Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative Update – 2009
Click here to see recent Kate Snuggerud pictures…
More than 1,000 Priority quilts, including several donated by Cleo and Sara, went to the 2008 International Houston Quilt Show for the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative. Almost 900 quilts sold during the four day quilt show which brought in more than $45,000 for Alzheimer research.
The “Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts” project, is so named for the urgent need for research dollars, and the requirement that these quilts must fit into a cardboard USPS Priority mailer without folding. They are small works of art no larger than 9 inches by 12 inches. They are auctioned on the first day of each month (see below), sold outright on the Internet, or sold at selected venues across the United States.
Consider making a quilt, being small they are relatively quick, or purchasing one or more….they make great gift items too. There is a wonderful variety of themes, colors and styles, enough to choose just the right one for yourself or others.
This project is special to both Cleo and I as Alzheimer’s runs in our families.Cleo’s Quilts
Sold for $45
Sold for $45
Sold for $45
Sold for $40
Sold for $45
Sold for $45
Here is a sampling of some of the quilts that will be auctioned off June 1 – 10, 2009.
Keep in mind that these quilts are no larger than 9″ x 12″!
Click here to view ALL the quilts that will be auctioned June 1 – 10, 2009.
If you would like to participate in the Alzheimer’s Art Quit Initiative, click here for more information.
Click here to view ALL quilts sold and waiting to be sold!
Watch for future updates of quilts donated by Cleo and Sara Snuggerud.
Kate Snuggerud – Week 2 & 3 Pictures
May 9, 2009 – First Day home from the NICU
Mother’s Day – May 10, 2009 – 4 Generations
Stan & Jean, Gary & Cleo, Steve & Sara, Kate
First visit to Heirloom Creations
“I can’t believe mom made me finish 3 bottles!”
S U P E R HERO Needle !!
…faster than a speeding bullet….able to leap tall buildings with a single bound….No, wait. That is Super Man. But in the sewing world, we do have our Super Hero Needle!
Do you wish a needle would last 5 times as long?
Try a Titanium Needle! (Read about titanium at wikipedia.com) “The two most useful properties of titanium are corrosion resistance, and the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any metal.”
A titanium needle combines the functionality of sewing machine needles with the latest technology of ceramic coatings. These new needles have a titanium nitride layered on their surfaces to extend their productive life by as much as five times that of conventional needles.
Sewing productivity is limited by the life of a needle. Titanium needles are more wear resistant than conventional chromium plated needles. They also provide perfect reliability and durability in prolonged stitching operations. The strength of the needle has been reinforced while maintaining a perfect shape in order to provide greater wear resistance and durability.
Titanium needles are easily identified by their distinct gold color. At the core of Titanium needles is a standard nickel or chromium-plated needle. This coating, while only a few microns thick, is extremely hard and gives the Titanium needle the edge when it comes to heat build up and wear. And, yes, friction from the needle passing through fabric at high rates of speed creates heat.
Ceramic’s ability to resist heat build up on your needle means fewer thread breaks. This is particularly important with certain high abrasion fabrics such as vinyl or heavy denim. The hardness of the ceramic coating helps to reduce wear caused by friction and abrasion. Your needle point, while not any sharper, will stay sharp longer than regular nickel or chromium-plated needles.
One of the myths revolving around Titanium needles is that they won’t break as easily as regular needles. The truth is, Titanium needles will break just as easily as regular needles. LINK TO SEWING OVER PINS Given the fact they are actually the same needle at the core, that stands to reason. The ultra thin coating of Titanium Nitride reduces heat and friction, but it does not make the needle stronger. Dull needles are a major cause of breakage. Since Titanium needles stay sharper longer, you may experience less frequent breaks. Changing them helps alleviate the problem too, even though you may change them less often.
So stop in and give the Titanium Super Hero needle a try. You will be glad you did.
Sewing Genes
By Sara’s Mom, Carol
While anticipating Kate’s birth, I detected an extra note of excitement in Sara’s voice when she realized she might be a mother in time to celebrate Mother’s Day this year. Unbeknownst to us at that moment her birth was to be sooner than we knew, and in plenty of time for this year’s Mothers Day celebration. It is such a blessing having Kate in all our lives, and she is life changing for us all. She is a first for us, not only for Sara and Steve, but we are all reveling in our status change: first time Grandmothers, Grandfathers, Great Grand mothers and fathers, and Uncle and Aunts. Little Kate couldn’t have asked for better parents, and this the new Grandparents know well.
Now it waits to be seen if Kate inherits the “sewing gene”. Being around many sewers in the store we sometimes hear that sewing skipped a generation. They are referring to the scenario that the mom does not sew but her mother and her daughter do, i.e. it “skipped” a generation.
But here is Kate who comes from a strong line of sewers on both sides of the family. My own mother always sewed. From my earliest memories I recall her at the sewing machine, and to this day, at age 82, she still likes to sew. And I remember watching my Grandmother at her treadle machine which I later inherited. But it was when my mother got a new machine when I was 10 years old that I had an insatiable desire to learn to sew and make my own clothes.
I have always had a machine and it became a point of fascination for young Sara. Without electricity, at the age of three she could thread the machine and turned the hand wheel to “sew”. When she was six I cut large squares and she made her first quilt.
At age 13 she took a quilt class and then made a quilt a year for the fair. We’ve had a laugh that we knew so little about real quilting back then.
For a number of years I earned a living sewing and doing alterations. I tried to not push Sara to sew like me, but when she needed a dress for a dance in 10th grade, she went to the fabric store, and bought fabric and pattern. Then she brought it me and said “Here, Mom”. I was a little busy at the time so she opened the pattern, spread it out and cut the pieces apart. I could almost see the light go on as she laid the pieces out on the fabric. She could see how the pieces fit together, so she cut them out, threaded the machine, and sewed her first dress.
Sara’s sewing career began at age 15 when she got an after school job at with the local Bernina dealer. That was when the first machine that could stitch letters was available. I, too, began teaching classes in the store. We both witnessed first hand the explosion in technology in the sewing machine world.
We saw the first embroidery machine. We learned to use the computer and embroidery software. Sara worked directly with the Bernina educational editor, and later became a Bernina educator, traveling all over the country, even to Switzerland where Berninas are made.
So it was while Sara was traveling to far away places that she first met Steve at a new dealer training. She also heard about him from another one of the educators as someone she “has to meet”. Steve was interested in helping his mother, Cleo, who some years previous decided to open a quilt store. Two years after Steve and Sara were married Cleo persuaded them to come back to the store….and the rest, now, is history.
So you see, with two grandmothers that sew, and parents that sew and operate the best quilting store around, we might expect little Kate to have the “sewing gene”. Certainly she will be immersed in all the rhetoric and lingo from early on…will her first word be “sew”? Will Sara let her thread the machine and turn the hand wheel at age three? Will she sit beside her mom as she sews and learn by watching? With so much sewing influence from all sides, Nana here says, buy her a pony, but I already hear that Steve says she wants a boat!
Little Kate, whatever the future holds, you are SEW Blessed!
Love, Nana