Fall is Here!

If we didn’t believe the seasons are about to change before last night, Mother Nature sure gave us a chilly reminder! 90 degrees on Monday and lows in the mid 40′s last night, we guess that Summer is about over! Our Class Schedule (see link to the right) is full of Fall and Christmas classes and projects, as well as some upcoming exciting events we are hosting. Please take a few moments – perhaps with a cup of something warm! – and look through our class offerings. We hope that you will find a few that you might like to try your hand at, maybe get a head start on your Christmas gifts. In any case, enjoy!!

That’s what it’s all about……….

You put your left foot in –  you put your left foot out —  “you always thread your needle with your foot up.”  That just puts way too many fun images in my head.  I overheard this during Sewing Machine Lesson One that was held at the store on Saturday.  Remember the movie, “Karate Kid?”  He is standing on the fence with both arms and one leg up.  This is the picture I have in my head now every time I thread my machine.  I guess you could say my machine knows Karate — or maybe the better thing to take from this is that I am just a big kid!  If was so fun to see all of the students with their new machines learning how to use them. Hearing the ahh hahs as they find out just what their new baby can do is always fun. I did learn that lint sucks up your machine oil — so that is why it is so important to oil your machine every time you clean it.  I am sure I have heard that many times,  but Saturday seems to be the first time it actually sank in.

We are getting our fall newsletter ready for the presses.  We sure have some fun classes in the works for all of you. So get your machine out, get your foot up, clean out the lint and oil it all about –  so you are ready to see “Life is SEW fun”  cuz that’s what it’s all about.  <clap clap>     Donna K

This lil’ piggy went to market….

I taught a long-arm quilting class on Tuesday evening.  We had four class participants and everyone was running the machine like a pro by the end of the class. Everyone had a little different approach, some ran the machine slow, some fast, some from the front, some from the back, but every student was successful in creating a beautiful pattern on the quilt sandwich. The longer I sew the more I realize that sewing is so much more than doing something perfect.  Sewing is making a mistake and then continuing with the project anyway.  I used to think everything was so black and white — there was only one way to put in a zipper, finish a seam or topstitch a collar.  Now I am learning that it’s more about the way I like to do something.  I made a bag last weekend and didn’t follow the pattern guide when I sewed in the pockets.  I liked the way the pockets in my last bag were sewn in, so I did it that way. That’s more than just sewing,  that’s creating. When we give ourselves permission to go ‘off the pattern guide’ all kinds of fun stuff can happen. The prettiest quilt I ever made was something that happened because I cut the fabric wrong. When it was finished, I named the quilt “Happy Accident” and gave it to my dad for Christmas. He never knew there was a problem. My challenge to you is to “go off pattern guide.” You will never know creative you are until you push through a mistake and take it to the next level and create a Happy Accident!  Perception is everything.  Just ask the Lil’ Piggy who went to market.  I bet his life is SEW FUN.    Donna K.

For the birds…..

A pair of barn swallows picked my deck to build a nest and raise their babies. I have had so much fun watching them.  I snuck the camera out my laundry room window to get this shot — they do fascinate me.  I look at the nest and wonder “How’d they do that?” to which my husband’s response would be, “one glob at a time.” It’s the same way with any kind of sewing project – we get it completed by sewing one seam at a time. I often times get so caught up in finishing a project that I forget to focus on enjoying the process. Watching these birds raise their young has reminded me to slow down and enjoy the process. We are so lucky to have  Kelley’s Quality Sewing available to us. It’s a place where we can go to focus on doing something fun for ourselves. What do you enjoy? What do you do for fun?  Stop in and see us.  We will help you recapture your excitement for sewing or introduce you to it for the first time.  I read somewhere that a friend is someone you call to bail you out of jail. A really good friend is behind bars with you saying “Wow, that was fun!”  Stop in and see us. We probably won’t land in jail, but we will definitely make you say, “Wow,  life SEW FUN.”    Donna K.

What’s in your wallet?

