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Mar 28, 2013

Where did “Read.” bags Come From?

March 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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Our store and our online community has been growing by leaps and bounds each year.  So, I thought I’d take this opportunity to introduce or re-introduce you to our main community service project at Zede’s and also to one of our good friends- the two go hand-in-hand, so read on!

A few years ago, Linda T made a “Read.” bag for my niece (Zede’s granddaughter) Kathryn for her birthday.  It was a hit.  Kathryn loves to read and she loves bags.  She filled up the bag with her other birthday presents and slept with it.

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“A Little Light Reading” from Designs in Machine Embroidery Magazine

Linda got the idea from an article in Designs in Machine Embroidery by Jo Connolly (here’s her site, go there after you finish reading).  The article was appropriately called “A Little Light Reading”.  Fast forward a few months and I turned the unassuming little read bag into a community service project with a big goal- 250 “Read.” bags for at-risk preschoolers in our area (we’re doing it again this year if you’d like to help out!).

I think it was during our second year of sewing “Read.” bags that Jo Connolly got in contact with us.  She was thrilled we were using her design to do some good.  Now, keep in mind, she could have acted much differently.  We had not up to this point given her any credit for her work- which was due to oversight on my part completely!  She could have (justifiably) been very angry with us for our use of her work.  But was she?  No!

She was and continues to be supportive of our store’s efforts to promote literacy using her original idea.  

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The  story really does come full circle.

Jo Connolly and Linda T were both recently published side-by-side in the Nancy Zieman 30th anniversary edition of Designs in Machine Embroidery Magazine.  We could not be more proud of both of them.

In the years since we started sewing “Read.” bags, Linda T has welcomed a beautiful granddaughter named Avery into her family.  She has been sewing up a storm for her since before she was born.  Jo also recently published “Sweet Stitches”, a book and embroidery design collection for little girls.  Linda T and Jane are currently teaching a series of classes based on Jo’s book in our store in Columbia, MO.

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Students at Zede’s working on a project from “Sweet Stitches”

 

Thanks Jo!  Thanks Linda!  And thanks to everyone who has visited our store and our blog.  The people in our lives are what makes sewing so much fun!

Who do you sew for?

Filed Under: DIY, Ideas, Random Thoughts, Sewing Books
Mar 14, 2012

Blog Tour: Georgie Melot

March 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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As our local sewing community knows, we love Georgie Melot’s book “Ready, Set, Serge”.  We use it in a continuing education class called Serge Ahead.

You can only imagine my surprise and excitement when I found Georgie’s blog.  I proceeded to contact her about doing an interview and found that she is a lovely, gracious person who accepted my request readily.

This post is a continuation of our Blog Tour series- something we do to help you can discover new bloggers and new ideas!

Here’s Georgie!

