My parents bought me my first sewing machine, a portable singer, back when I was in high school. Years later, in 1989, my husband surprised me on my birthday with a BERNINA 1230. He even called my boss and arranged for me to have the day off of work so I could stay home and sew on the brand new machine! To this day it's one of the best and most used gifts I've ever gotten and speaks to how well he knows me.
A few years ago I bought myself a BERNINA 820. The larger harp space makes quilting SO much easier. This machine also came with a table so that the machine bed is flush with the bed of the sewing machine. That was a game changer for me as far as machine quilting. The quilts no longer get caught on the edge of the machine. My daughter also enjoys sewing on it.My old 1230 now lives with my son and daughter-in-law and is still going strong. My daughter-in-law is enjoying making little baby clothes for my grandbaby. She and my son just recently worked together to make an amazing queen size spiderweb quilt for their son's great grandmother.
The 820 is a bit big to take anywhere so I have also invested in a newer machine for taking to teach and on retreats and sew-ins. This machine has narrow set feed dogs and is perfect for tiny piecing.
I enjoy making clothes for my daughter, machine mending for my family, and occasionally making items for my home. BERNINA makes everything so much easier with feet that are engineered specifically for certain tasks and can quickly be changed for a specific part of a sewing project.
I've been writing this blog for about ten years but most of you have not been readers for that long so I'll share a little background information about myself.Although I was born in North Carolina, I spent the first half of my life in Blacksburg, Va. where my dad worked for Virginia Tech. My two sisters and I learned to sew from our mother who was one of two sewing teachers in our 4-H club. I finished my first quilt in 1976 with the resurgence of quilting that came with the American bicentennial celebration.
The second half of my life I have lived in a small town in south east Michigan. We live in an old farm house and have chickens and a large garden. Each year we grow a patch of Indian corn that we use to make our own cornmeal and feed our chickens. My oldest son was married in our yard and his wedding reception was held in our barn which he and my husband restored.
Both of my parents grew up on farms in central Virginia. Like the little red hen in the children’s story, I was taught to do things from scratch and to never let anything go to waste. My thrifty upbringing led me to my current style of working with scraps and the desire to use “every last piece.” My quilts have been juried into international shows and gallery exhibits and my work is in private collections around the world.
I have always recommended BERNINA machines to others and now that I am teaching across the country I have been selected to be a BERNINA brand ambassador. I travel to the BERNINA US headquarters each year and learn about the new machines and what they can do. I know the importance of having the right tool for the job and love that BERNINA puts so much thought into the design and technology of their machines.
