VIP Spotlight: Pam Troxel
Pam Troxel
Pam is an avid sewer of all things who has been a loyal Luke’s customer for over 10 years. She learned hand sewing and embroidery as a toddler, working alongside her mother. “I come from a family of sewers” she explains. She even has hand pieced quilt tops created by her grandmother. As her machine dealer – Luke’s Sewing is delighted to help her carry on the tradition. She also makes a point of attending as many group classes and events as possible. Her favorites include Debbie’s Block of the Month classes and Veronica’s serger classes.
When she’s not attending classes, Pam still sews alongside her mother, but her cat Patches is her main assistant. “She’ll sit with me and watch while I’m sewing, and likes to sit on my fabric or embroidery arm.” Like most seasoned sewers and quilters – Pam has a ‘stash’ she’s built up over years – it takes up two large closets! She dreams of a climate controlled shed-turned-studio in the back yard – where she’ll have as much room as she needs for her machines, fabric, and cat!
As a child, Pam sewed on her mother’s old White – a solid machine, but she wanted something more. When she decided she wanted an embroidery machine, she researched every possible brand and came to Luke’s. Now, Pam is a loyal Husqvarna Viking fan. “I just love how easy they are to use! The price is really great for the level of technology involved,” she gushed. Currently, she enjoys using her Ruby Royale – “There’s so much you can do with it! The hoops are a great size, and there’s so many stitches!” she exclaimed, reminiscing about her first embroidery machine, “When I first got my SE, my father asked me what I was going to do with 25 button holes… but now he loves it when I sew and embroider for him.”
Pam is also really excited about creating her own designs and patterns with the Premiere Ultra software. “There’s so many possibilities,” she remarks, mentioning the digitizing lessons she’s been taking, “I’m not limited by the designs I can find – I can create my own and not just be limited by what I find. The one-on-one lessons have really helped with that.” As a Luke’s VIP Customer, Pam can take lessons at any of Luke’s 5 locations, receive plenty of personal attention, and get all her questions answered – so she can keep on creating wonderful things for her family. Most of her projects are gifts for her family and friends – her parents are running out of space to put everything she’s created for them!
VIP Spotlight: Vivien B
VIP of the Month
Vivien B.
Vivien is a newer face at Luke’s VIP events- but certainly not new to sewing! Her grandma taught her how to sew her first cheerleading uniform, and she was hooked after that. “I sewed just about everything I wore in highschool and college,” she reminisced. “I also made my daughter so many cute little outfits – mostly Halloween costumes – but as she got older, life happened and I didn’t sew much.” In November, she came to Luke’s to tune up a portable Janome machine so she could dive into quilting. “Lisa showed me the Elna 860 and I was in love.”
“Through Luke’s, I really fell in love with making quilts – and discovered I love making purses!” Vivian explained that out of the dozens of quilts and purses she’s made, she’s given away nearly all of them to friends, family and charities. “My daughter has so many purses from me- and she even tried to talk me into setting up an Etsy shop, but I just love sewing for my friends and loved ones! And I’m excited to incorporate embroidery into everything- it makes everything that much more personal!” Her most recent purchase, the Elna 4 Needle, is going to let her do just that with ease and convenience. “It just seems so much easier – not having to keep stopping to change threads all the time.” The multineedle machines are fantastic for multitasking. Vivien will be able to focus on sewing and sergering while her 4 needle adds monograms and personalized embroidery designs to her projects. She won’t have to stop every time there’s a color change, and with the free-arm and hat hoop, combined with Elna’s proven durability – she’ll be able to embroider on a huge variety of materials
Since buying her first machine through Luke’s, Vivien has become a regular face at Luke’s VIP Club meetings and classes. When she bought her first machine at Luke’s, she gained access to all of our events, classes and support – and made real connections with many of our other VIP’s who have done the same. “What I love about Luke’s is how everyone is always willing to help, I can call up and my question will always be answered,” she elaborated, citing that she loves going to Club meetings. “I just love the energy at Club meetings – Margaret is so great to us and makes sure we laugh and have a great time.” Not only that, but she’s made new friends since becoming a Luke’s VIP. “The same people that come to club come to the Open Houses and other events – I’m new to the area, so I feel like I’ve really joined the community through Luke’s. I’ve made new friends and really fallen in love with sewing and quilting and I’m excited about getting into embroidery.”
VIP Spotlight: Linda V
VIP of the Month
Linda V.
Linda V started sewing as a young girl in girl scouts. “I took to it like a fish to water – which surprised my troop leaders because I was such a tomboy – but I loved it and wanted to learn everything I could about it.” She reminisced. Later, in high school, she got a part time job with the express purpose of buying her own sewing machine – a Sing Fashion Mate. “I also bought all the accessories and attachments possible – I wanted to be able to do everything,” she revealed – noting that she does the same thing today.
