Blue Bunny Hollow

www.jadewink.etsy.com

2009-07-24T18:11:00.000-07:00

Whoo Hoo!!! Out of over 162,908 Etsy shops, we had one of our towel collections selected to be on the front page of Etsy! Watch for the awesome kitchen towels in the slide show...those are ours!

Summer is zipping by...

2009-07-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

The summer is zipping by at a fast pace. Whew! Where has the first part gone?? I have been busy embroidering kitchen towels and aprons, lace bookmarks and fun animal towels for the kids and selling them on www.jadewink.etsy.com. I have also been preparing classes and making samples for July Quality Sewing Sew Fun presentations and working in the stores. It has been crazy around here.

Presentations are what I love to do the most, but, I also enjoy teaching hands-on classes. I have been teaching for around 15 years and I never get tired of the classes. So with all the software that is out for embroidery, I started teaching Floriani software at Everett Quality Sewing. I also teach Pfaff/Viking 4D software classes and many other classes that can be found at www.qualitysewing.com, then look for Lana's classes. I have a great group of very fun students that attend classes each month. Classes are a great way to learn new techniques, have fun, meet new people and catch up with friends. We always have a great time in class and we manage to even learn a thing or two throughout the day.

Celtic Font

I recently purchased a very fun font from www.clanbadge.com. After selecting the celtic knot true type font each letter you type is part of a celtic design. In the example, you can see the letters that were typed to create the design. If you are into celtic designs, this is very exciting. Think of the possibilities!

Enjoy you sewing adventures!

Simplicity Bias Tape Maker and Invisafil thread

2009-07-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

Since the embroidery parties at Quality Sewing, I have been busy getting things ready for www.jadewink.etsy.com, my daughter and my online store. We have wonderful kitchen towels, jewelry, and more. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Also, July is my month for Sew Fun presentations. at Quality Sewing. Wow!. I didn't get started too early, eeeck! Tuesday before the first presentation I started sewing my samples. Long days and even longer nights to get it all done. But I did it. Whew!

There are two products we brought in I would like to talk about. The first one is Wonderfil Invisafil 100wt. thread. What an amazing thread! If your embroidered lettering is hard to read or your stitching in the ditch shows too much, then this thread is your answer. Letters are crisp with clean, straight lines, and stitches in the ditch virtually disappear. Give it a try you will love it!

The next product is the Simplicity Bias Tape Maker. The minute I saw a picture of this device I wanted one. As soon as I got one into my hot little hands I gave it a try. Impressive! Quick, easy, perfect single-fold bias tape with the push of a button. The unit comes with the 1" tip and makes 12 feet of bias in 60 seconds. Additional tips will be available later this summer.

I have been using this for the past couple of weeks and I am still getting perfect bias. This delightful little machine costs between $79 and $100 depending on where it is purchased.

We are presenting both in Sew Fun this month in the Seattle area. Stop by and see what you think! For a schedule of Sew Fun presentations go to www.qualitysewing.com

Enjoy your sewing adventures

I'm the new Seattle Sewing Examiner

2009-06-10T22:33:00.000-07:00

Things have been very busy. Quality Sewing just finished the Embroidery Parties at Lynnwood and Puyallup with Anita Goodesign Company. Brother provided all the machines for the attendees. All top of the line machines for each 2 day event. You can read all about it at http://www.examiner.com/x-12315-Seattle-Sewing-Examiner This is an online newspaper I recently started writing for. It will be fun to write about all the exciting events that happen in the Northwest. Some of my next topics will be the Western Washington Shop Hop, other cool new tools for your sewing machines, and a few quilt shows that are coming up. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Jordyn and I have been very busy creating things for our website www.jadewink.etsy.com. We have lots of kitchen towels, lace bookmarks, jewelry, ceramics, and more. Stop by sometime!

I will start teaching Floriani software at Everett Quality Sewing starting July 17th at 9:30. This is a great software that has no dongle and all work is done on the same page. No jumping from page to page. I will also start a 4D basic class later that day. This will be for people who have just purchased 4D Suite or only have 4D Extra. The classes will be posted on www.qualitysewing.com then click on classes by instructor and look for me...Lana.

