Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We have been “on the go” and are enjoying the season with our “progressive Christmas” as we visit each of our children and their families. As we think about the Birth of the Christ Child we give thanks for His presence in our lives and the Peace and Joy He brings! May you too embrace Him in your life as you celebrate Christmas and enter the New Year.

Our trips began with the towing of a UHaul to our daughter Nadya’s new home in Minneapolis. Herb and I loaded the trailer with furniture, boxes of dishes and other “stuff” we thought she would enjoy. What fun to be with her and help with some little projects. We polished my mom’s (her grandma, Nanny) silver service and put it with other family pieces into the 1890’s china cabinet that came from her great grandparents. Herb put in a new dryer vent while we sewed curtains for the kitchen and pantry from a beautiful batik that went with the chocolate brown walls.  The weather was crisp but we left just in time to miss the snow!

Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, the moving van loaded almost 600 pieces. Over 300 of them boxes that Herb and I had packed. It rained the whole day so loads of mud and wet and cold as the doors had to be open. The next day we were in the car ready to leave and it would not start. We’ve had lots of problems this fall and finally found out the replacement windshield was not put in correctly so water was leaking into the fuse block and shorting it out. Never a dull minute!

Early the next morning we finally left and drove to son Herb’s home in Columbus, Ohio to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. What a great day. We are so Thankful for the blessing of family, good health and so many opportunities!

Then off to drive to California “on the way” to Arizona. We presented a program at Luella’s Quilt Basket in Redondo Beach and had a great time with about 80 ladies. Luella is retiring at the end of the year so it was a celebration of her many years in business.

The next day was our granddaughters 9th birthday celebration with us. Her class did a great job coloring the nativity ornaments on the log cabin quilt project. We helped get ready for her big party on Sunday when 14 friends would make Christmas Gingerbread Houses!

We missed the big party as had to leave for Arizona to meet the moving van which was delayed a day and arrived on Tuesday. Unfortunately it was a cold day in Sahuarita as we were outside most of the day checking in the pieces. Several of the antique pieces needed repair so that kept Herb busy the next few days and I was unpacking boxes and making some gifts. One of the first things set up was my sewing machine!

We set up for the Cathey’s Sew with Sue event on Thursday and 36 ladies sewed like crazy on Friday and Saturday. Almost all finished their 8 projects and we had a great time doing it. Many embroidered a lovely card created in 5D Card Shop as well. I plan to get a couple of the very quick cute ones posted soon. Sunday almost 60 people attended as we presented more gift ideas, ate lots of great food, learned about new notions, and “sew” much more.

For some reason I thought I had a week and a half before we would leave for our California families. On Wednesday night, I was organizing my desk and looked closely at my datebook and almost panicked! I had lost a week! We were leaving for California on Friday morning—a day away!! There was a time I would not have been able to do this. I wanted to have much more unpacked and organized before we left, but it will all be waiting for us when we get back.

Somehow we worked in buying a new refrigerator and having the windshield replaced on Thursday and off we went to our first stop back in Simi Valley to celebrate Christmas with our youngest grandchildren. What a joy they are! Now we are in San Jose with our second son and family. Their girls are 21 and 19 and sons 17 and 13 so the activities are totally different. We are enjoying every minute.

We will be teaching at the Quilt Show in Tucson, AZ January 20-22 and then another program with the Cathey’s January 29-31. I’ll do a program for the Quilters of Rincon County February 18 then on to the Sewing Expo in Puyallup February 29- March 4. We missed getting to the Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup last year so are especially looking forward to seeing all our Friends in the Pacific Northwest.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday week and very Happy New Year!

Until next time,

Sue and Herb

Latest News

Dear Sewing and Quilting Friends,

We had a great day with Luke’s Sewing Center in Cincinnatti yesterday! Over 100 people attended the event and I presented trunk shows from QuiltSmart and from Loralie. Both these companies have such fabulous projects, embroideries, ideas and more! Herb and I brought some of our newest projects and techniques too. A great day.

Now back home to continue packing with a trip to Minneapolis towing a trailer of furniture and family “stuff” for our daughter there.

