It's been a busy summer on my little farm! The biggest news is a new baby was born on Saturday! Diamond was born on August 14, 2021. She couldn't have picked at better weekend to be born! This is the first time I laid my eyes on her. Dad was mowing nearby when she was born, so he beat me to it this time.
About 20 minutes after entering the world, Diamond (named by my nephew, Jayce) tried to stand.
That took all of 4 minutes and she began hunting for some warm milk.
Once she determined which was Mama AND which end it came out of, she grabbed a drink.
It's so much fun to watch. Dad and I then had to escort the girls to the trailer to make the trip back to my house. This was a rather long journey, but baby Diamond did great, especially for just learning to walk and being in a heavy milk coma.
Then the waiting game began, because the old bossies knew something was up and were very suspicious. Our end game was to get them to go into that first barn. It's a good thing both Dad and I are very patient people. An hour and a half later, we had success and were on the road back to my house.
When we got back to the funny farm, they were reunited with the rest of the herd, which is up to 9 now (10 in the next week or so)! Helen and Flo spent the summer at camp tending to the pasture at another family farm nearby.
Once everyone had adequately sniffed each other, life was good, but everyone was pretty hungry. Helen (in the background) decided she would skip a meal and stay to keep watch over her new baby.
I'm go grateful that this happened on a weekend I had off so I could be there for the entire process. I had to leave them this morning, but they look pretty comfortable, so my mommy anxiety today is manageable.
That being said, I can't wait to get home to see what they are up to! I wonder if they make nanny cams for cattle?
Piece out!
Suzie
This week some of us Pinecones have the privilege of being at Madeline Island for the Quiltworx class with Judy & Judel Niemeyer.
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We were able to provide the "Quilt Shop" for the students as well as 28 Bernina 475QE machines to use while spending the week learning the ins and outs of paper piecing with Judy. It has been so much work and preparation getting everything ordered, cut, hauled and set up for these amazing ladies to come and enjoy, but let me tell you what, it has been so worth it!
We loaded up bright and early Saturday morning with truck, trailer, and cars loaded to the hilt and headed down the road. We got to board the ferry and travel across to Madeline Island and to School of the Arts Center.
It was a new and completely exciting adventure for us. We spent the afternoon unloading and setting up hundreds and hundreds of bolts of fabrics, boxes of notions, and the amazing Bernina 475 machines.
Watching some of these women experience a Bernina for the first time for me as a Technician has been a true delight. Some of these ladies have never experienced the joy of a thread cutter, a knee lift, programmable stitch length, big girl bobbin, swiss engineered feet that are so sturdy and stable that keep that perfect 1/4 inch. We have so many women in awe of all they can do plus the fine swiss quality.
Watching these ladies selecting fabrics for kits, use Quiltworx mixers to design kits for one of a kind look, make perfect points, and get a sense of accomplishment they can't get anywhere else has been truly a blessing for me to see. I have watched friendships form, old friends meet up and ladies laugh until they cry.
Fun can't even start to explain what happens here. This is something i will never forget.
We will have our own Technique of the Month Class starting at PNQS in September lead by our own Kendra (who is also helping me at this event) on this beautiful quilt if anyone wants to join in on this fun!
Kendra and I get to spend the week cutting custom kits for the attendees. Such lovely combinations we are seeing.
We love assisting them with purchases, keeping the machines running smoothly ready for them to stitch away and helping with all other things they may need. This is a typical Pine Needles event with special gifts and prizes for all guest from Marcia and they are all loving it!
I think we have life long Pinecone friends here! We have 4 more days to spend here and it should be a lot more fun! I cannot wait to see what they create by the end of the week! Marcia has even found a bit time to create a mini masterpiece of her own.
We even go to see a Bear in the woods in the morning while drinking our morning coffee in cabin.
Until next week or our next adventure!
Jena
One of the first very important lessons I learned from my Dad is simple, "Suz, you've just got to have the right tools for the job." That sank in deep and stuck there. Everything is simpler and MUCH more enjoyable when you have the proper tools for the task. Here are, in my opinion, the top 5 things you've just got to have at the ready when you're stitching.
2. If you can possibly manage to chain piece, do it! You will be amazed at how much this can speed up the process. It's kind of like assembly line sewing, and it's a real game changer. When doing this, you need one of these to rip your chains apart. It's so much easier and safer than fussing with a scissors or rotary cutter to try to separate your pieces. Here is the 45mm blade model, and here is the 60mm one. Plus, they come in several fun colors to suit your mood or decor.
