The Bernina 75 Year Anniversary Quilt
By Bernina Dealers, New Zealand
To be able to celebrate a 75 year anniversary is a huge achievement, no matter what the celebration relates to. Bernina, the only privately owned sewing machine manufacturer in the world, is proud to be able to celebrate 75 years of manufacturing Bernina machines.
To celebrate the 75 year anniversary Bernina New Zealand decided to create a quilt. The brainchild of Diana Carroll, one of Bernina New Zealand’s Sales and Training Consultants, Diana inspired Bernina dealers in New Zealand to create a quilt block that represented their geographical area. These blocks were then combined with a map of New Zealand to create an artistic tribute to Bernina, New Zealand and the celebration of Bernina’s 75th Anniversary. The little yellow “AA signs” highlight each Bernina Dealership.
Diana designed and pieced the quilt top and Thimbles and Thread’s, Bernina’s dealer in Upper Hutt completed the quilting on the quilt. Bernina’s Managing Director for New Zealand and Australia said “It is a work of art. What better way to celebrate than by creating an artwork that symbolizes all the great things about being involved in our industry”. The quilt will tour Bernina Dealerships throughout New Zealand and then be presented to Mr H. P. Ueltschi, President of Bernina International and great grandson of founder Karl Friedrich Gegauf, in Switzerland.
To view more inspiring photos just click on the quilt.
The Fine Art of Machine Quilting
 To hone your quilting skills Kim Bradley has supplied Sew Inspirational readers with the series of quilting exercises that she works through with her regular ‘hands-on’ quilting classes. When you have PRACTICED enough you can pick the best blocks to create a quilting sampler wall quilt.
To download Kim's quilting exercises click here
Tips from an Expert by Kim Bradley
Quilting is a wonderful hobby that richly rewards you for the hours spent practicing the art…….and that’s the double four letter word, PRACTICE. It is not an art that can be honed overnight, in fact the only thing separating a novice from a professional is the practice she puts into her craft.
I suggest making up many quilt sandwiches (and I mean at least 40!), leaving them beside your machine and sitting down every day for at least 10 minutes playtime/practice. You will be amazed at how far you can progress in just one week, as that adds up to 70 minutes practice in one week!
The other thing I do with my quilting is doodle. I know it sounds silly but drawing a pattern helps set the pattern up in my mind and it helps me know exactly where I am going when I come to stitch. I can’t stress enough the help that drawing gives to my work.
Playing with the machine allows you to become confident with the way the fabric moves and feels under the needle, how fast the machine goes and how fast you DON’T have to go. I am always amazed at how many ladies try to keep up with the speed of the motor. I actually move the fabric at a slow to medium speed and it is rare that I need to go fast at all, especially now that Bernina has introduced the amazing BSR (Bernina stitch Regulator) that enables you to sew every stitch the same size, regardless.
In this series of exercises I have included six line drawings that you can either trace onto your fabric or practice drawing with pencil and paper. This allows you to get the feel of how the lines flow and will help when you start doing it freehand. When you feel that you have mastered the designs you can combine them all together in a simple sampler like the one I have drawn for you. This can be then turned into a cushion or small wall hanging.
The exercises contain lots of designs that can be used as background fillers that will really make a difference to a finished quilt.
Cut all your sampler tops out of 100% cotton homespun, approx 20 1/2 inches square, and sandwich a piece of wadding between two layers of the fabric.
Make sure that your wadding is not too thick as it makes it harder for you to quilt. You may wish to try a few different types of batting so that you get a feel for what you personally like to quilt with.
Once you have all your fabric sandwiched you will need to baste them together using either a quilt basting spray (that is quick and easy) or pin or thread basting. The choice is yours.
Choose a thread that is easy to see, so that you know where you have been and where you need to go. Try using Mettler Polysheen, I love using the variegated thread as it is fine and stitches out smoothly. It also adds a different dimension and a variety of colour to the quilting.
Don’t be frightened to experiment with metallics as well; just remember to use a metafil needle to ensure a perfect result.
Don’t worry that your stitching doesn’t look fantastic the first time! Remember they are practice pieces not the masterpiece. That comes later!
Now that your fabric is ready, you will need to make sure your machine is ready as well. I suggest you give it a good clean and a drop of oil in the allocated spots, refer to your manual if you are unsure. This should always be done when starting a new project.
Wind a bobbin using the same thread as on the top. If you use a normal thread on the bobbin you may need to loosen off the top thread. This can also be achieved by threading the bobbin thread through the eye of the Bernina bobbin case. This prevents the bobbin thread showing on the top of your work and forming an untidy stitch.
Select straight stitch, drop the feed teeth on your machine and attach the appropriate foot for freehand quilting. There is a variety to choose from depending on the brand of machine. Bernina has a special quilting foot #29C that can be used for a wide range of free-motion techniques. This clear foot allows excellent visibility which is important for accurate placement of stitches. You could also use the darning foot #9 that works in a similar way. If you are using the BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator) you have three different sole options to choose from depending on which one you prefer.
A quilting needle is also recommended as the point is sharp for going through multiple layers.
To make the small sampler:
Cut the centre square 20 1/2 inches square and add a border, 5 1/4 inches wide, if you feel you would like to make it all out of one piece of fabric cut the fabric approx 25inches square you can use the decorative stitches on your machine to define the quilting areas and borders.
You will need to baste your top to a sandwich of wadding and backing fabric. Both the wadding and the backing need to be at least 2 inches larger than the top.
Thread mark the centre square by sewing across the half way marks, down the half way marks and then sew through both diagonals, thus giving you eight equal sections to work in.
If you feel challenged by the border and would like another option I would use the decorative stitches on my machine and work 5 lines evenly spaced around the border. I would change my stitches for each line and for each border giving me the opportunity to use 20 different decorative stitches. I have done this often and it looks amazing, believe me!
Relax and enjoy sewing out all or some of the fabulous quilting designs you have now mastered.
Kim Bradley is the 2008 featured artisan, on the Bernina stand, at all Craft & Quilt Shows throughout Australia in 2008.
Kim is available to teach classes throughout Australia on machine quilting or if you have any questions on this project please don’t hesitate to contact Kim Bradley on:
Phone: 02 9659 2912 Email: Through her website www.kimbradleycreations.com
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