The letter below is mainly for our friends in Arizona but thought you might like to see what we will be up to in December. (In addition to moving and unpacking and enjoying Christmas with our family!)

- - -

Herb and I are very excited to be moving to Sahuarita, AZ this month! Actually we are more than a bit overwhelmed with the packing and purging!

One thing is for sure! We are “sew” eager to spend time with you at the Cathey’s Sewing event in Tucson, the first week in December! I’m calling it “Sew for the Season with Sue and Herb”.

When Cathey’s asked us to come and teach Sit ‘n Sew projects, my mind started racing with ideas. You may remember my Quick, Quicker, Quickest holiday projects from the past and this is the way I love to sew, especially in December!

We will make (and finish!) eight projects perfect for your gift giving and one project to be given away to brighten the holidays for some of the people needing some cheer in their lives. I just finished all the projects and sent this picture to Janice at Cathey’s.

My goal is for you to learn and stitch new techniques, experiment with new timesaving tools, complete 9 projects (3 Quick, 3 Quicker, 3 Quickest) on Friday and Saturday and to have fun doing it!

On Sunday afternoon we will share the Fellowship, Food, and Joy of the Season. Enjoy round-robin sewing clinics, a trunk show of more quick gift ideas and some sewing and quilting ideas for the new year. I will share the story of my first trip to Sweden for Husqvarna Viking which was in December and maybe some music too!

Plan to join us at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel, 1900 East Speedway, Tucson 85719, for all three days. Call the Cathey’s Sewing and Vacuum today, 520-721-4000 for more info and to register!

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

——-Until then——-
Happy Sewing!
Sue and Herb H

Update on Friday, December 23, 2011 at 5:45PM by Sue Hausmann

We have been “on the go” and are enjoying the season with our “progressive Christmas” as we visit each of our children and their families. As we think about the Birth of the Christ Child we give thanks for His presence in our lives and the Peace and Joy He brings! May you too embrace Him in your life as you celebrate Christmas and enter the New Year.

Our trips began with the towing of a UHaul to our daughter Nadya’s new home in Minneapolis. Herb and I loaded the trailer with furniture, boxes of dishes and other “stuff” we thought she would enjoy. What fun to be with her and help with some little projects. We polished my mom’s (her grandma, Nanny) silver service and put it with other family pieces into the 1890’s china cabinet that came from her great grandparents. Herb put in a new dryer vent while we sewed curtains for the kitchen and pantry from a beautiful batik that went with the chocolate brown walls.  The weather was crisp but we left just in time to miss the snow!

Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, the moving van loaded almost 600 pieces. Over 300 of them boxes that Herb and I had packed. It rained the whole day so loads of mud and wet and cold as the doors had to be open. The next day we were in the car ready to leave and it would not start. We’ve had lots of problems this fall and finally found out the replacement windshield was not put in correctly so water was leaking into the fuse block and shorting it out. Never a dull minute!

Early the next morning we finally left and drove to son Herb’s home in Columbus, Ohio to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. What a great day. We are so Thankful for the blessing of family, good health and so many opportunities!

Then off to drive to California “on the way” to Arizona. We presented a program at Luella’s Quilt Basket in Redondo Beach and had a great time with about 80 ladies. Luella is retiring at the end of the year so it was a celebration of her many years in business.

The next day was our granddaughters 9th birthday celebration with us. Her class did a great job coloring the nativity ornaments on the log cabin quilt project. We helped get ready for her big party on Sunday when 14 friends would make Christmas Gingerbread Houses!

We missed the big party as had to leave for Arizona to meet the moving van which was delayed a day and arrived on Tuesday. Unfortunately it was a cold day in Sahuarita as we were outside most of the day checking in the pieces. Several of the antique pieces needed repair so that kept Herb busy the next few days and I was unpacking boxes and making some gifts. One of the first things set up was my sewing machine!