Other classes that have been recently requested are my wood embroidery classes, mitered corners, kaleidoscope software, applique and a few others. Let me know if there are other classes you are interested in. I teach my classes at all Quality Sewing stores. Check the above website for store locations. I will also be teaching some classes in Wenatchee later this year. Let me know if you are interested in classes there as well.

That is all for now...Enjoy your sewing adventures!!

Lana

It is a gorgeous day!

2009-05-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, have we had gorgeous weather here in the Northwest. Absolutely beautiful! Makes staying inside to sew difficult, so I managed to get out in the mornings for a mocha at my favorite coffe shop, Java Haus, in Snohomish, Washington. Great service, good food (try the Turkey Bacon Ranch Sandwich, ohhh it is delicious) and the best coffee!

We are constantly listing new items on http://www.jadewink.etsy.com/ . Check it out, you will find embroidered kitchen towels, aprons and lace bookmarks, as well as my daughter's art work and ceramics.

This weekend Quality Sewing is hosting the Embroidery Party in Lynnwood, WA. We are expecting around 125 people to attend. The attendees will have top of the line Brother embroidery machines use with all the materials provided, and lunch is also included. Steve Wilson and Linda Winzeler are the owners of Anita Goodesign, Embroidery Designs and guest speakers for the event. If you haven't been to one of these events you are missing out on a bunch of fun, creating and learning. We always have a great time. The next one is in Puyallup, WA. June 6 and 7.

The sun is out and bright, so I need to drive to town and get my morning coffee...mmm

If you want daily updates on twitter, you can follow Jadewinkers.

Enjoy your sewing adventures...

Lana

Just back from sewing retreat

2009-05-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

What a relaxing week we had on our sewing retreat. My friends and I went to Leavenworth, Washington. On our agenda was a week of sewing, eating, walking, shopping, laughing, additional sewing and laughing, more eating and a few more trips to shop. We stayed at Anderson's Lodging House, a bed and breakfast and quilt shop. Delightful owners, Al and Dee and there wonderful employee Louise, always make our stay enjoyable. http://www.quiltersheaven.com/

We bring a couple of sewing/embroidery machines each, a serger, laptops, and more projects than we can possibly finish during our stay. The easy access to our room makes bringing in all of our belongings simple and fast. We are up and sewing in no time at all.

Leavenworth, a bavarian village in the Cascade Mountains, is a charming town with everything you need for shopping and dining. One of our favorite places to eat was Pavz, which we ate at 3 times during our stay. The sandwiches and seafood chowder were so delicious, the crepes were amazing and the garlic bread could make a meal in itself. But the desert crepes were incredible, they filled a dinner plate. You have to try one.

We start our day with a couple mile morning walk, stopping at the local coffee shops for a latte and some wonderful fellowship. Then it is time to work on our projects to see how much we can get done before we walk to town to eat and shop some more. We love to stop at Copper Creek, Icicle River Clothing Company, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Ganz Klasse, and many more. There was a wonderful new jewelry store called Exuberence which had some fascinating pieces.

During our retreat I worked on items to sell on http://www.jadewink.etsy.com/ and projects for my classes at Quality Sewing. The classes at our Alderwood location this weekend are Pfaff Creative Vision University, and Hoop Study. In CVU the topic will be lettering. It is easier to do the lettering in Pfaff 4D Suite software, however, learning to do the lettering on the Creative Vision helps you to learn some of the wonderful features of this machine. In Hoop Study we will be working with the endless hoop. This hoop is 180m X 100m and makes quick work of endless embroidery.

At the end of our stay, we drove east to Smallwoods Harvest in Peshatin, WA. http://www.smallwoodsharvest.com/ This is the ultimate of fruit stands. Take the kids to the petting farm to see the llamas, chickens, goats and pigs. Check out the store with an outstanding variety of jams, jellies and butters, pickles, honeys, sauces, mixes, salad dressings...there is so much there you have to see it for yourself.

Our final destination was The Attic Window Quilt Shoppe http://www.theatticwindowquiltshoppe.com/ in Wenatchee, WA. What a tremendous quilt shop! They have a fantastic selection of fabrics, patterns, books, and notions. The batiks were plentiful and unique. If you love Amy Butler fabrics, you won't be disappointed. They have a very nice selection of her fabrics to choose from.

