the needle and bobbin?! Are you kidding?!!! I said the same thing.

What makes this work so well is that we used the Deluxe Stitch System instead of the traditional tension disks.

It was really quite fascinating how the Deluxe Stitch System accommodated the metallic threads in both the needle and bobbin without making any adjustments at all. There was no need to test sew, adjust tensions, test sew again. The machine was even able to stitch with the metallic threads at a high speed due to this new System.

Before this experience, I really did not understand the advantages of the Deluxe Stitch System. Once I saw it in action and tried it for myself it was very impressive. I invite you to stop by one of our stores and try it for yourself. It is something worth seeing!

Reva

Posted in Home Decor, Machine Embroidery, New Products, Projects and Techniques, Resources, Sewing, Tips & Tricks | 2 Comments »

Show Off Your Quilted Masterpieces at the Pacific West Quilt Show

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Enter your original quilting masterpieces to be judged at the 2011 Pacific West Quilt Show and you could be one of the winners of over $25,000 in cash and prizes. The entry submission deadline is Thursday April 28, 2011. There is a limit of 2 quilt entries plus 1 wearable entry per person. To be eligible to enter a submission, you must be a permanent residents of the following states and provinces: Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, the Northwest Territories, Oregon, Saskatchewan, Utah,  Washington, Wyoming and Yukon. Read more about the contest rules and information or email: contest@apwq.org. The 2011 Pacific West Quilt Show presented by the Association of Pacific West Quilters is August 26th-28th, 2011 at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center, mark your calendars! This is an exciting juried and judged quilting show with an extensive display of over 500 quilts featuring special invitational quilt exhibits. Events include the Lectures á la Carte series, Instructor for Hire, Saturday Sampler, Awards Ceremony, Show Preview and the Gala Dinner & Auction. Shop over 120 booths in the Merchant Mall and be sure to stop by the Quality Sewing Booth. Quality Sewing has donated a Baby Lock Esante quilting and embroidery machine which will be raffled at the event and a Baby Lock Serger with Jet-Air Threading to be awarded to the winner of this year’s Viewers’ Choice Award at the show! For additional information, please visit the official APWQ website.

Tags: apwq, association of pacific west quilters, pacific west quilt show, quilt exhibit, quilting, special event
Posted in Events, Quilting, Resources, Sewing | No Comments »

2011 Sew Expo Highlights

Friday, March 11th, 2011

Sharon and Audrey from Quality Sewing Centers

The 2011 Sewing & Stitchery Expo at the Puyallup Fairgrounds was last weekend. This year’s event was bigger and better than ever! A few of our employees that worked the Sew Expo have highlighted their favorite parts:

“It is hard to believe that another Sew Expo has come and gone. As always, it is so much fun to see all of my stitching buddies! I trust that you were able to find all sorts of goodies to inspire you as we finish out the winter and head toward spring. There are so many things to see and experience. One of my favorite things from this year have to do with Texturizing fabric. Products like Texture Magic and Krinkle Magic have been around and you may have seen things made with them. There were wonderful samples of “smocking” type accents to children’s clothing, quilts and all sorts of things in the Superior booth. To see how it’s done, watch this video http://www.superiorthreads.com/shop/category/texture-magic/videos/. Now here is my favorite pick for using with this product! There is a new Embroidery Design Collection out by Jenny Haskins called “3D Embroidery Magic”. This Multi-Format CD contains textural designs that fill your hoop and make very interesting texture patterns when the Krinkle Magic is steamed. Read here for more information. In addition, the CD has beautiful flowers and leaves that have such dimension and just come to life with a simple burst of steam. I can hardly wait to make something fun with these designs! If you are as inspired to try these designs as I am, be sure to share a picture of what you created!”
Reva, Quality Sewing & Vacuum Event Coordinator

“Sew Expo was amazing this year. I have been with Quality Sewing for almost ten years, and this was my first opportunity to work at Sew Expo. It was wonderful to see all of the happy people walking around shopping and admiring the wonderful displays and products brought by the different vendors. Everyone was smiling and having a great time, and I got the chance to visit with several customers who called the Sew Expo, “the happiest place to be.” Everyone I saw took the opportunity to show me their new treasures and talked about the best places to go visit on my breaks. I can’t wait to see some of the great show and tell at the next few Sew Fun presentations, when the beautiful finds turn into the amazing work our customers display at show and tell.”
Jim, Quality Sewing & Vacuum Everett Manager

“This time of year is always exciting being Expo brings all sewers together for a great event of seeing what is coming out new and what great buys you can come up with over four days. So many fantastic new machines for our embroidery are being introduced and great quilting machines to make our projects easier to get done and the quality is the best! Being I work for Quality Sewing is even better being most of the time I get a preview of what is coming out for all our great customers so I can share with you which makes my position very special in every way. Working at Expo is great, I am there each day to view what others have in their booths that is new and interesting for many classes I share at the Everett store. I am on my toes always looking for that special project you all might like to try in the coming months ahead. Expo is really a big help being we all get together in one spot and so you don’t have to travel so far to find that special item you might want to use down the rode! I found many new items to share in my classes that will be wonderful for our homes, gifts and for the holiday ahead! I look forward to many fun classes ahead with many smiling faces and great friends I have had and many new ones I made at Expo this year. This year was great as I had the opportunity to see many of the gals I don’t see unless I am in the south end at these events. Seeing the smiles and listening to what each person is doing was very special in every way. So many ideas and so little time but getting together to share the love of sewing and what everyone wants to do is very special in my heart. Hope you found that Expo was that way for you too! Yes I had fun too and found many wonderful new items to try out and especially in my embroidery classes ahead at Quality Sewing in Everett.”

Betty, Quality Sewing & Vacuum Everett

Other Sew Expo Highlights:

The Pillowcase Patrol at the Sew Expo was a huge success, over 2300 pillow cases were received! View great pictures of the collected pillowcases on the Coats & Clark blog.

Lorri, winner of the Quilt Expressions 4.0 with Lana from Quality Sewing

Congratulations to the following customers that won the following Expo door prizes donated by Quality Sewing & Vacuum:

Karlene, winner of the Viking with Bo from Quality Sewing

Karlene from Utah won a Viking Sapphire Quilting Model 875, Carol from Snohomish won a Brother Model 1500D Sewing, Quilting and Embroidery Machine and Lorri from Oak harbor won a Quilt Expressions 4.0. Sally from Bonney Lake was the luck winner of the drawing for the Brother 950D at the Quality Sewing booth in the Showplex.

If you missed Sew Expo this year or wish that Sew Expo was happening again this weekend – be sure to save the date for the 2012 Sew Expo March 1-4, 2012! To keep updated on Sew Expo 2012, check out their website. They have pictures and additional blog posts too!

Happy Creating!

Carmen

Tags: event, seminar, sew expo, sewing & stichery expo, shopping, workshop
Posted in Events, Quilting, Resources, Sewing | 13 Comments »

Quality Sewing & Vacuum

Resources

12 Days of Gifting Recap

Make it With Wool Contest

New Sewing Shows on KBTC & KBTC back on DirecTV

Plus KBTC is back on DirecTV!

Do You Dream of Designing? Project Runway Starts Thursday

Pacific West Quilt Show is Coming Soon!

I Love Our New Puppy but Our Carpet Doesn’t

Embroidering with Metallic Threads & the Designer Diamond deLuxe

Show Off Your Quilted Masterpieces at the Pacific West Quilt Show

2011 Sew Expo Highlights

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