I am pretty sure we have all seen the Capitol One commercial “What’s in your wallet?” So let me ask you, “What’s in your sewing room?” or even better — “What’s your most favorite thing in your sewing room?”  For me, this week I would have to say air conditioning, but since Kelley’s doesn’t sell or service HVAC equipment I will move on to my second favorite thing – my cutting table. I remember the days when I used to cut out everything on the floor,snagging the carpet with my scissor tips with each cut. Then I graduated up to one of those foldable cardboard cutting boards and I was in the big time. When I started making bridal gowns I purchased a real live cutting table – complete with self-healing board and life has not been the same since. There is something to be said for working on your projects in an upright position. I find that my cutting table is much like the kitchen table. It’s where all the action happens.  Every so often I have to dig it out to reveal the cutting surface but I honestly could not imagine sewing without it.  These tables, like technology, have really advanced over the years. There is one in the store that has a tape measure painted right on one of the edges.  Genius! I never can find a tape measure when I need one.  Our top of the line tables are sturdier, have better wheels, come equipped with electric machine lifts and fold to occupy minimal space, although I must admit I can’t even remember the last time mine was folded.  My table lives in the middle of the room where all the action is. My favorite table in the store right now is a KOALA combination cutting table and cabinet. I did not expect to like sewing at cutting table height, but it is wonderful. We even carry chairs to get you high. *wink*   Stop in for a test drive and let us help you find the right cutting table for your sewing space.  It will make your life SEW FUN. 

Donna K.

Broken Promise

When I asked John if I could blog for the store,  he had one request –  please don’t start it and then not keep up with it as there is nothing more frustrating that a stale blog. Well,  life kinda got in the way as my son got married July 9th and the blog got stale.  My apologies to John –  and I am here to announce that your KQSC blogger is back!!   In the last few months I have made 175 invitations,  a wedding dress, two vests and had 200+ people in my front yard witnessing my only boy marry his girl.  It was magical, but I have to tell you, my fingers and my brain are hungry for some good old fashioned quilting and machine embroidery.  That being said, have you been in the store lately??  Oh my gosh it really is Christmas in July.  Darlene has found so many wonderful new items to stock – everywhere you look there are new products and new ideas,  yarns, books, notions, embroidery thread, towels, cabinets, lions, tigers and bears, oh my!   So stop in and see us.  We are the FAIR with AIR –  and just like the movie Poltergiest2 -  “WE’RE BACK” …to blogging.  Life is SEW FUN.     –Donna K.

Everywhere a chick chick……….

The baby chicks have arrived at Fleet Farm.  My husband watched as a boy, barely tall enough to peak over the cow tank exclaimed, “MOM – look at all of the pheasants!!”

The chicks have also arrived at Kelley’s Quality Sewing.  They are guaranteed to not only put a smile on your face, but to also leave some green in your wallet.  Come in between now and Saturday, mention the chick chicks and receive 20% off one item of your choosing  (machines are excluded from this special).  I wonder if Miriam can sew pheasants?  Life is Sew Fun.

The more the merrier

Have you ever noticed how sewing is pretty much a hobby of “piecing and quiet”?  I can get lost for hours in my craft room listening to the hum of my machine and a good NCIS marathon on the TV.  Last weekend I attended a “girls with machines” day out and it was a hoot.  I saw people embroidering and piecing, long arm quilting and even hemming blue jeans.  I learned that long grain rice in a flannel bags soothes the aches and pains of chemotherapy. I saw that there really is more than one way to do something.  It was such a fun day.  I am always amazed at the exchange of information that takes place when two or more sewers belly up to their machines in the same room.  I learned I am a fast ripper (don’t ask) – we talked stabilizers, piecing, purses, threads and shared recipes of the goodies we brought to share. 

 So what does this have to do with KQSC?   Take a class.  Come on out with your machine and network with other people who share your love of sewing. Chat, giggle, teach and learn.  You we be energized and your passion for sewing will be renewed.   Life is SEW FUN!

Teflon – it’s not just for the kitchen anymore

I purchased this pressing sheet from KQSC when I was embroidering quilt blocks for a red works sampler.  I apply Armo Weft to the back of my fabric as additional stabilizer and the weave is open enough that the adhesive always come through to my iron.  I used  a piece of muslin between the stabilizer and my iron -  that is until I found this little baby.  It is very deceiving.  Out of the package it looks like a piece of plastic – I think I actually closed my eyes the first time I put my iron on it – but it didn’t stick. WOO HOO!!  All of the stickies that weep through the armo weft are safely kept at bay by this Teflon baby.  Oh -  and it even makes a cool sizzle noise when you use it – so tell your family  you really are cooking in the sewing room.  Who knew a pressing sheet would be SEW FUN.

The Angler (a sewing superhero)

Pick one up at KQSC and try it out.

I have been piecing a border for a quilt and this tool rocks!!

 The Angler is a clear template that is taped to the throat plate of your machine.  It has a cut out that exposes the feed dogs and allows for perfect point to point sewing when creating snowball blocks, flying geese or triangle corners.  The last time I used this I was piecing larger snowball blocks.  I extended the guide line down the front of my machine using masking tape, and I made short order of those blocks.  It’s so much faster than marking the sewing line with a chalk pencil and so much more accurate than trying to “eyeball” the seams -  it really does make this kind of piecing SEW FUN.