We set up for the Cathey’s Sew with Sue event on Thursday and 36 ladies sewed like crazy on Friday and Saturday. Almost all finished their 8 projects and we had a great time doing it. Many embroidered a lovely card created in 5D Card Shop as well. I plan to get a couple of the very quick cute ones posted soon. Sunday almost 60 people attended as we presented more gift ideas, ate lots of great food, learned about new notions, and “sew” much more.

For some reason I thought I had a week and a half before we would leave for our California families. On Wednesday night, I was organizing my desk and looked closely at my datebook and almost panicked! I had lost a week! We were leaving for California on Friday morning—a day away!! There was a time I would not have been able to do this. I wanted to have much more unpacked and organized before we left, but it will all be waiting for us when we get back.

Somehow we worked in buying a new refrigerator and having the windshield replaced on Thursday and off we went to our first stop back in Simi Valley to celebrate Christmas with our youngest grandchildren. What a joy they are! Now we are in San Jose with our second son and family. Their girls are 21 and 19 and sons 17 and 13 so the activities are totally different. We are enjoying every minute.

We will be teaching at the Quilt Show in Tucson, AZ January 20-22 and then another program with the Cathey’s January 29-31. I’ll do a program for the Quilters of Rincon County February 18 then on to the Sewing Expo in Puyallup February 29- March 4. We missed getting to the Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup last year so are especially looking forward to seeing all our Friends in the Pacific Northwest.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday week and very Happy New Year!

Until next time,

Sue and Herb

Update on Friday, December 23, 2011 at 5:45PM by Sue Hausmann

We have been “on the go” and are enjoying the season with our “progressive Christmas” as we visit each of our children and their families. As we think about the Birth of the Christ Child we give thanks for His presence in our lives and the Peace and Joy He brings! May you too embrace Him in your life as you celebrate Christmas and enter the New Year.

Our trips began with the towing of a UHaul to our daughter Nadya’s new home in Minneapolis. Herb and I loaded the trailer with furniture, boxes of dishes and other “stuff” we thought she would enjoy. What fun to be with her and help with some little projects. We polished my mom’s (her grandma, Nanny) silver service and put it with other family pieces into the 1890’s china cabinet that came from her great grandparents. Herb put in a new dryer vent while we sewed curtains for the kitchen and pantry from a beautiful batik that went with the chocolate brown walls.  The weather was crisp but we left just in time to miss the snow!

Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, the moving van loaded almost 600 pieces. Over 300 of them boxes that Herb and I had packed. It rained the whole day so loads of mud and wet and cold as the doors had to be open. The next day we were in the car ready to leave and it would not start. We’ve had lots of problems this fall and finally found out the replacement windshield was not put in correctly so water was leaking into the fuse block and shorting it out. Never a dull minute!

Early the next morning we finally left and drove to son Herb’s home in Columbus, Ohio to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. What a great day. We are so Thankful for the blessing of family, good health and so many opportunities!

Then off to drive to California “on the way” to Arizona. We presented a program at Luella’s Quilt Basket in Redondo Beach and had a great time with about 80 ladies. Luella is retiring at the end of the year so it was a celebration of her many years in business.

The next day was our granddaughters 9th birthday celebration with us. Her class did a great job coloring the nativity ornaments on the log cabin quilt project. We helped get ready for her big party on Sunday when 14 friends would make Christmas Gingerbread Houses!

We missed the big party as had to leave for Arizona to meet the moving van which was delayed a day and arrived on Tuesday. Unfortunately it was a cold day in Sahuarita as we were outside most of the day checking in the pieces. Several of the antique pieces needed repair so that kept Herb busy the next few days and I was unpacking boxes and making some gifts. One of the first things set up was my sewing machine!

We set up for the Cathey’s Sew with Sue event on Thursday and 36 ladies sewed like crazy on Friday and Saturday. Almost all finished their 8 projects and we had a great time doing it. Many embroidered a lovely card created in 5D Card Shop as well. I plan to get a couple of the very quick cute ones posted soon. Sunday almost 60 people attended as we presented more gift ideas, ate lots of great food, learned about new notions, and “sew” much more.

