March is a fantastic time for crafters. It’s National Crafting Month, and the third Saturday—March 20, 2021, this year—is always Worldwide Quilting Day.
We’re also coming up on a year since the pandemic started. Thimbles has remained determined to find new and fun ways to stay close with our sewing friends and family—spaces like our Thimbleful of Sewists and Crafters group on Facebook really keep us going, and we hope you enjoy them, too.
We’re extremely proud of our lineup of classes and events, many of which are virtual and can be accessed by anyone. So to celebrate National Crafting Month, we invite you to check out some of our ongoing monthly events. It’s not quite your traditional sewing klatch—you may need a computer and internet access to attend—but we’re driven to keep this community thriving against the odds. The following lineup includes several classes that continue every month all year long, so if you can’t make it to something in March, you can always try again when you have more free time. We know for quilters and sewers, every month is crafting month. And we can’t wait to see you!
Also, we hope to see you during the Lucky Charm Virtual Shop Hop. The full schedule is below. The event starts this Wednesday, March 10, and culminates the day before Worldwide Quilting Day. There’s a $25 prize, but you must attend each shop’s Facebook Live event at 7pm CST to be eligible. Each store has free patterns and there are 12 different block patterns, in addition to a pattern for the finished quilt. Be sure to tune in to our Facebook Live this coming Thursday, March 11, at 7:00 pm CST!
Ongoing Monthly Classes
Solaris Mastery Zoom Class
Just bought a Solaris? Maybe you need to brush up on your skills? This class will guide you through learning the machine parts and setting up the IQ positioning app on your mobile device. If you purchased your Solaris with Thimbles, attendance is free! This month the class takes place on March 5 and March 12.
BERNINA V8 Embroidery Software Mastery 
This Zoom class (occurring this month on March 23) focuses on mastering the BERNINA Embroidery Software. You’ll receive an overview of the editing process within the software as well as tips and tricks for creating and digitizing beautiful embroidery designs.
BERNINA Embroidery Editing Virtual Class
This monthly virtual class will help you learn more about editing on your BERNINA 500, 590, 700, or 790+ embroidery machine. Joyce teaches directly from her sewing room, using her BERNINA machine to show you the ropes (or thread, as it were) in an interactive class mixing demonstration and lecture. This month’s class (March 19) is all about design placement and duplication.
Virtual DIME Software Users Group
Because this is a strictly demonstrational class, our DIME sessions are recorded so that attendees can always refer back to the class for any necessary refreshers. However, we set aside time before and after the sessions for catching up, questions and answers, and working on projects. Dates for the Virtual DIME Software Users Group have been set for March, April, and May, but you can always search the term “Virtual DIME Software Users Group” for the latest session dates.
DIME Word Art in Stitches
This monthly class is all about mastering the Word Art in Stitches program. Explore letter and word art capabilities, learn how to utilize the built-in artwork to create your own designs, and more. Each month’s class has a slightly different focus—on March 9 we’re using the built-in applique shapes and inkspots to make an applique or stitched design. On April 13 we’re exploring artwork files to make some cute designs for the kitchen.
Baby Lock Palette 11
Tour the Palette 11 program from Baby Lock in this monthly Zoom class. We run down the fundamentals of the program, providing a virtual tour of Palette 11’s full functionality. Palette 10 and PES Design Users are welcome to attend as well!
Baby Lock IQ Designer Lessons
Our monthly IQ Designer workshops center around mastering IQ Designer. Last month we delved into creating our own designs using the shape, line-draw, and eraser tools. This month’s workshop (March 16) will focus on creating a zippered pouch and learning to make an embossed, monogrammed design on a terry cloth towel.
Techniques on Tea Towels Virtual Class
What better canvas for playing with machine embroidery techniques than the humble but useful tea towel? With a different towel theme for every month (February was, of course, hearts, and you can see this month’s towel above), the March 18 class will focus on accurate machine applique with decorative stitches. Construction techniques include drafting a circular flounce, placing accent trim with precision, and facing a curved edge.
Garment Support Club
The success of our garment sewing classes drove the creation of Garment Support Club. We get together every month to share ideas about garment design, show off current works-in-progress, receive help from Kay on construction, and get measured! Join us this month on March 10.
UFO - UnFinished Objects
Our UFO (UnFinished Objects) group is in-person and in-store, but it occurs all day long so it’s safe and properly social distanced. Are you currently plagued by a UFO? Bring it to our monthly group of similarly-afflicted sewists to gain the fortitude to finally finish that languishing project. Or, start something new—we don’t judge! Join us this month on March 19.
Upcoming Singular Events
Feather Fantasy Ruler Work Virtual Event
This event is tomorrow, so act fast! We're learning how to quilt beautiful Feather designs with Westalee Design educator Kate Quinn. This is a private YouTube event, so register at this link to reserve your spot.
OESD Virtual Freestanding Lace Event
If you've ever struggled with mastering freestanding lace, then this event is for you. We're going over the history of freestanding lace, dishing tips and tricks, and there's even a coupon code for event attendees! There are lots of goodies involved and it’s totally free to attend, so be sure to sign up here.
We hope we’ve made pandemic life a little easier for all of you—you’ve certainly made it more enjoyable for us! We feel like we celebrate crafting every month of the year, but we look forward to seeing you at any of the above events for National Crafting Month. And we hope you’ll stop by, say hi, browse some new fabrics and see what we’re up to on Worldwide Quilting Day on Saturday, March 20. We’re still figuring out exactly how to celebrate but can promise you there will be quilting involved!
Like this post? Pin it!