Take the time to stroll around the store, there are so many things to look at and the samples are awesome. We all left with our bags filled with treasures.

Enjoy your sewing adventures!!

Lana

What a week!

2009-05-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

Wow! Was this week busy. I started out the week at Floriani software training. What a great software! I am looking forward to learning everything I can so I can start teaching classes. We will have some very fun exciting classes in the future with this software. If you live in the Seattle area, look for my classes at Quality Sewing and Vacuum.

The next two days were filled with our Sew Fun presentations in our Puyallup, WA. store. What a wonderful store and great employees and customers. We had a great time! Then the next day I was off to our Silverdale store to teach to hands-on classes. I have to catch a ferry to get to this store, so I had to leave my house at 6:00am to catch the 7:10 ferry, then an hours drive to the store. Getting to the store, things were already active as Bea, the manager, and the rest of her staff are always excited to greet everyone that comes in the door. What a fun store to visit!

Friday and Saturday were very exciting at Quality Sewing. I worked a two day special event in Tacoma, WA. where the Stitching Sisters, Eileen Roche and Marie Zinno were our guests. If these two ladies are in your area, don't miss them. They have so much to share! Our customers learned so many tips and techniques while laughing, visiting with old friends and making new ones, shopping and eating the great catered lunches. What a very special event for our customers and those of us who worked the event! A big thank you to these two fabulous ladies!

Sunday morning is my family time, we go to church at Christian Faith Center, North where Pastors Casey and Wendy Treat are the pastors. A very exciting worship time always starts out our service. Pastor Casey finished his topic on current affairs and as always he was pastionate with a fabulous message. Afterwards, we go to coffee at Tully's Coffee shop to visit with the wonderful staff there. Christina, the manager, Allyssa, Janea and the rest of the Sunday morning staff are always upbeat, smiling and provide a fun environment to make our visit an enjoyable one.

Now it is time to get back to work on classes, my products for www.jadewink.etsy.com that I work with my daughter Jordyn, and a huge list of things that need to be completed.

Have a exceptional week!!
Lana

2009-04-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I have almost completed another Sew Fun at Quality Sewing. This is a monthly program to show customers new products, tips, techniques, and lots of samples we have created. There are usually two of us that work together to create all the beautiful samples, each doing two weeks of shows . This month I am doing an extra couple of days as Reva has to be gone so I will be doing the Puyallup Sew Fun this Tuesday and Wednesday. Awesome! I love going to our Puyallup store. My friend Charlotte is riding down with me on Wednesday, so it will be an awesome day!

While doing this month's presentations, we talked about mitered borders as we had a new tool to show everyone. There were so many questions on all the different types of miters and how confusing it can be. So, I was asked by lots of customers to schedule some mitered corner classes in our stores. Look for those if you live in the great Northwest! We will go over all the tools that are on the market which certainly make it easier. But, we will also go over using what you have as far as square rulers so you can decide what works best in your brain. We all see things differently, so one of the ways will work for you if you struggle with mitered corners.

If you are an Educator in a sewing store, fabric or sewing machine, I have some great news for you. I have spent years creating lots on instructions for all my classes. I will be revising them and making them available on my website http://www.bluebunnyhollow.com/ for educators to use in their classes. There will be a yearly fee to belong to the group, then a cost per instruction. This will give you the right to make copies for your students to use in class. All you have to do is make the samples. Look for those in the coming months. In our busy schedules of working, teaching, family and hopefully a bit of time to relax, having someone do all the leg work for classes will hopefully give you some time back.

I have been testing weights of thread for lettering. I recently used a 100 wt., 80 wt., and 40 wt. All of them turned out very well. But, for the small lettering I was doing, I found that the 100 wt. was crisper and had cleaner lines. I have been asked by several people who are starting to embroider for customers what to use. You will have great success with most brands of threads. But, if you are doing very small lettering, try a 100 wt. thread. I was very impressed with the results.

Have a wonderful week!
Enjoy your sewing adventures...
Lana

P.S. Stop by http://www.jadewink.etsy.com/. My daughter and I have some great items for sale. Let me know what you think.

