Welcome to Boyd's Sewing Center

It is so nice to walk outdoors and not have to put on a coat or boots. I love walking outside each morning to go to my car and hearing the birds singing and the woodpecker tapping away and seeing the tender green sprigs of grass beginning to peek through the remnants of a long, long winter. This morning my daffodils were stretching their petals in full bloom, it was just a wonderful sight to behold.

In case you haven’t been into our store since January, you will find that we have moved everything around throughout the store. We moved the threads and stabilizers out of the back corner and closer to the daylight. The machine demo area has been moved to the side room and the classroom in the back has been reconfigured. It has been a refreshing change and our spring housecleaning is done!

We are anxiously awaiting the new, top-of-the-line, Viking sewing machine which will be introduced in mid- June at the annual Viking Convention. At this point we know very little about the machine, not even the name! We do know that it will be built on a larger frame (ala the Sapphire Machine), so we will have a larger embroidery field capability. And, Viking tells us that this machine will have 50 never-before-seen features. Beginning April 28 Sue Hausmann will be dropping hints in her weekly blog on the Viking website (husqvarnaviking.com) about some of the new features, so be sure to check in regularly. Jay and Dan and I (Pam) will be attending Viking Convention in San Antonio, Texas June 15 thru June 18,2008, where the new machine will be introduced and we will all be trained to sell it, teach it and repair it. My head is swimming already with all the thoughts of what is ahead for us. (Just in case you didn’t realize it yet, I am really, really excited!)

On Saturday, June 28, Boyd’s Sewing Center will host an Introduction Party for the New Top Of the Line Viking Sewing and Embroidery Machine. We will ask our guest to arrive about 11:00am and a brief introductory demonstration at noon. lLight refreshments being served and Q & A following the demo session. Now...who are our guests going to be??? Well YOU, of course. Our loyal Boyd’s Sewing Center and Sew Much More customers. We do ask that you give us a call and let us know by Tuesday, June 24^th you will be attending, so we have a rough idea of how many to expect. Just call the store at 231-946-4011.

For those of you who do not yet own one of the top of the line Viking sewing machines (The Designer SE, Designer SE Limited Edition, or Designer 1) this should open up the market for great deals on previously loved and cared for top-of-the-line machines, that may be traded in for the new model. If you think you might be interested in one of these pre-owned machines, let Jay or Dan know so they can get you on the list and notify you when one becomes available.

As always, with the introduction of a new model of sewing machine, one or more of the older models are dropped for the current line. We have been notified that the Quilt Designer II has been deleted from the Viking line of machines, so any of you who own this model, and need to take a new owners class needs to get one scheduled as soon as possible. We anticipate discontinuing teaching this model by the end of June, 2008, which isn’t far away. Now I don’t want to alarm you and have you think that you will not be able to get service on your Quilt Designer II machines. That is NOT SO! When you purchased your machine new the warranty was for 5 years electrical and 20 years mechanical, and Viking , and Boyd’s will stand behind those warranties. We just will not be selling new Quilt Designer II’s anymore.

Since I wrote the last newsletter, we have welcomed Judy Galligan to a permanent part time position here at the store. Judy has been teaching the free motion classes for us as a contract teacher for a couple of years. Now she has joined the staff and is teaching new owner classes on some models of Viking sewing machines in addition to her free motion classes, and helps out at the counter and checking in new merchandise. We are very happy to have Judy on staff.

We also welcome back Sally Rozycki, who will be teaching Serger classes for us. Sally will come in one Saturday a month and teach Serger new owner classes and serger continuing education classes, alternating monthly. Sally understands the sergers inside and out and has started the new owner classes already, and will start the continuing education classes probably in August.

I think I have a fun line up of classes scheduled for the coming months. I hope you will find one that sounds interesting and sign up.

FREE MOTION SEWING. This series of classes has been very, very popular. Would you like to try free motion sewing, but don’t know where to begin? Do you dabble with free motion sewing, but feel that maybe there is a little more to know about it? Judy Galligan teaches a wonderful series on free motion sewing, from beginning to advanced. You start out in her Beginning Free Motion class and then on to Intermediate Free Motion. Then, if that isn’t enough she even has an Advanced Free Motion Class. The Beginning and Intermediate classes are $18.00 each. Advanced is a two-part class and is $30.00. Scheduled dates for the coming quarter are as follows:

The Advanced Free Motion class will be scheduled when Judy has enough interested students to fill the class. You can talk with Judy when you are taking the Beginning or Intermediate classes about this.

Jelly Roll Quilt Top. Judy Helveston has put together a great class making a quilt top out of the popular new “Jelly Rolls.” These are fabric collections pre-cut into strips and rolled up jelly roll style ready for you to assemble. Just think of the time you will save picking out the fabrics....it has all been selected and matched up for you! And you will save even more time as the basic cutting has been taken care of for you too! The selection of fabrics put into Jelly Rolls is yummy and best of all NO CALORIES! This is a two part class. Dates for this class are Tuesdays, May 20 & 27. Class fee will be $30.00.

Saturday, June 14 lets celebrate the first day of Summer with a delightful Tea Party and Quilted Table Runner Class. Judy Helveston and Kathleen Rosingana will host this class. They are bringing their China Tea Pots and cups and saucers and all the proper Tea Party luncheon treats to make this class fun and enjoyable. The Table Runner is a patchwork table runner of summery pastel colors of fabric from a “Charm Pack”. This class will have a limit of 10 students. Class fee is $35.00 which includes your fabrics and the Tea Party!

Wednesday, June 25, I will teach the Sewing Machine Caddy Class. This is a project that requires a machine that both sews and embroiders. This is a very useful mat that your sewing machine sets on with an pocketed apron that drops down the front of the table to hold your sewing tools and accessories. I have given this class two times previously, and all the ladies who have made their caddy say they have never made anything more useful! We work right along, and you should go home with a completely finished project. Class fee is $20.00.

Wednesday, July 9 I will have a class teaching the Sewing Machine Cover that matches the above Sewing Machine Caddy. This is a dust cover for your machine, when it is not in use, and compliments the Sewing Machine Caddy beautifully. Class fee is $20.00. Again, a machine that both sews & embroiders is needed.

Thursday, July 31, I will teach a Paper Piecing class. This 9" X 10 3/4" is called “Cat Nap” and it features a cute little cat sitting on a stack of quilts. It is assembled paper foundations pieces, using the “card trick” method I love to teach. All you need is a sewing machine that straight stitches! Class fee is $20.00.

Our Embroidery Club continues to be as busy and active as ever. I teach this class six times each month to get everyone in that wants to be part of it. For this coming quarter, classes and dates are as follows:

Also very popular is the monthly 18" Doll Clothes class. Over the winter we have made A lace vest and lace embellished dress, and the Tin Man to go with the Dorothy dress we made a few months ago. Class fee is $20.00. Looking ahead at classes:

Keep checking out our Boyd’s Sewing Center web site for updates to the class list.