the first time, Road to California is offering an industry room where students will be able to experience firsthand, quilting on both domestic and long arm machines. Mel’s Sewing and Fabric Center and BERNINA have teamed up to provide both types of sewing machines for classes taught by Mandy Leins, Paula Reid, and Jenny Bowker.
How did this concept idea get started? Matt Reese, Road’s Show Director, approached Mel’s Sewing and Fabric Center with the idea and they loved it!! Mel’s has been a BERNINA dealer since 1960 and has been supporting Road to California for many years. BERNINA machines have been requested repeatedly for classroom opportunities because they are easy to use with a proven success record for all levels of sewing interest. Mel’s is providing 10 standard domestic BERNINA machines and 10 BERNINA long arm machines for use in the industry room classroom.
The long arm machine being featured is a BERNINA Q 20 – a sit-down long arm machine. This model accommodates the best of both worlds: it can be placed on a frame or set in a cabinet. Using a frame allows the quilter to move the machine while the fabric is stationary. With the cabinet, the fabric can be moved under the stationary machine.
Each instructor assigned to teach in the industry classroom —Mandy Leins, Paula Reid, and Jenny Bowker — will share specific techniques on both machines.
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Fluff & Stuff will be taught on Wednesday and Thursday by Paula Reid, Class 3401C[/caption]
On the domestic machine, features that will be highlighted include the walking foot, darning foot, basting stitch, BERNINA Stitch Regulator, pedal control, the Freehand System, and user interface to achieve amazing results.
The sit-down long arm will emphasize hands-on work with acrylic templates, the #96 foot, BERNINA Stitch Regulator, user interface, and pedal control
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Quilting with a Starter will be taught by Jenny Bowker on Saturday, Class 6001C[/caption]
Students will be encouraged to spend time on both machines. With the experience on a domestic machine, anyone should be able to apply the skills at home to come up with creative and beautiful designs on their personal machines. And after experiencing the Q 20, students can use their hands-on experience to see what amazing things can be done with templates on a sit-down longarm.
Road to California is thrilled to be the first show in 2017 to experience the BERNINA Q 20 in a classroom setting.
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Tags: Bernina, Domestic Machine Quilting, Jenny Bowker, Longarm Quilting, Mandy Leins, Mel's Sewing Center, Paula Reid