For some reason I thought I had a week and a half before we would leave for our California families. On Wednesday night, I was organizing my desk and looked closely at my datebook and almost panicked! I had lost a week! We were leaving for California on Friday morning—a day away!! There was a time I would not have been able to do this. I wanted to have much more unpacked and organized before we left, but it will all be waiting for us when we get back.

Somehow we worked in buying a new refrigerator and having the windshield replaced on Thursday and off we went to our first stop back in Simi Valley to celebrate Christmas with our youngest grandchildren. What a joy they are! Now we are in San Jose with our second son and family. Their girls are 21 and 19 and sons 17 and 13 so the activities are totally different. We are enjoying every minute.

We will be teaching at the Quilt Show in Tucson, AZ January 20-22 and then another program with the Cathey’s January 29-31. I’ll do a program for the Quilters of Rincon County February 18 then on to the Sewing Expo in Puyallup February 29- March 4. We missed getting to the Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup last year so are especially looking forward to seeing all our Friends in the Pacific Northwest.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday week and very Happy New Year!

Until next time,

Sue and Herb

October Flew By!!

Greetings! my goal is to bring you news once a month and today I realized it is the last day of October! Happy Halloween. Once your kids grow up and grandchildren are far away, this “holiday” loses much of its luster!

Our trips to Michigan and the Northeast were terrific! We saw many sewing and quilting friends at the American Stitches Show in Novi and the next week at the Country Stitches stores in East Lansing and Jackson!

Then on to the Northeast with stops in Watertown, Cobleskill, and Bayside, New York and Portland, Maine. We have not traveled much in the Northeast so we met many new friends and enjoyed every minute of our trip except when we had car problems twice—but that is another story—too long for this blog!

We enjoyed a stop visit with free-lance Educator Deb Yedziniak in Manlius, NY where Deb took us to all the great sewing stores and more. Fortunately this is where our car died the first time. Deb is the educator known for developing the stitches for machine smocking that were first on the Husqvarna Viking and now can be found on many machines. Deb is a talented hand and machine sewer, lace, doll, antique and more collector. (Sound familiar? I share all those loves!) We met all her “girls”. These are her dolls arranged in seasonal vignettes. I wish I had pictures to show you! Next time!

From Deb’s we went to the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, MA. What a wonderful museum!! We spend almost a day viewing the exhibits, watching the films and enjoying the textiles. I especially enjoyed the “Harwood Stieger Exhibit”. This textile artist from Tubac, Arizona designed and screen printed fabrics mostly with Southwestern prints. My grandmother took me to the store in Tubac, AZ in the 50’s and I remember making “shifts” and “shirtwaist dresses” for my grandma, my mom and me from his fabrics. I’m looking for a home for my personal textile and lace collection and plan to contact them about it.

Last stop was a program for Mainely Sewing in Portland, Maine. Owner Jean Libbey has been a friend for many years so I was excited to be able to get to her store this year. The hotel was lovely (this was a good thing as we were stuck extra days thanks to the car issues) and even put America Sews on the outside billboard. Here you see Jean’s customers gathering and sharing the joy of sewing. Herb enjoyed a Maine lobster dinner!

It has been fun to show the new Embroidery Software program 5D Card Shop. I had the opportunity to make some videos and demonstrate some fun projects for this new 5D program that can be added to any 5D Embroidery Software. Go to http://www.5dlearningcenter.com/ watch the videos and learn about this new fun software. I love that it is “sew” easy! Just a few clicks through the wizard and the card is finished and ready to embroidery. Special cards for special people. I enjoyed making a 4 sided card into a Get Well card plant bag and stitching a “potato bag” from a 2 sided card. The videos tell the story!

Once home my project was to embroidery redwork nativity ornaments. I took a nativity embroidery collection and in my 5D Editor rmoved the fill stitches so stitching the outlines only created the redwork. Our granddaughter and her classmates will color these and add them to a Log Cabin Christmas Tree Quilt to be auctioned at their school.

These next couple of weeks we are packing, packing, packing! The hardest part is deciding what to keep and what not to! We hope to get the majority of our “stuff” moved the end of November. I had cataract surgery on my left eye last week and am doing great, however no lifting so when I get a box full, Herb has to come move it. We will drive to Minneapolis, MN the third week in November and tow a trailer of furniture and more for our daughter. Nadya. She just bought a house and we will celebrate her birthday with her that week.