2009-03-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

Sew Expo at the Puyallup Fair Grounds ended on Sunday. It was fun and exciting to see old friends and make new ones. Working the notions booth is always the best as I get to see everyone! This year they put me in the Pfaff notions booth, I usually work the Viking notions booth. We had snow on the first day, of course, but that didn't deter the hardy souls. It was slow in the morning, but, picked up as the snow melted. The rest of the week was great. It was hard to tell that there was any type of economy concerns.

We had the new AccuQuilt diecut machine in our booth. That will be a fun piece of equipment for quilters. Every cut of fabric will be exactly perfect no matter if it is a half square triangle, square, rag quilt, circle or flower. If you haven't seen one, check it out at our current Sew Fun Presentations at Quality Sewing as Ann is showing it. You can also go to http://www.accucut.com/ to see a photo of it. I have the largest regular diecut machine they make so I won't be purchasing that one. But they work the same, place your layers of fabric on the die cover with the plastic protector and roll it through. Perfect cut everytime! I use mine all the time and love having it.

I have been using a new embroidery needle by Inspira that I received at Pfaff's Get Creative seminar. So far I am very impressed. I mainly use 90/14 topstitching needles for embroidery as I have the least amount of problems with embroidery. My Pfaff Creative Vision has always stitched well with them. So I tried a Inspira 75/11 Embroidery needle. No thread breakage, thread pukes, or jams as I stitched a very large design for several hours. So, I have purchased more to see if I continue to get great results. I am positive I will.

These needles are made differently that others. They have a new shaped eye the reduces thread shredding. Instead of an acid dip to remove burrs, the needles are ultra-sonically cleaned to remove any burrs and to maintaing the strength of the needle. Try them and let me know what you think!

My books are still selling well, if you have not purchased one, they are still available at my website http://www.bluebunnyhollow.com/.

No pictures yet as I haven't had time to get to the library to upload any. Maybe this weekend.

Enjoy your sewing adventures!!

Lana

A New Year already??

2009-02-15T16:13:00.000-08:00

I must get better at this blog stuff. Time passes me by so fast. Again it has been several months since I posted. Whew!

Well, at Christmas we had almost 3 feet of snow. That sure kept us close to home. 10 days I didn't leave the house. Our roads were so bad we finally had to hire a plow to get our neighborhood moving again. We even missed our Christmas event at church, could not even move on our roads. We had two sheds fall, one on my husbands car and one just after we moved our truck. Boy, glad that is over.

The best thing about the snow is we lost our power on Christmas morning. This doesn't sound all that great but, after we open presents and have breakfast, we all go to our "stations" and play with our new stuff and don't really interact as we are enjoying our gifts. So with no power we were all stuck together as we couldn't turn on our new gifts. So we went out side and the kids tried to snowboard down our road, but it was too powdery, so of course, a snowball fight was in order. Then a long walk with both dogs and a fire in the wood stove, with snacks to eat...and...the power came back on at 6pm and we fixed and ate dinner. What a wonderful Christmas we had together!!

Well, onto new things for the new year. My daughter and I have started a business on Etsy. This is where you sell your handmade items. We just opened it a week ago. So we are very much new at this. But we have 25 items for sale. Go to http://www.jadewink.etsy.com/ to see what we have to offer. We are having a lot of fun with this business. Expect exciting handmade items in the future.

One of the things I purchased last year to make my work easier was a Miele Rotary Iron. That saves me so much time ironing. When I am pressing fabric, or need to put fusible stabilizer onto a large piece of fabric, or most anything, I can have it done in no time. WOW! Along with my portable Laura Star, I can press anything!

Hands-on classes are fun and exciting as always. I must get a few more new classes that I am offering onto http://www.qualitysewing.com/ so everyone can get signed up for all the fun we have creating, learning, and just hanging out with each other!

Well, thanks for stopping by, I will try to post more often as I am getting more organized with my daughters help!

Enjoy your sewing adventures!
Lana

Where has the time gone??

2008-10-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

Wow...the last time I was here was March? Oh my gosh, do I have lots to tell you.

I did not win the idol contest, George did...Congrats to her. Her entry was outstanding!

