Win a Bernina 880E!

The quilt show is over (le sigh, it was so wonderful. I need to sort photos and write a proper post for you), my brother and sister-in-law were here for a lovely visit, our son is back at university in a shared house with three friends, our daughter began her final year of high school today and my yoga class started up again this morning after the summer hiatus! Yay to all of that! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. I am itching to get back in my sewing room.

What else is happening? Well, if you are a CANADIAN resident, you sew and you want a chance to win a super fancy pants machine, then you might want to enter Bernina's Just Win It Fall contest. This machine might even make dinner, I dunno.

I don't currently own a Bernina, but I do covet the Bernina walking foot, so I've entered. I'm always envious of the incredible walking foot quilting that my Bernina-owning friends can achieve. I think having the Bernina stitch regulator (BSR) for free-motion quilting would be quite handy as well. With years of practice, my stitch length isn't too bad, but when I really get going I do tend to get extra long stitches on big curves.

The fine print:

This isn't a sponsored post, but the entry link above is a unique referral link that I can share with friends (that's you). Top monthly referrers win accessory prizes from Bernina Canada. As always, stuff I win goes on to become door prizes at my retreats or at my guild meetings, or as giveaways right here at Poppyprint. I love to share, but if I win the machine all bets are off! Good luck!

Win a Bernina 880!

How would you like to be the owner of the Ferrari of sewing machines? You can win a top of the line Bernina 880 valued at $14, 999 from Bernina Canada! No purchase necessary. Just head to their website and enter here.

If I had unlimited funds, I'd likely sew on a Bernina. Until that time, I'll try to win one. I will freely admit to coveting the Bernina walking foot, which I believe to be the best in the biz. The BSR (stitch regulator for free motion quilting) would also be sweet. I have a tendency to go a little large on stitches when FMQ'ing swirly shapes. 

This post isn't sponsored, but they do have monthly prizes for top referrers, so I'm sharing for my Canadian readers to get in on the action and maybe score a few notions. Good luck!!

Get Creative Giveaway

This post is a bit of a service announcement for Lower Mainland locals, as well as an amazing giveaway for absolutely everyone!

On March 28 and 29, 2014 the annual Creative Stitches & Crafting Alive Show takes place at the Abbotsford Tradex. It is the largest sewing-related expo held in the Vancouver area and features tons of exhibitors selling everything from quilting cotton, thread and notions to every single sewing machine you could imagine.  Plus, the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild will have a booth and exhibit their mini modern challenge quilts! I've seen several of the quilts pop up on IG and blogs lately: there will be some amazing examples of modern quilting on display.

I'm please to announce that one of my favourite shop owners from the area, Carola, will be at the show with her usual massive booth of Aurifil Thread and gorgeous fat quarter stacks at amazing prices. Carola's Quilt Shop is the Aurifil distributor for the west coast so she has it all: 50 wt, 40 wt, 28 wt  and 12 wt cotton in ALL of the colours, plus a variety of variegated threads, 'Lana' wool blend and polyester Aurilux.  If you've got a quilt top awaiting quilting, bring some fabric swatches along and and Carola will help you find the perfect thread for your project. Last time I saw her I bit the bullet and purchased my first giant cone of grey 50 wt for piecing. I must say, it feels rather professional piecing off a cone with almost 6000 km of thread on it. I wonder how long it will last?

Carola has recently teamed up with well-known local Bernina Technician and Certified Educators Bernie and Shelley Tobisch who will be at the show offering hands-on demos using the brand new and exciting Bernina 750's. If you attend the show, head straight to Carola's booth (#101, 102, 103) and sign up for one of the many demo sessions  offered each day. You'll make and take a thread-embellished lanyard and also receive a free sample spool of 50 wt Aurifil to take home and try. AND, if you happen to fall in love with the sewing machine, Carola will have a show special on all of the demo models used over the two day show.

Now for the truly amazing giveaway.....

Carola has generously offered up this Mark Lipinski Basics box of 12 Aurifil 50 wt spools in just about every piecing neutral you'd ever need. This is over $120 worth of thread that will go to one lucky winner.  

This giveaway is open to everyone, which means that international entries are welcome!  Here's how to enter:

1. Leave one comment on this post to enter. 

2. If you follow me on Instagram (where I am Poppyprint) please leave a second comment letting me know for a second entry.

Comments will remain open until 5:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Monday, March 17th at which time the random number generator will choose one winner. Get out your 4-leaf clovers and may the luck of the Irish be with you on St. Patrick's Day!!

ETA: comments are now closed. The lucky winner is Joan!! I've emailed Joan to let her know about her big win - I'm so jealous. You will see that Joan's comment shows as 65 below. That is because blogger only lists 200 comments at a time and starts renumbering them at 1. Joan's is comment 65 on the 401-525 comment page.