Letter From The Top
Dear Friends,
You may have noticed a load of changes to our web site.* Well there's even more to come! Every day we strive to make all that we do more functional, useful and informational to each of you.
We hope that you're finding what we do is helping you in your quest to make wise purchase decisions and that it will support you very well after the sale.
Ultimately, our goal is to make longarm quilting easy for you. How are we doing? Your feedback is essential to us staying "useful" to you and allowing us to continually improve.
At the bottom of our web site you will find a comment button. Write to us!
Best regards,
Jeff Benedict
President/Owner
*See article below about web site additions.
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MACHINE SALE OF THE MONTH
FREE SHIPPING AND INSTALLATION
on any machine equipped with "Lightening Stitch" ($1,300-2,250 value and 5 days of training FREE ($725.00 value) TWO of those days are with Jamie Wallen!
HALF OFF SHIPPING AND INSTALLATION
with Standard Stitch Regulation and 5 days of training FREE ($725.00 value) TWO of those days are with Jamie Wallen!
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The Story Behind the Quilts
Kathi Parli
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New Features on our web site!
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The Story Behind the Quilts
Written by: Fena D'Ottavio
How we meet people is just amazing. Each time I meet someone with something special, I realize that there are so many jewels that go unnoticed simply because we never took the time to have a conversation with that person.
That almost happened in the instance of meeting Kathi Parli.
I was visiting the Nashville store wi
th Jeff and sat at the back table all day working and saw Kathi and Michael as they brought their Innova in for maintenance. (First time in 6 years!). They came to our store from Fairfield Glade, Tennessee.
I watched as Jeff worked on the machine and they went out for lunch and came back. It was later in the afternoon and as Kathi came back to sit down to take a break, I noticed that she was in pain as she sat. My comment about her pain is what started the conversation. Boy am I glad that I did!
In conversation, I started out by asking Kathi how long she had been quilting and about her favorite type of quilting. She said that she did more traditional quilting.
She then told me about how her husband Michael and she were visiting the National Quilt Museum and a lady walked up to them and asked if Michael was a vetran. He said yes and then she said, "you must have a Quilt of Valor!". She proceeded to present a quilt to Micahel which absolutely stunned he and Kathi! Below is a picture of Micahel receiving his quilt.
She told me that she got to thinking to herself that there were a lot of vets in their own neighborhood that she just bet never knew about this program and were not given a quilt to say "thank you for your service to our country." As she began to speak you could see her light up. I had an inkling that there was something good to come. I just had no idea how good.
What she told me next is what convinced me that I had just met a wonderful person with a HUGE heart that was full of pat
Kathi began to tell me how she decided that she would make sure that the vets in her area were going to be thanked with a quilt for their service. She began quilting beautiful patriotic quilts and delivering them personally to the vets! At her own expense and her own time, and you all KNOW the hours that it takes to make a quilt, she started making these quilts! The pictures you see with this article are just a few of those quilts that Kathi made!
I know that many of us donate and make quilts for organizations. Rolling up your sleeves and doing for your own community is what every American should be doing. Something like Kathi did comes straight from the heart on a grass roots level and is an example for all of us to follow.
It is the quiet ones that operate behind the scenes, in goodness, kindness, with their own labor that really make a difference in our communities. Kathi, Fairfield Glade is LUCKY to have someone like you! Thank you for all you do!
We are proud to have you not only as an Innova customer but also as a customer of Accomplish Quilting! Keep on doing the "good" work!
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March in Michigan is pretty chilly which makes us all the more interested in getting together with our quilting friends. We have so much excitement to share about our upcoming events.
What's happening this month?
March Events
Need a few fresh ideas?
Nancy McNally is your solution. Spots are still available for her class, Collage Quilting on March 11th and 12th.
See the description below.
It's showtime!
We're on the road to bring INNOVA machines to you.
Come see us!
The Gathering of Quilters, Fort Wayne, IN: March 19
Snowy weather can't stop quilters from gathering at Accomplish Quilting in February. On Feb 13th, free training on new Mach3 software brought us a full house of excited INNOVA owners.
Our second QuiltIN gathering on Feb 20th was also a great success!
Jamie Wallen plans to join us again on April 30th for another free longarmers' get-together. Please mark your calendars and call to reserve your spot for this free event. All are invited!!
Accomplish Quilting is moving to a bigger store to serve you better! Our new location at 810 Napier Avenue in St. Joseph is getting spruced up and we anticipate we'll be able to move there in mid-April. Although we don't know just when it will be, we'll certainly put the word out on our website and Facebook when we have a date.
The new shop is just 6 miles from our store. It is close to many hotels, restaurants, and minutes from beautiful Silver Beach.
Visit us at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show and help us celebrate their 25th year! Tell
us you read the newsletter and we'll have a special coupon for you.
www.ihqs.org
March 11-12
Nancy McNally will jumpstart your creativity with her Collage Quilting class from 9 AM
- 4 PM. The cost is $125 per day and includes lunch. Call today to sign up! For more information, follow this link to our website.
www.accomplishquilting.com/upcoming-classes.html
March 18-19
Visit our booth at Q.U.I.L.T.S at the State Fair Grounds Orr Building, Springfield, IL
www.springfieldquilts.com/2016-quilt-show.html
March 19
Sign up now for a day of education and shopping at The Gathering of Quilters Ft.