How long have you been stitching?- I have been sewing as long as I can remember. I used all the scraps of fabric I could find to make clothes for my Barbie dolls. At the time, I thought I had the best dressed Barbie in the world. Everyday she could wear a new outfit made especially for her! Now my grown-up memory sees that poor Barbie as a bit of a bag lady, but it was the beginning of my sewing world. I was probably about 7 or 8 when my mom let me sew on her sewing machine. What a joy! I wasn’t big enough for me feet to touch the floor, so Mom would put a large pan under the machine for me to put my feet on and allow me to get that machine going.
What got you interested in sewing?- My mom made most of my clothes when I was a small child and it always fascinated me that a plain piece of material could be made into something so pretty.  My mom sewed because it was economical at the time but she really didn’t enjoy it at all and was more than willing to pass that chore over to me once I showed an interest and the aptitude to learn. It seems that as my skills developed Mom lost any bit of knowledge that she ever had at sewing. I have teased her that with her lack of sewing skills, I was probably embarrassed to wear what she made for me so I was forced to learn to sew. But the truth is that I was just fascinated by watching her create something that I could wear. I still have a snippit of embroidered trim that was added to one of the outfits she made for me. I thought it was the most beautiful trim in the world and have kept that treasured 6″ piece of trim for decades. It always brings a smile to my face when I run across it in my sewing supplies.
When did you start making your own patterns?- My first sewing for my Barbie dolls was without patterns and I would just wrap the fabric this way and that and cut it where it looked like it needed to be cut. I didn’t think of it as pattern making at the time but it was the beginning of confidence in my ability to modify patterns to suit me. Later I had a wonderful home economics teacher in high school who pulled out abilities I hadn’t even considered. My sophomore year in high school I wanted to make a baby quilt for a cousin who was expecting. I had finished all the required sewing for class and found an appliqued quilt pattern that I thought was adorable. Mrs. Lewis told me that I could make that quilt but only if I made it without the pattern. She wanted me to make up my own pattern, and I have to say mine turned out just as cute as the one in the pattern book. That experience really unleashed my creativity and allowed me to attempt making any item that I visioned.
What made you decide to write a book on serging?- Prior to writing the book, I had been an educator for Baby Lock. I loved being able to share my love of sewing with wonderful people in the Baby Lock dealerships but all good things must come to an end and I had resigned my position with Baby Lock. I was not sure what God had planned for me but I knew he would show me what he had planned when the time was right. Anyway, I was on my last road trip for Baby Lock and was teaching a serger demonstration at Nancy’s Notions in Beaver Dam, WI. In my serger demo I generally would make a few simple projects, some of which are in the book. After the demonstration one of the ladies came up to me and asked if I could write a book full of easy serger projects. It seems one of the acquisition editors for F & W Publications was in my serger demonstration. So the book was not actually my idea but was a challenge that I accepted enthusiastically! I had taught many serger classes over the years and had been frustrated with projects that didn’t allow the students to get comfortable with their serger. Many serger projects put so many techniques in a single project, in order to highlight this wonderful machine, that someone new to serging can be overwhelmed before the class was over. I envisioned Ready, Set, Serge to be a book that would allow someone new to serging to find success and not frustration with their serging projects.
What brand of sergers do you work with and why?- My first serger was a White serger, I still have it but rarely use it. I do make sure it stays in good working order but most of the time I serge using one of my two Baby Lock sergers. I purchased the Baby Lock serger because of the jet-air threading but I fell in love with it because of the automatic tension. Those 2 features are probably 99% of the problems you will have with your serger and with my Baby Lock serging issue are a thing of the past. In fact when I was writing the book, I forced myself to spend a couple months serging on my White serger to re-familiarize myself with threading and tension issues. It wasn’t fun but it was very informative!
What was it like to work with “Sewing With Nancy” host Nancy Zieman?- Nancy is just a phenomenal person to work with, as is her whole staff. They are so organized and prepared that it is really easy to tape the show. For me the hardest part was not getting too wordy, which wouldn’t surprise anyone who knows me. My opportunity to be on “Sewing With Nancy” was such a blessing. My youngest son is in the Air Force and he had received orders to be deployed to Kuwait. As any mother I would be, I was a bit apprehensive and we all worried I would fall apart when I had to say goodbye to my baby. A few weeks before Mitt was deployed, Nancy called and she had an unexpected taping date,and wanted to know if I would be able to come in and such and such date. The way the dates fell, I flew to Beaver Dam the day after I told my baby goodbye. I was just too excited to fall apart! I love how God works some of those things out. 
What is your favorite technique to teach?- I enjoy all the wonderful techniques we can do with the serger but honestly my favorite part of teaching serging is helping people become comfortable with their serger. I want serger owners to get those sergers out of the closet and start using them! If you only used your serger for seams, you will love never having to finish another seam. That being said, I love to make the zippered cosmetic bag in serger classes. That demonstration has such a ‘wow’ factor and it gets everyone excited. And who couldn’t use a little zippered bag?
Curious about Georgie’s work?  Visit her blog and check out her posts, classes, and of course her book!
Happy Sewing!
Filed Under: Blog Tour, Classes at Zede's, Clothes & Garment Sewing, DIY, Ideas, Sewing Books
Mar 10, 2012

Guess Who’s Coming to Zede’s? Karen Linduska!

March 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Zede’s Sewing Studio is proud to welcome nationally renowned fiber artist Karen Linduska back to Columbia, MO. Karen will teach two workshops on March 24th: Decorative Stitched Garden and the Stitched Tree Class- you don’t want to miss either of them!

Karen has spent the last 12 years perfecting her decorative stitching techniques.  She uses the decorative stitches on your machine that you may have just used for borders and distorts them into engaging organic shapes.  There is some great eye candy on her site, and I’ll include some photos here too.