Last year, she visited Mike and Shannon in Green Township and purchased her first embroidery machine – a Topaz 40. “I always watched the embroidery kiosks at the mall and wanted to be able to do that! So when I went to Luke’s, I wanted to resume the love I had in high school, but with embroidery!” She clarified, mentioning she didn’t want to just buy a machine – she wanted a hobby and community to enjoy it with. “The value is why I came here (To Luke’s). It’s where I can go to learn and get as much support as I need. It doesn’t matter if it’s Green Township, Kentucky, or Tri County – everyone is so incredibly helpful when you’re a Luke’s customer!”
Shortly after buying her machine, Linda quickly became a frequent face at not only Green Township, but many other Luke’s locations. She’s taken classes at both Elsmere and Tri County. “Lukes – and sewing – is my happy place. It keeps my mind fresh – every time I go to a class, or call/stop in with a question I can always learn new things.” She noted that classes offer the opportunity to get out and socialize – making an otherwise solitary hobby a group activity. “I try to tell everyone that they really will be happy with the Luke’s experience – you can come to classes, get the support of educators and employees and ju st seeing what’s out there and what your machine can do is great!”
Just this past month – Linda upgraded to a Viking EPIC, citing the large touch screen and throat space, as well as the easy to use interface. “It’s the most intuitive machine I’ve ever seen,” she exclaimed, excited about her newest purchase. “It’s so easy to use- and if you don’t know something, the Sewing Adviser will walk you through everything.” Viking has always been known for it’s “sewing adviser” tools, but the EPIC takes it to a new level with built in manuals, step by step tutorials, and animated videos right on the screen! “It’s really made for a spectrum of sewers – the most advanced sewers will love it for everything it can do, but those of us just getting our feet wet or reigniting our love because it helps you with everything!”
May VIP of the Month: Shirley S!
Customer Spotlight
Shirley S.
Look at these lovely gifts Shirley’s made for her family!
Shirley started coming to Luke’s Elsmere location “ages ago” when her Kenmore needed regular servicing. She bought her SE from Margaret shortly after her first grandbaby was born – and has been an embroidery and quilting addict ever since. “I liked the idea of putting pictures on things. It started out so simple, and over the years grew to where nearly everything I do is in the hoop,” she reminisced, “In the hoop projects are so easy! They even put the zipper in for you sometimes, it’s amazing.” 6 more grandchildren later, she most of her projects are gifts for her family. In fact – Shirley is already working on Christmas presents for everyone – In May! “Well, I just have so many to make, how else am I supposed to get them all done?” She remarked. Keep at it Shirley! We love that you plan ahead so well.
April VIP of the Month: Donna L
Donna L
Donna “feels like she’s known Margaret forever,” since she lives only a few miles away from our Elsmere, KY store. She regularly brought her old Singer in for servicing, and eventually bought her daughter a Viking sewing machine to use abroad.”It had to be something easy to service in Europe,and Margaret had the perfect solution.” She loved that little machine so much, she bought an SE for herself shortly after.
A lover of embroidery and quilting, Donna actually picked up sewing as a special education teacher. “I loved helping out in the life skills class – and learned how to sew with them.” She describes herself as an “Avid mender and on-demand sewer” noting that many of her projects are favors for friends or service projects. “God sends people my way and I help them,” she explained. Donna has used her serger to hem all the band uniforms for a local high school, and once she even completely reconstructed a wedding dress for a daughter of her friend. She also loves embroidering items for her 9 grandkids.
Currently she’s trying to master her new Viking EPIC, which she bought during the holidays. The Viking EPIC’s large touch screen, cloud capability, and thousands of decorative stitches ensure it lives up to its name. “It’s quite different from the Diamond I’m used to – but that just means there’s more to learn!” She loves how quiet and smooth it is compared to her other machines, the automatic needle threader, and “all those other things” that make it a joy to learn and sew on.
Despite her busy schedule, Donna takes as many classes at Luke’s as she can. “I love learning new things – part of being a teacher I guess,” she explains. Sewing Adventure, a large two-day event Luke’s holds in the fall, is probably her favorite. That’s where she discovered her favorite tool yet – the magnetic hoop. The magnets secure your fabric in place without leaving creases, and also make it easier to align fabric for embroidery placement. “I’m also looking forward to the Anita Goodesign Party – it’ll be my first one!” She exclaimed. Donna loves all her Anita Goodesign designs for their consistent quality and easy to follow instructions, but has never been able to make it due to scheduling conflicts.