Clover and Nancy Zieman

Checker 61st Anniversary Open House

Chapter 10

And you thought I had forgotten....nope....just took a little break.

Louis Carson and Nancy Zieman were at Checker's Open House. I spent some time talking with Nancy and Lou and I learned about some notions that I think are very cool. Join me on my little tour here.....

Of course I'm not going to miss a photo opportunity with Nancy Zieman.

Nancy demonstrated her Trace and Create Handbag Templates. These are definitely no-brainers. Just lay the template down, trace and sew. I instantly thought of my girlfriend who is scared to start sewing and loves handbags and my 14 year old neighbor who is in 4H. She loves to sew and with these templates her Mom and I could chat and drink coffee while she sews :)


To make the process simple, Nancy also has the Create a Strap Interfacing. You just press, fold and stitch. No kidding. It comes in 5/8, 1, and 1 1/4 inch widths. You want piping....ok....Bag & Wearable Art Piping is available too....just fuse fabric around the piping....no need to create the piping!! It does not get any easier than that!!

The Double Sided Basting Tape Nancy uses in her handbag construction really caught my eye. It is basically a double sided adhesive (very good adhesive...really sticks if you know what I mean) and it adheres to fabric, paper, plastic or wood. Nancy uses it for the construction of her handbags. I could think of 1,000 uses for that wonderful stuff. I bought 3 rolls just for myself....no kidding. When I want to put embellishments or Punchneedle on top of other creations and I don't want the stitching to show....I'm using this adhesive!!!

The Stack and Store Bobin Tower was really neat. I liked the way it holds your threads so there is no threads hanging. Click here if you want to see how it works.


Lou was kind enough to show me the "Hami-Ami" Flower Maker. I thought it was cool for making embellishments.




He also had the ever so incredible Protect and Grip Thimbles. Mary Jane discovered it at Quilt Market and it has been a huge....huge....huge success. I've lost count of the number of thimbles I've sold and everyone comes back to tell me how much they like them. Beware.....they seem to disappear quickly....someone asks to see it and yep.....it gets passed around and then gone!!! Truth is they are not stolen....I end up giving mine away....the person liked it so much I had to give them mine. Guess I need to carry a stash in my van ay?

Lou did not bring the Clover Mechanical Tracing Pencils. They come in yellow, silver and pink. He said he would send me one to try. I hear they are good....but I have to try it for myself. I'm still in search of the best tracing pencil out there.

That's all for now...time to sign off and get back to my sewing machine :)

Smiles, Kelly