  

Linda Bratten interviewed Karen at the 2010 AQS show in Paducah.  The video is a little hard to hear, so turn up your speakers- the one thing Karen says loud and clear is “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes!”

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In the video she mentions that she’s working on a book for AQS- well, it came out this last summer, and we love it!!!  It’s called Your Machine’s Decorative Stitches.

Linda Bratten uses this book in Fiber Fun, a continuing education class that teaches you to loosen up a little bit with your sewing machine!  If you haven’t had any experience with Karen’s methods and you’re interested in attending her workshop, consider signing up for Fiber Fun.  It will get you “in the mood” to play around with your machine in ways you never thought possible.  Also, you’ll buy the book at Zede’s, and then Karen can sign it when she’s here!

Sign up before the classes fill up!  Call the shop with any questions you have at 573.874.2500.

 

 

Filed Under: Classes at Zede's, Ideas, Quilting, Random Thoughts, Sewing Books
Feb 23, 2012

Serge Ahead: Two Levels Available

February 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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We started a very popular continuing education class at Zede’s about 3 years ago. We call it “Serge Ahead”.  Linda B takes the projects from “Ready, Set, Serge” by Georgie Melot and transforms them into mini-lessons densely packed with serging techniques.





Normally, Serge Ahead alternates with Embroidery Insights from month to month.  But, we have so many new serger owners that we’re starting the program all over again as well as continuing through the book with new projects.  So, on our class schedule, you’ll now see “Serge Ahead 1″ and “Serge Ahead 2″.  If you’re new to serging, make sure and come to the first “Serge Ahead 1″ this Saturday, February 25th.

If you have been coming to Serge Ahead but missed a few classes, or if you would like to repeat a technique, make sure and check the schedule to see what’s happening  in Serge Ahead 1.

If you’re a new serger owner, you can come to Serge Ahead 2 as well as Serge Ahead 1.  Just make sure you’ve taken Guide Class first!

If you’re far away from Zede’s, check out Georgie Melot’s book and purchase it- it’s a great serger resource!

Filed Under: Classes at Zede's, DIY, Random Thoughts, Sewing Books
Nov 17, 2010

What Motivates You?

November 17, 2010 By 2 Comments
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For those of you who are not aware of it, I am not a morning person, not at all!   However, there was a time when I could be pursuaded to jump out of bed before 7:00 a.m., grab a cup of coffee, and be emersed in quilting.  It was HGTV’s, Simply Quilts hosted by Alex Anderson that motivated me in the mornings.  So imagine my excitement to be able to meet her in Houston, at the International Quilt Festival!

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If you are too young to remember, Simply Quilts, perhaps you will recognize her from one of her many books that she has written.  There are 30 of them, selling near 1 million copies world wide.  She is a national spokesperson for Bernina of America, a promotional partner with AccuQuilt’s GO!, a fabric designer with P&B Textiles, and threads with Superior Threads.  She is a founding partner of The QuiltShow.com, and is a co-host of “The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims”.

This lady knows quilting.  So I asked what her advice would be to someone new to quilting.

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You can find out more about Alex on her website, www.alexandersonquilts.com or check out TheQuiltShow.com.

Incidentally, Alex was the person that got my friend, Sheri, interested in quilting.  Thank you!  Now I have someone to share this passion with.

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Perhaps I should have asked how do I get into the business of interviewing wonderful quilters full-time,  Linda B.

Filed Under: DIY, Home Decor, Ideas, Quilting, Random Thoughts, Sewing Books, Tips Tagged With: , , , ,
Nov 16, 2010

Expert Advice For Those Interested in Machine Embroidery

November 16, 2010 By 4 Comments
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I admit that the reason I even purchased the machine embroidery unit to my sewing machine was because my husband urged me to do so.  I was truly just interested in the Bernina Sitch Regulator(BSR).  However, I was so busy learning how to use the embroidery unit, and having so much fun, I didn’t even open the BSR for about a year and a half after the purchase! 

So imagine my delight when I met up with Jenny Haskins at the International Quilt Festival!  She is the Editor of the magazine, Creative Expressions, which features machine embroidery and quilting ideas and techniques.  Jenny has also edited and authored several books, created award winning quilts, taught her techniques to others in her-Jenny Haskin’s Accreditation Academy, recently released her own Premier fabric range-When Dreams Flower,and so much more!

