I WON

Excited isn't the word for it. I am ecstatic. I have won the Baby Lock Ellegante and Robinson Anton Embroidery thread. I have been on the Baby Lock site at least a half a dozen times looking at my new machine and all the features. It cuts jump threads, can you believe it? I cannot wait to embroidery on it.

This would never have happened without Christopher. He is the "man" that made all this possible and for us to step out of the box and go for it. He is the man who initialized this contest, got 12 amazing Judges that are tops in the sewing industry and Baby Lock, Sulky Threads, Robison Anton Threads and Dreamworld to provide these wonderful prizes. Thank you all.

Who would have thought that all this resulted from buying Christopher's Pillow book and joining his on-line Yahoo class a year ago to learn his methods?

2008 Punching Idol Winners

To view all the winners pillows go to www.bagsandpillows.com

Getting Ready

The Punching Idol Contest was almost upon us and with that in mind, it was time to clean up the sewing room. You all have done this, start cleaning and then run into a UFO and get side tracked. No, had to keep going. No distractions.

We would get instructions and there would be an unusual product used in this pillow project. I anticipated a lot of things and had them on hand. Never would I think of panty hose. That's right! Panty Hose was to be used to punch the base of the pillow. The theme was The Magical Forest of Good and Evil. In addition to making the pillow in a 3 day time frame, Power Point Presentations and beauty shots of the finished pillow had to be taken. A little stress here, you think?

Meeting Christopher Nejman

Well, I have a little catching up to do, but my memories of meeting Christopher at Jackman's Fabrics are still very vivid. I have never attended a class with such interest, enthusiasm and attention. This two day class of students soaked up more techniques and ideas, then going to week of classes. In addition to being excited about what they were learning, they giggled, laughed and danced in the isles.

And then there was the shopping. What a wonderful store! One of the finest I have ever been to in my travels. Baby Lock machines, quilt fabric, decorator fabrics, trims and I could go on and on. If they didn't have it, you might not have needed it. And the only thing to top off great shopping, would be the staff at Jackman's. They are exceptional. Put this store on your list of places to go.