Home for the holidays

We have had a busy and fun filled holiday.  My family (see photo on right) came down from Michigan and Wade's folks from Illinois.  So we had a GREAT Christmas.  We visited San Antonio, Fredricksburg, Galveston, and Brenham, and had Christmas in Houston at our home. 

From Wade, I received a 9-cut Townsend cutter head produced by Beeline, and I couldn't be happier.  It is exactly the same product as the Townsend line, except that it has a "B" etched on the under side of the cutter head.  So now, on to designing and hooking my big widecut abstract that I am calling "All in the Family".  It will consist of my 12 color families, and show every value of every color in each of the families.

Bee Line Townsend Cutters now available

Bee Line Townsend rolling out Bee Line Townsend Cutter and Blades to Fiber Artists Nationwide

Bettendorf, IA, November 10, 2010:  Bee Line Company is pleased to announce the start of production and sales on the Bee Line-Townsend Cutter and Cassettes to the rug hooking community.

Bee Line acquired the parts inventory, blueprints, intellectual property, and support for the Townsend Cutter, Cassettes, Tote Table, and Frames from Townsend Industries this fall.  Bee Line, owned by the McLaughlin Family since 1980, has manufactured quality precision parts for the automotive market for over 90 years.  In recent years, Bee Line has expanded its capabilities to reach new and different markets, while maintaining its time-tested attention to detail, quality, and care for our current and future customers.

Sharon Townsend, well-known in the fiber artist community, was happy with the transfer to Bee Line.  "I'm so happy the cutter will continue to be available to the rug hooking community, and will continue to be manufactured by another small, family-owned company in Iowa," said Mrs. Townsend.  Katie Lane, former Townsend Cutter Products representative and current consultant to Bee Line-Townsend, is also pleased with the continuation of the original Townsend Cutter.  "I'm looking forward to meeting all of my Townsend customers and friends at the shows in the coming months, and helping to re-introduce the Bee Line-Townsend cutter to the marketplace."

Bee Line-Townsend is taking orders immediately for cutter bodies and cassettes to meet the pent-up demand for those products.  The company is planning to re-launch the Tote Table and orbiter frames for early 2011 delivery.

Orders are being taken at the company website at www.beeline-townsend.com, or through the toll-free number at 866-218-1590.  Supported by former Townsend employees, Bee Line-Townsend plans to begin shipping the products by the end of the month.  Company information is also available by social media on Facebook at "Bee Line-Townsend Fabric Cutting Products", on Twitter at @BeeLineJulie, and by blog at www.rookiehooker.blogspot.com.

Questions about Bee Line-Townsend can be directed to Julie Stamper, Marketing Specialist, at jstamper@beeline-co.com, or at 800-728-7828, ext. 308.

From Bee Line about Townsend Cutters

BIG News in the Rug Hooking Community!

BEE LINE ANNOUNCES AN AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE THE TOWNSEND FABRIC CUTTER.

Bee Line Company, of Bettendorf Iowa, is pleased to announce the agreement to acquire the rights to manufacture and market the Townsend fabric cutter from Townsend Industries of Altoona Iowa.

The Townsend fabric cutter is the premium cutter in the industry today and Bee Line is excited to be able to offer this product to the rug hooking community.

Bee Line plans to receive orders via the Bee Line Townsend website and an 800 number, with shipment of product in early November.  Detailed information regarding the ordering process will be announced as soon as it becomes available.

Bee Line Company is the leading manufacturer of wheel alignment and collision correction equipment for heavy duty trucks in North America.  The 90 year old business has been owned by the McLaughlin Family since 1979.  Bee Line is well known for producing a high quality product with top notch customer service and is looking forward to applying those same characteristics to the rug hooking business.

Bee Line Company


Ault blades to fit Townsend cutters

Sondra Ives just sent around an email from Mr. Ault.  Check out his blog post about his company creating a new cutter that will have cutter heads that will fit both his machine and the original Townsend cutters.  So this will give all of us more options.

He says:

We are working on the development of Ault's Wool Fabric Cutter. It looks similar to the Townsend but has several changes. The cutterhead we will manufacture is similar to the Townsend cutterhead but modified to fit our machine. It will also fit Townsend machines made before the company closed. We will produce cutterheads first and then the machine. Hope to be selling cutterheads before Christmas and machines shortly after that. Our cutterhead sizes will probably be 6, 8,8.5, 9, and -9.5.
 
For more and current info readers can go to our web site blog at www.aults.com. Anyone wanting to be on our mailing list can sign up at our site  for the newsletter or send email to me (larry.ault@gmail.com ) with the subject line "Ault's Wool Fabric Cutter".

Townsend news

This information was just posted on Rug Hooking Daily by Debra Henkel.  It is great news about the Townsend cutters and frames.  The company has a website HERE.

Bee Line Company is in the process of purchasing the rights to produce the Townsend Cutter product line.  We are currently estimating shipment dates to begin at the beginning of November.  All inquiries that I receive will be added to our contact list to be updated on an actual date when we are able to determine that date.  Bee Line is very excited to begin producing and selling this product that has such a great reputation for quality.  Please feel free to share this news with anyone else that you feel may wish to be added to the contact list.  They can just drop an email to hr@beeline-co.com.  Thank you for your interest in the Townsend Cutter.

Kerry Dobereiner, Bee Line Co.

Santa was good to me!

Thanks to Wade and Alexander and my sister Tiffany, my sweet Santas. Look what they gave me for Christmas this year! Wade and Alex gave me a Townsend cutter with a #6 blade and Tiffany gave me the #4 blade. The dream gift for a rug hooker, something I have desired for years.

What a difference this will make. No more uneven cuts on my Bliss, which served me well since I bought it in 1995. But now I am happily enjoying the evening, imagining all the rugs I am going to make in the coming year with my Townsend cutter.

Bolivar cutter

I have a little Bliss cutter that I am still using. Thinking about upgrading in the next year. I am wondering if any of you have a Bolivar cutter - whether you like it - what type did you buy - would you buy it again - or something else? This picture is from the Bolivar website.