The first part of this year I completed my first book. "More than Sewing...Creating" is a self-published book that I created for the "Sew Fun" presentations I do for Quality Sewing. It has sold quite well and can be purchased from my website http://www.bluebunnyhollow.com/. I have done 37 presentations on this book in all of Quality Sewings 12 stores in the Seattle area and Rocky Mountain Sewing stores in the Denver area. What an awesome adventure!

In July,I entered the Pfaff Grand Dream Hoop Challenge at Pfaff Convention in August. I won first place with a wood embroidery! Whoo Hoo! My son is the sweet little boy in the picture when he was 18 months. He asked how I did on the contest and I told him I won first place. He then asked for his modeling fees. He's cute...but no fees dude! :)

While preparing for another round of Sew Fun presentations, I was asked to go to Denver to do presentations there and promote my book. Wow, what an opportunity. Somehow I had to fit this into my very tight schedule. I was also in the middle of preparing for my many hands-on classes. These were new classes for embroidering on wood. Getting those instructions complete I bundled those in a book and took that with me. (Can be purchased on my website http://www.bluebunnyhollow.com/) I had a tremendous time! The store, employees, customers were all absolutely wonderful. The General Manager Rob, picked me up every morning with a mocha waiting in the van for me. WOW was I spoiled. Thanks Rob for everything!!

I just finished another 2 weeks of Sew Fun presentations. And, I have many classes to do before the end of the year, so I must get onto those adventures.

My beautiful daughter is in the process of updating my website. My classes, pictures of my wood embroidery and much more will be there. Check there often.

Enjoy your sewing adventures...

Lana

The Graduates

2008-03-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

Here are the graduates of Christopher Nejman's Certification Class. the next step...the Punching Idol Contest!!! This will be so much fun...I can't wait!

I made the cut!!!

2008-03-04T19:05:00.000-08:00

Congratulations are in order for nine of us who graduated to the next phase of the wonderful adventure in punching with Christopher Nejman. You can view their pilows in the links below. Please take the time to view all of our hard work!

We are now able to enter the Starlette Punching Idol Contest at the end of March! Whoo Hoo!!!! We will be given our rules and have 48 hours to complete our project. The judges will determine the winner and the prizes will be awarded. I can't wait to get started!

Hooray!!!! I did it!

2008-03-02T20:25:00.001-08:00

Well...it is the last few minutes of class. Who will make it and ho will not? We have been working on our pillows for Christopher Nejman's Certification as a Fiber Construction Artist/Educator. We have learned a tremendous amount about construction of these pillows, photography, color, texture, what we see in his art, and especially about ourselves. Thank you Christopher for the wonderful journey. Whether I make it through to graduate or not, I have totally enjoyed the ride!

Here are the pillows that I created with Christopher as my guide. Even though I had to redo some of my work, 'cause I got in the way of myself, I am proud to show you my pillows!

The names are RA, Tropical Winds, and A Harem of Color.

Punching gets a high powered kick!

2008-02-03T01:13:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I discovered Christopher Nejman's Pillow book. I was hooked! His ideas and creations were so exciting that I couldn't resist immediately giving them a try. The first one I did is an alternate version of his pillow entitled RA. I made it into a wallhanging and used vintage trim for the border. The next one was inspired by Serengeti Sunrise. I really like this one, but it is not at all the Christopher Nejman style.

After having an absolute blast with these creations, I discovered his website and yahoo group. Since joining his group, I have learned so much about his style. We only use fancy fabrics, and it is called punching, as felting refers to wool and wool roving.

Now I am in the process of working on my pillows, as is everyone else in the group. I can't show you any of those yet, 'cause they are works in progress.

The starting point of my creative punching.

2008-02-02T23:14:00.000-08:00

A year ago, I purchased a felting machine from the company I work for so I could make samples for a presentation. I used the normal wool felt and wool roving. It was quite fun. Then I tried silk duponi, I did not know it at the time, but this was Christopher Nejman's idea I received through a sewing machine dealer from back east. WOW! Punching textured the silk beautifully, then I added an embroidery over the top, outstanding.

The denim vest was an idea from a Pfaff Educator. It is a combination of embroidery and punched wool roving.

The rug is my own creation. I wanted to show that the felting machines are strong and able to handle punching into rugs.