Wayne High School, Fort Wayne, IN
www.appleseedquiltersguild.com/gathering-2016
April 1-2
String-a-Long Quilt Guild Show
Porter County Expo Center 215 E. Division St. Valparaiso, IN
www.stringalongqg.org/quilt_shows
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The Tennessee Report
Carol Thurston, Store Manager
Beginning February 1, you can come in and pick up your pattern for the Quilt Challenge. Can't make it into the store? Entire Challenge package is online at
www.AccomplishQuilting.com
The quilt will be made in black and white fabrics (solids or tone on tone). Once you have pieced the quilt, the challenge will be in the quilting! Use any thread (type or color) to quilt your pieced top in any way that you wish. Turn your quilt in by August 15, 2016, and then come in and vote (one time) for your favorite starting September 1.
We will have two categories to vote on (computerized and hand-guided). A prize will be offered in both categories. Look for more information in your email or stop in at the shop!
Top Tenn Club
 The Top Tenn Club meets the second Wednesday of every month at Accomplish Quilting. What is the Top Tenn Club? It is a guild for longarm quilters - beginners, intermediate, advanced, those who are thinking about becoming longarm quilters and those who just want more
 information about longarm quilting. During the meeting we share ideas, quilt designs, have a program and enjoy fellowship with people who share the same love of quilting. You do not have to own a longarm machine, or a specific longarm machine to attend. The club meets at 10:00 am and look forward to seeing you there!
Color Me Quilted
Teresa Pino of Quilts2aT will be coming to Nashville to teach Graffiti Quilting! Join us on Saturday, June 4, from 9:00 am to 4:00. You can learn to quilt graffiti style, adding color with InkTense pencils and a unique edge finish technique. This will be a hands on class with only 12 seats available. Cost is $125 and includes refreshments, lunch and supplies.
Upcoming Events
Lunch and Learn - March 10, 12:00 pm
Basic Training - March 12, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Goodstitches Meetup - March 26, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Don't know what Goodstitches is and want to learn more?
Go to:
Greater Nashville area:
Mt. Juliet Group
Please call or visit the Goodlettsville location for more information.
(615) 516-9755 | 855 Springfield Hwy, Ste 109, Goodlettsville
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Nancy McNally Rulers
Nancy uses her years of machine quilting experience to develop a set of rulers that will make your quilting sing!
This 6" diameter circle template is the perfect tool for quilting circles and wreaths on your domestic or longarm machine.
As simple as it may look, this 9" straight edge ruler will quickly become one of your favorite "go-to" tools when quilting on your longarm or domestic machine. It has clearly marked lines every 1/4" along it's 2 1/2" width, allowing you to easily stitch in the ditch, echo, and traditional cross-hatching.
The Curvy Hatching ruler takes a lot of the difficulty and guesswork out of curved crosshatching. It has clearly marked horizontal lines every 1/4 inch, and vertical and diagonal registration marks.
Nancy offers a complete set of three - beginner friendly - machine quilting rulers. These rulers can be used with both domestic and longarm quilting machines. Orientation lines are clearly marked, allowing even the most novice of quilters to accomplish difficult looking designs with ease.
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Tech's Tips of the Month
Sooner or later, every longarm quilter is going to see a skipped stitch. Some will see it skip once
in a quilt others will see a dozen times in as many inches, but whichever you see, it's caused by the same
couple of things.
One of the most common, and easiest to fix is a worn or improperly inserted needle.
When a needle gets worn, it can bend, which will cause the scarf to no longer match up with the
bobbin hook, and inserted wrong won't match up at all.
Another big one is making sure the machine is
threaded properly and if it's not, the thread can bind up for a moment before continuing through and
that can be all it takes for a skipped stitch. One skipped stitch is bad, but if you don't catch the problem,
it'll just keep happening over the course of the quilt.
The last major cause of skipped stitches is the
needle bar height not being quite right. Fortunately, that's an easy problem to fix as long as you know how. See how below.
STEP 1: Loosen these 3 circles screws and remove the front lightning stitch plate
STEP 2: Use the hand wheel to lower the needle to its bottom position. When you do, you'll see the
screw circled in the picture on the left below. Loosen that screw, which will allow you to lower the
needle bar, as seen in the picture to the right below.
STEP 3: There's a great tool Innova has for this, but in a pinch, you can use a pin. With the needle bar
still dropped down, place a pin in the eye of the needle. With the pin still in the eye, raise the needle bar
up until the pin hits flat against the top of the bobbin area, as seen below. Once the needle bar is set, re-
tighten the screw from the previous step. After that, just put the lightning stitch back on and tighten
those screws down.
That's all there is too it! Once you've put the plate with the lightning stitch back on, you're ready to sew!
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Additions to the AQ Website!
- Top 10 Things to Avoid when buying a Longarm Quilting Machine, something everyone needs to know who is a quilter!
- Meet the Staff-ever wonder who does what and who is behind the scenes at Accomplish Quilting?
- Photo Album-Check out all the recent events!
- Visit Michigan! Pages, learn what's to do, where to dine and where to stay when visiting our Michigan store.
- 5 Days free training! 2 of those days with Jamie Wallen!
- New style of calendar-shows and classes are now split.
- Testimonials
- Celebrity Pages-Learn about the celebrity quilters that bought their machines from AQ.
- Monthly Sale-find out what is on sale at AQ! Products, machines and service sales each month!
- Tutorials and more coming!
- Sewing rooms and Tips-send us yours!
- Online Quilter of the Month-apply to be in the running!
Lots of new information and more about our customers.
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15% OFF
Rulers
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Straight, Curvy, Long or Short -
they are all on sale!
- Quilters Apothecary
- Quilters Rule
- Rhonda's Rulers
- DeLoa's Rulers
- Nancy McNally's Rulers
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| Offer Expires: April 1, 2016 |
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