3. This one gets reached for more that you may think. Once you own one, you will wonder how you ever survived before. It's great for manipulating and achieving those perfect corners on your quilt bindings, feeding small pieces right up to your needle, and quick pressing of seams when you're too tired or comfy to go to the iron. Get yours now.
4. If you know me at all, you know that I don't like to pin...EVER. I do, however find myself grabbing for these quite frequently when I need something temporarily held in place. They are quicker for me and easier to maneuver than traditional pins. They get used the most when I'm adding borders to make sure they don't stretch while I am adding them to the quilt top. Get a pack.
5. I have to have 2 of these babies! One right next to my machine with my mini iron, and one at my LauraStar ironing station. They have quite literally changed my life. The mat absorbs heat, so when pressing your quilt block shapes or sewing project, it’s like pressing on both sides of the fabric at the same time. If you haven't yet experienced pressing with a wool mat for yourself, take the leap and give it a try. You won't regret it. You deserve a wool pressing mat.
Just my two cents. Dad is a pretty wise fellow...just ask him. :) This is some advice he gave me decades ago that I continue to follow, and it truly does make any job simpler, safer, and MUCH more enjoyable and successful. Try it for yourself!
Piece out,
Suzie
Transitions .......there have been many in the last few months. We transitioned from our old store to our new store. We transitioned from winter to spring. Every week, Marcia and I transition from one Wednesday Marcia & Joy Show to another. We may be the faces of the show but Suzie and Jena provide the behind the scenes support. If you haven't had a chance to watch our weekly broadcast on Facebook on Wednesdays at 1:00, take a few moments and put your feet up and relax with us. Marcia has the best jokes ever and we all pitch in and create new things to keep us all inspired each week.
I digress just a little bit and as I write this, we have just had a really lovely Virtual Spring Retreat that involved a mystery quilt, demos, laughter, treats and many of you participated. Although we had a plan for our retreat, we didn't know what to expect and how it would feel to be virtually involved in something we usually would host in person. We heard from many of you that you gathered with your close peeps and enjoyed the retreat together. Some of you mentioned that it would not have been possible to attend if it was in person. For myself, I truly enjoyed the experience and the meandering creative, interactive path we travelled.
Transitions, I truly thought when we moved in to our new space that when we placed our sewing cabinets in place and our machines that we would be set for awhile. It's really quite funny to think how wrong I was. Over the past 7 weeks, we have shifted things a little every week and now we have nearly replaced all the furniture in one section. Machines continue to arrive and it is such a happy feeling to see machines that have been out of stock since last spring finally arrive. With a little scooching here and a little scooching there, the machines find their new place on our floor with the other machines. Our new Koala cabinets have arrived and they are modular and beautiful and I invite you to come and check them out.
Transitions, I have reset my sewing studio in preparation for the Minnesota Quilt Show. Pine Needles is hosting the BERNINA domestic sewing machine virtual booth. I am looking forward to sharing my favorite features of the BERNINA sewing machines during the Minnesota Quilt Show. I will be offering a variety of Zoom demos and extra Facebook Live broadcasts during this time. In addition, Marcia will be broadcasting from Madeline Island and that is her story to share. Watch our weekly emails for details.
Transitions and change are constants at Pine Needles and it is what makes every day an adventure.
I feel very fortunate that I am surrounded by all of you that cheer us on through all of these transitions and laugh with us as we navigate the virtual and real world together.
Thank You and Happy Sewing! Joy
As most of you know me I am Jena, the Technician that cleans, fixes and pampers your machines, but what you may not know is that I am also Jena, Gingers Daughter, and Jena, Shae's mom. Ginger, as some of you may have had the pleasure of meeting, worked at the store for several years helping pick out fabrics, sell machines and working the floor. She is the reason I am here. And Shae, well she is our kit cutter, longarm person, shipping and jack of all trades. 3 generations of Pinecones all doing what we love where we love!
Sewing actually runs much deeper than that in our family, my Grandmother Mary, was a wonderful seamstress.
She made a lot of beautiful clothing and shared her love of sewing, good fabrics and amazing machines with my mother. Her main love was always making clothing, or wool suits. Her enthusiasm for sewing sparked an interest in my mother Ginger. 
She took that spark and grew it with me and my two sisters, who at the age of 5 sat behind my mom's old Bernina Record 830 sewing paper designs practicing staying on the lines til we could get good enough to thread the machine and start with something more. We spent hours tracing circles and boxes and lines. All three of us sewed very abidly threw our school years with 4-H. We made costumes for concerts,
wool suits, 
prom dresses, dusters for riding, and even wedding gowns. It was and still is one of the most useful skills we have.
