Saturday, March 8, 2008

Dear Sewing Friends,
What a beautiful time of year, especially in NC!! All of the bright colors of spring in the landscapes are equally vibrant in the new fabrics that are filling our shelves. Whatever type of sewing you do we have the fabric, books, patterns, & inspiration to help you get started! As Tim on Project Runway says “It’s Sew Time”. I hope all of you watch it on Wednesdays at 10:00pm on Bravo. It is a great show for anyone who loves to sew.
If you have not seen the My Label software, be sure to ask us about it or check it out on the website. If you thought you could not make garments to fit, now great garment sewing is within your reach! For those who love embroidery Bernina is introducing “Design Connection”. It is a 12-month club membership that includes thousands of designs plus projects, tutorials, and videos. Join today and save over $1400!
Again in July we will be traveling to Bernina University in Kansas City to learn all about Berninas newest products and ideas. We will be anxious to share those with you. Last year 25 of us had the trip of a life-time when we traveled to Germany and Switzerland and toured the Bernina factory. Most of us said that it was the best vacation we had ever been on so we are planning a textile trek to Italy in September 2009. If you are interested in more informationlet us know at one of our locations.
We celebrated our 5th anniversary at Sew Original in October. Many small businesses do not survive those first five years, we are so thankful to have so many loyal customers. Without you we would not exist. The small retailer faces many challenges each day, but one of our biggest is trying to compete with internet sales. Yes, you may save a little if you by a book from Amazon, but are they able to answer your question about that quilt block if it doesn't go together just right? We want to be there for you after you buy just as we are in the beginning. You have heard us say many times "Where you buy is as important as what you buy."
As you may now already know, we are once again a Bernina only dealer. Bernina has always been our passion and if you have the best brand in the world why sell anything else? Bernina is the only machine company in the world that is still owned by the family who founded the company. Bernina is made with all metal parts and has a 20 year warranty on mechanical parts, how many machine companies can compare to that? Nothing Sews Like A Bernina, Nothing. We sell the best and service the rest! If you are shopping for a new Bernina, machine mastery classes are a very important p art of your new purchase. Sew Original offers up to 11 classes depending on the model purchased. No other dealer offers that! We also offer two years of free cleanings for your machine.
Sign ups are well under way for Camp SO & Sew. This annual sewing retreat is growing and promises to be bigger and better than last year. For more info check our website, www.seworiginal.org or come by either store.
For those of you who haven't heard of the public art display currently underway in western NC and surrounding states we'd like everyone to check out The Appalachian Quilt Trail, a series of quilt sites strung together in Eastern Tennessee, from the Kentucky/West Virginia line to the north, down to the North Carolina line to the south. The sites are quilt blocks painted on wooden squares and hung on barns and buildings throughout the participating communities. The quilt blocks were chosen as the theme because of their rich history of comfort, family, heritage and community. Quilt Trails can be seen in Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Madison, Watauga, and Yancey counties. Check out the website www.quilttrailswnc.org for more info and a map of current quilt locations.
Happy Stitching,
Melinda & Shirley