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The silver needles on the rows of sewing machines at the Bernina Sewing Center are threaded and poised, with samples nearby of their handiwork.

Dozens of quilts, embroidered wall-hangings, skirts and other finished projects hang on the walls of the brightly lit fabric and sewing shop on East Speedway.

Many were donated by customers of the shop, on loan and on display to give inspiration or hope to other would-be sewers, explained co-owner Mary Sue Lee.

It's another three days before the start of the SAHBA Fall Home & Garden Show, and workers at Bernina Sewing Center are still choosing what, from among the many projects, they'll take to decorate the store's show display.

The home shows are always a busy time, and Lee joked earlier that the store had begun to resemble a warehouse with boxes strewn about the store floor.

Similarly, manager Lynn Daly said that if clutter was the sign of a creative mind, then her office at the back of the small store was a testament to her imagination.

Daly's enthusiasm for the hobby is what helped her get hired on at the store. She is a former customer.

"It was pretty much a one-man operation for several years," Lee said of the shop's beginning. "As we grew, we'd add somebody. It was always a mom-and-pop, and to some extent, it pretty much still is."

It's been more than 30 years since she and husband, Bruce, bought the former Desert School of Sewing and Bernina Center on East Sixth Street by the University of Arizona, renaming it Bernina Sewing Center.

The original owners, who Bruce said went by Mamacita and Papacito "were quite a colorful couple. ... She taught classes and he repaired the machines."

When the Lees took over in 1976, they kept those roles intact. Mary Sue helps organize the shop's weekly classes and special workshops; Bruce has gained a reputation as the go-to repairman for sewing machines, particularly vintage or older models.

"I've had machines come in from Hawaii; Lima, Peru; and Johannesburg, South Africa," Bruce said, proudly.

Though they arrived separately in Tucson as young teens — Mary Sue from Michigan, Bruce from Seattle — the couple have lived most of their lives in the Old Pueblo.

Summing up the early days of their relationship, Bruce said, "I met Mary Sue, went to the Navy, and came back."

In 1973, Mary Sue left her job at Pima County shortly before the birth of their daughter. Later that same year she bought her first Bernina-brand sewing machine.

"My best friend's mother, who was a home ec teacher had one. I loved that machine," Mary Sue said.

Then, in 1976, "well, I did a silly thing," she said, as she began to lay out the sequence of events that led the Lees to buy their only business. "We had just paid off our house. I felt like not only will this be a dream job, but people would be flocking to our doors."

Then, reality set in.

"Most people didn't know about a sewing machine called 'Berini,' " she said, purposely mispronouncing the name the way she'd heard it said so many times before. "You'd say 'Bernina' and people thought you were talking about an Italian sports car. It took a while to develop brand name recognition."

"I can write a book on what not to do when opening a small, mom-and-pop sewing shop," Bruce added.

Bruce quit his job "working at a place that sold appliances and liquor" and began working at the shop full time, Mary Sue said.

For the first 11 years she kept her job as a programmer, holding onto what her daughter called her "real job" until January 1987. By that time, Bernina Sewing Center had relocated to its current spot facing the street in the Midway Plaza.

In the three decades since Mary Sue and Bruce became owners of Bernina Sewing Center, they've added a modest fabric selection and two new lines of serger and embroidery machines.

"Sewing is as much about home décor today as it is about garment sewing," Mary Sue said, noting that with the popularity of television shows like Bravo's fashion design competition, "Project Runway," garment sewing is making a resurgence.

"Back 30 years ago, it was pretty much expected that if you were a woman you knew how to sew. Now, it's more of a surprise," she added. "The people who are still sewing are sewing because they love to sew. It's a creative outlet."