Our next program will be for Luke’s Sewing in Cinncinnatti, OH, on Thursday, November 10. This will be the third year we have presented a program for their annual big event and we are looking forward to seeing many of our Cinncinnatti friends! Then we will be at Luella’s Quilt Basket in Redondo Beach, CA on Wednesday, November 30. These will be all day programs. We would love to see you if you are in the area!

Our final event for the year will be Sew for the Season at the Cathey’s in Tucson, AZ Dec 9, 10 and 11. We will be sewing hands on Friday and Saturday and you will make several projects and a charity project for the holidays. Sunday will be a demo and fun day.

We're headed out to share the joy of sewing and quilting!

Hi,

Life has been as busy as ever and we love it that way! We were in Westlake most of August packing boxes and deciding what to keep and what to give away. So many years of accumulation! I have mailed almost 100 boxes of samples to guests on America Sews through the years. It has been expecially fun to hear from them and many share surprise at receiving the package and tell me they have fond memories of coming to America Sews to share their project. Our guests and their great techniques and projects were the key to the long life America Sews enjoyed on Public Television. I understand there are repeats airing all over the country. Go to the America Sews and America Quilts creatively websites americasews.com and americaquiltscreatively.com for loads of ideas and projects.

We enjoyed a trip West driving Herb’s little red car—a 1992 Honda Del Sol (he calls it his mid-life crisis, I say certainly better than another woman!) to our new home in Arizona. A little cramped but smooth ride even through the heat of Texas and New Mexico! Then flew to our son’s in Southern California and joined them for a Labor Day Weekend at Pismo Beach. Such fun to be with our youngest grandgirls ages 8, 6, and 3.

Back to Westlake for more packing. We haven’t decided when to list the house but are getting moving quotes to move everything. We plan a trip to Minneapolis in November to take some furniture and “stuff” to our daughter there. She just bought a house so great timing!

Tomorrow we leave for Michigan for the American Sewing Expo in Novi this weekend. I hope to see many of you there! Then next week we will be presenting a new program at Country Stitches on Tuesday, Sept 27, in East Lansing and Thursday, Sept 29, in Jackson. Back home for a day then on to bromg the Sew and Quilt with Sue program to the Northeast! Oct 4 in Watertown, NY, Oct 8 in Cobleskill, NY, Oct 10 & 11 in Bayside Hills, NY, and Oct 15 in Portland, Maine. Click on Where’s Sue, Current Schedule, and then click the location for more information. We always enjoy meeting our sewing and quilting friends and also hope to enjoy the beautiful autumn color.

I’ll be sure to take pictures and post some when we get back.

Until then,
Happy Sewing!

Great July for Us!

Hello!

We hope you and your family are enjoying a wonderful summer and taking time to sew and quilt some special items. The second half of July we enjoyed a drive to Chautauqua, NY to visit our friend Margo and to pick up grandson Micah, at Mission Meadows Camp.

Spent the weekend in Pickerington, OH with our oldest son Herb, wife Janet and Micah then on to Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion in Huntsville, AL to teach with Peggy Dilbone and celebrate the joy of sewing with a wonderful group of Martha Pullen students. Highlight of the week was the surprize 30th Anniversary Celebration for Martha at the banquet on Friday night. The following week we presented our Sew and Quilt with Sue event for S & R Sewing with about 90 avid sewers and quilters spending the day with us! What fun!

Now we are back in Westlake and I am working on the huge task of going through all my sewing “stuff” and fabric packing and getting ready to move it to Arizona. It is amazing what I am finding! I thought I had organized a great deal last summer however that was just a start. I know this will get done but it is certainly overwhelming to look at it now.

This has been a month of learning sad news about several of our friends and friends of friends. So much illness and loss. We continue to pray for all of them. This certainly puts the day-to-day challenges of life into perspective. We give thanks for every day and the joy it brings to our lives.

Until next time,
Happy Sewing!