In my early 20's I took a class for a table runner, the Ohio Star to be exact and fell in love with Quilting! I took that 3 block table runner and turned it into a queen size quilt in a matter of days. I was to say the least hooked!
I spent many hours sewing with a baby on my knee making quilts. My oldest son would come to fabric store I worked at with me and would roll around on the quilts as I would try to piece them together. He loved to try to steer the fabric threw as I ran the gas on the machine and make his own version of a quilt. To this day he jokes about the calming sound of a sewing machine reminding him of his childhood.
My passion for sewing is almost strictly quilting these days, 
but the generations of love that has been passed down and taught runs deeper than I can even begin to describe, and now as I watch my own daughter take the rains on Longarm and start her journey into the world of sewing I know this is one passion that will live on for more generations to come. 
It seems so fitting to be 3 generations deep at the Pine Needles store where it was built off mom and pop values and grown by a mother /daughter team (now joined by husband and granddaughter (at times). ) Quilters have a bond and love for each other just as if we were all one big family, sharing our joys and successes, picking each other up threw our oopsies and mistakes. And building each other up for a job well done! As one of our most amazing customers said this is our "Happy" place, this causes and brings us Joy! I love that after all these years of watching all the wonderful roll models in my life get such joy and happiness from sewing, I now can too get that same sense of wonderful, and can pass it down for many more stitches and many more years to come.
Springtime is my absolute favorite! Dirty brown turning to vibrant green, snow and ice melting, and best of all, baby animals!
Baby chicks arrived today. Of course, we must get them from the same place Martha Stewart gets hers, so these arrived in the mail. Suzie does not yet trust her new puppy yet so they came to Rochester and are keeping me company today in my office. Oh, the perks of having my own office! As you can see, Brenda and Shae got a little attached. :)
Here is the new pup we adopted from Paws and Claws. Her name is Bella. She's fitting in well with our family.
Most importantly, she is getting along with her new sister, Josie. It is a joy to watch them play together.
This is unrelated, but I just had to show somebody. Check out this teeny, weeny egg one of my old girls laid! So strange...
Another highlight of my spring, is turning the cows out to pasture. Here are Helen and Flo just after getting dropped off at summer camp. They should have babies in August.
Their babies and sister got left back at home. They were sad at first, but now they're like, hey, more grass for me!
My Uncle Wane is fortunate enough to have a den of baby foxes under his shed every year. Here is one of the trail camera pictures he captured. So stinkin' cute!
Speaking of Uncle Wane, he let me help with his beekeeping mission this year. I even got to begin my own hive. It's been very fun for me so far, and it seems that the hive is doing well! A girl never can wear too many hats!
Thanks for keeping up on Suzie's farming adventures, and HAPPY SPRING to each and every one of you!
Piece out!
~Suz
Bonnie and Camille Quilt Bee
Shine on Sampler-Month 12
Written by Brenda
If you’ve been following along, you know that we are on our final month of the Quilt Bee. Making a few flying geese units and adding some sashing are the last steps of this gorgeous quilt. I have to say, I’ve been very impressed with the directions in this book. Everything is clear and goes together beautifully. After basting the quilt with some 505 spray and our wide back cuddle fabric, I chose to quilt it simply with a vertical wavy line spaced so that it would follow the major seam lines. This can be done with either a walking foot or with free motion quilting. The blue and white striped binding adds a touch of whimsy!
For those of you who bought the kit, you noticed that it was very generously cut so there is quite a bit of extra fabric. The book has many other projects that will help you make use of some of that extra yardage. Another option would be to make some of your favorite blocks and make several smaller quilts. That's what I chose to do.
I made one large block to be the center of the quilt, like a medallion. Then I made some of my favorite blocks. After I had several of them made, I started to play around with the blocks on my design wall. After I had a layout idea, I made some more blocks to fill in the gaps.
If you’ve followed my blog posts, you know that I am a visual person, so after getting a feel for the layout, I got out my graph paper. I drew squares for all of the blocks and laid them on another piece of graph paper according to the arrangement I had made. After doing that, I decided to rearrange the blocks a bit to come to my final arrangement. The graph paper, scaled at 2 inches per square, showed me how big to make my sashing units. Always remember to add an extra half inch for the seam allowances!
Then it was time to cut the sashing units and sew the sections together. I think it will make a very sweet little girl quilt for someone at my church. I hope you have enjoyed following my process. Please share your quilts in our Pine Cone Peeps Facebook Page. We all would love to see your creations!
