Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all! Hope the holidays were filled with fun times and family for you. We want to thank you for your business in 2009. We hope we can be of service to each and every one of you in 2010. We, at Bernina Sewing Center, are looking forward to a new year filled with sewing, embroidery, quilting, serging and more. We will be making a few positive changes for the upcoming year...

Club News and Changes

We will be making some changes in our clubs for 2010. We have decided that, because of economic challenges, we will offer ALL CLUBS FREE of charge for one year. We would like for all of our customers to take advantage of the trainings we offer. (After all, the more you learn about your sewing machines, the more you use it, and get your money's worth.) Bernina of America is big on education, and if you don't take advantage, you are missing out.

This policy will apply to:
Bernina Virtual Club | Embroidery Club | Software Club | Handi Quilter Club

There will be a big change in our Embroidery Club. It will now be conducted virtually by Bernina of America. It will be lecture demo, rather than hands on. (We have had a number of people tell us that they do not come to club meetings because they do not want to haul their machines in.) We will have a few machines set up, so that we can try out some of the methods or tips that are presented. Also, note the day of the week has changed from Wednesdays to Fridays. Time: 11:30 – 2:00

Stash Buster Mania

Listen up girls! We all share the same secret... hidden in the dark recesses of closets, under beds, in attics, in trunks and yes – even hidden in the ovens we don't use for baking. You know what I am talking about – THE SCRAP STASH! It's out of control and taking over, yet you cannot bear to throw away those leftover pieces of fabric from projects long ago completed or abandoned. And what about those yards of fabric you just couldn't live without and now you wonder what on earth you were thinking when you bought them! You want new fabric – you know you do! We see you come into the store, wander aimlessly, eyes glazed, fondling your way down the aisles. But you have absolutely nowhere to put yet more fabric when you get home.

We have a solution! We want you to bring those scraps and random yards of fabric. We're going to do something that will help you and benefit the community, state, country, maybe even the world! We're going to sort those scraps, cut those scraps, sew those scraps into oblivion! Just where is oblivion anyway? Seriously though, there are a lot of hurting people – from babies to toddlers to teens to soldiers to oldsters who would benefit from receiving a quilt. And while we're at it, let's have some fun while we sew love.

Bring yourself something to drink (please limit yourself to pop, water, iced tea, coffee – we want our seams straight!) and maybe a treat to share. Your $10 covers pizza delivery and backing and batting for the quilts we finish. That should keep us sewing till the sun comes up — O.K., probably not that late. How about till 10:00, maybe 11:00, but definitely no later than midnight! You'll need to bring basic sewing supplies – thread, scissors, etc. We'll supply the machines. We'll be using 5" squares and focus on fun quilts for kids this time.

Date: Saturday, February 13
Time: 5:30 pm - 10:00 or... midnight at the latest!
Cost: $10.00 (includes pizza delivery, backing and batting for the quilts we finish)
Register for Stash Buster Mania now...

Introducing Vivien Swant

Vivien has joined the Bernina Staff. Vivien is a retired Family and Consumer Science teacher. Vivien is very enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and will be offering a variety of classes. She is very anxious to share her wealth of knowledge. She will be focusing on serger classes to start out the New Year. Please join us in giving Vivien a warm welcome!

A Million Pillowcases Challenge

Have you all heard about the million pillowcase challenge sponsored by American Patchwork & Quilting? They arechallenging you to join their efforts to "Make a Pillowcase, Make a Difference". Every pillowcase can make a difference in our community. A pillowcase can provide comfort for a cancer patient, hope for a foster child, encouragement for a battered woman, or beauty for a nursing home resident.

Bernina Sewing Center will be participating in this challenge, and hosting events where you can come in and create pillowcases to be donated in our community. Keep your pattern and donate your pillowcase. These events will be going on throughout 2010.

There will be a class each month featuring a new pillowcase pattern. Class fee is $12 and includes the pillowcase kit. Additional kits will be available if you want to make more. If you would like to use one of our machines rather than bring your own, please let us know when you sign up. If you make pillowcases at home, you may drop them off at Bernina Sewing Center for distribution. Let's do our part in making a difference in our community!

Saturday, January 30 — 10:00 am
Tuesday, February 16 — 1:00 pm
Monday, March 29 — 6:30 pm

Cost: $12.00 includees class and pillowcase kit
Register to "Make a Pillowcase, Make a Difference" now...

Cosmic Spirals Workshop

Featuring Barbara Olson!
Saturday, February 27 — 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
We are so fortunate to have Barbara Olson as a guest teacher in our store again in February. Students will learn the techniques Barbara uses in her award winning quilts for designing and constructing magical spirals, and will begin a small wall hanging containing one 18" block.

Foundation piecing is used to achieve precise points for the geometric black and white spiral. Color is then added to the next round of the spiral with strips to complete the block. Drafting of the spiral will be demonstrated, a preprinted pattern will be provided. Many design options will be discussed. Cost: $65.00 plus supplies
Register for Barbara's Cosmic Spirals Workshop now...

New Products In Store and Online

We have new products for quilting, sewing and serging, machine embroidery, and embroidery software. We have tons of quilting fabric online for those of you that live out of town or just prefer shopping at home. Be sure to check all out our huge selection of beautiful quilting fabric lines.

Are You Receiving the Newsletter?

To make sure you don't miss any Bernina news, please let us know when you change your email address. If you haven't been getting our emails, check to make sure our address is in your address book or whitelist so your spam filter doesn't block us. You can update your email or mailing address on our subscription page. Your subscription will be updated, not duplicated.

In addition to the quarterly email newsletter, we send out news flashes when we have surprise sales or events. Since we don't mail out a printed newsletter anymore, you really should sign up so you don't miss out! Even the coupons can be printed online for your convenience.

Classes and Clubs

It's easy to sign up for classes online so don't miss out just because you forgot to call or stop by while we're open to register for a class. We appreciate you purchasing your class supplies from our Bernina Store so that we may continue offering exciting, new classes. Thank you!

If you've recently purchased a Bernina, our Mastering Your Bernina Sewing Machine classes and Mastering Your Bernina Serger classes are just what you need to get up to speed. In fact, many of us have had our Berninas for years and never learned to use them to their full potential—these classes are for you too! You don't have to worry about missing a session since these classes are offered on an ongoing basis so you can pick them up anytime.

Join us at any or all of our monthly club meetings to learn quick tips and techniques. All clubs are free for 2010!

OESD Virtual Club | Embroidery Club | Software Club
Bernina Virtual Club | Handi Quilter Club

Discount Coupons

Just a reminder that the link to our discount coupons on the website is on the right bar on this page as the first Hot Link. We know how much you like discounts and we're glad to offer them… especially the birthday coupon. It's our way of saying thanks and giving you a gift from us on your special day.

The Bernina Sewing Center Staff

P.S. If you want a printed version of this newsletter, you can print it as a PDF document. It doesn't have everything the website does but it is handy to have all the sales, classes and coupons in one place. You can also print just the coupons all one one page if you wish.