Watch as she gives her advice to someone who is new to machine embroidery.

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The book that contains the technique that she describes is called, Jenny’s Heritage , by Jenny Haskins.  If you need a copy, contact Zede’s Sewing Studio and they will get you one!

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Jenny has a website at www.jennyhaskins.com  where you can get a glimpse into all the remarkable things she has done!

Exploring machine embroidery,  Linda B.

Filed Under: Clothing, DIY, Home Decor, Ideas, Quilting, Sewing Books, Software Tagged With: , , ,
May 9, 2010

Be Fearless As a Fiber Artist

May 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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When we were in Paducah at the American Quilter’s Society Quilt Show and Contest, we took a moment to speak with Karen Linduska.  Karen is a fiber artist that was recently a guest on the Sewing With Nancy series.  Nancy Zieman and Karen co-authored a book, Decorative Stitch Thread Painting and produce a companion dvd to go along with it.  Her quilts have also been on the cover of Quilting Arts magazine!

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I personally was in a class that Karen offered at last years Baby Lock Tech and had a blast discovering new uses for the most standard of stitch patterns.  My project is pictured next to her book.  If you are wondering, yes, she does use a Baby Lock sewing machine to do her decorative stitch thread painting on her quilts and wall hangings.

Gone South, Linda B.

Filed Under: Home Decor, Ideas, Quilting, Random Thoughts, Sewing Books, Tips Tagged With: , , , ,
May 7, 2010

You Can Quilt a Large Quilt With Your Home Machine!

May 7, 2010 By 1 Comment
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I was really excited to meet Susan Brubaker Knapp at the AQS show in Paducah.  First off she is a fiber artist, quilt pattern designer,  and teacher.  She is also a columnist for the Quilting Arts Magazine.  Her peacock feather quilt is on the cover of the current Quilting Arts magazine, along with a great article, “Focus On Line”.  Those of you who know me well, understand my instant desire to meet her–I’m kind of into peacocks myself!

What I was really excited to learn was that she had a quilt, “Pink Petal Party“, that was a semi-finalist in the AQS show.  Best of all, she did all her machine quilting on her Bernina sewing machine.  She is eager to point out that you don’t have to send your quilts out to a long-arm quilter.  Many of us have a machine that can do the same quality of quilting, as long as we are willing to learn the techniques for quilting with your home machine.  Check out the interview in front of her quilt.

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Susan also has a book, Applique Petal Party,  that features this quilt.  If you are interested in developing those machine quilting skills, be sure to check out my class on Meandering Methods!

Still Passionate about Peacocks!  Linda B.

Filed Under: DIY, Ideas, Quilting, Sewing Books, Tips Tagged With: , , , ,
May 5, 2010

Machine Quilting Tips From Pat Sloan

May 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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You probably recognize the name, may be even the face, but until you meet her, the thing you remember the most is her bubbly enthusiasm!  Pat Sloan is a noted author, teacher, and designer of both patterns and fabrics.  She has a great blog, and hosts a Creative Talk Radio Show! 

I was fortunate enough to catch up with her at the AQS show in Paducah and asked her what recommendation she would have for those just beginning to machine quilt.

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Enjoying myself at AQS, Linda B.

P.S.  I also found out that she uses a Bernina Aurora 440 QE to create her quilts and projects!

Filed Under: DIY, Ideas, Patterns, Quilting, Sewing Books, Tips Tagged With: , , , ,
Mar 16, 2010

Just a Reminder. . .

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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This Saturday, will be our second session of Serge Ahead!  Just ask anyone who attended the first session how beneficial it was! I have noticed that several are already putting their cord covers to good use.  In fact, we even have our technicians questioning about them!

The next project will be the rice bag.  Who couldn’t use one of these to ease our muscles after a long day of creating at our sewing machines?  Be sure to sign up quickly, space is running out, and we want to make sure there is a kit available for you.  Also remember, you will need the book, Ready, Set, Serge by Georgie Melot.

Why not make it a goal this year to learn more about your serger, and have a great time doing it.

See you then, Linda B.

Filed Under: Classes at Zede's, Clothes & Garment Sewing, DIY, Home Decor, Ideas, Sewing Books, Tips Tagged With: , , , ,
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