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Dear
Sewing Friends,
Spring
is here....and isn’t it wonderful!!!!!!
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 24th
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:
June:
Beginning Free Motion, Saturday, June 28
July: Intermediate
Free Motion, Saturday July 19
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:
May
6, 7, 8, 9 10 - Heirloom Baby Blanket or Pillow
June
6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14 - Floral
Embroidery that Looks like beading
July
11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19 - TBA
August
1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9 - TBA
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:
May
22 - Embroidered Shorts and Blouse for summer!
June
26 - Lace Embellished blouse and Denim Skirt.
July
24 - Dutch Girl Dress to go with the wooden shoes we
bought a while back!
August
21 - Slacks and a Top for back to school
Keep
checking out our Boyd’s Sewing Center web site for updates
to the class list.
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