What a thrill–another one! Janome has featured my DVD giveaway on their blog today! See it here (post dated September 25, 2013).
Visit Janome’s blog today to see the write up! Right click to see this larger.
I’ve been incredibly lucky to be sponsored by Janome and sew on one of their fabulous machines for nearly a decade. THANK YOU, Janome America!
And the good and bad news are the same news. And you my be wondering WHY in heaven’s name would I show you a photo of our fridge decked out in white, gray, stainless steel, and coolers.
The fridge, draped in white and gray cloth and white board and stainless steel. Why? To figure out how a white or stainless steel fridge would look instead of the black we currently have. Stainless steel wins.
Ahem. This moring I decided since it was rainy, damp and chilly to fix hot oatmeal and add some frozen raspberries. The good AND bad news when I opened the bag from the freezer: they were already defrosted. Ooops. Checked freezer. Many items could be called “previously frozen.” Called local appliance store, and no repairmen available until Tuesday, but the nice gal reminded me about defrosting the bottom, in case the condenser coils (behind a panel inside at the back) were crusted in ice, which can happen with the humid weather we’ve had, especially with a leaky gasket seal which we also have. Bad news: no ice buildup inside. That meant a bigger problem. On a thirteen year old fridge.
So, sigh, we went to the appliance store and bought a new fridge today. KaCHING! And we don’t yet have a water hook-up for an ice-maker and no time to schedule one before I leave for California to teach, so we’ll deal with that in August. But we’ll now have a nice, reliable Maytag fridge as of about 8:30 tomorrow morning!
And the progress: I’ve been beavering away for months and months on many assorted projects, hence the absence of posts here. I’ll eventually get you caught up on my doings–oh yeah, other bad news: I actually WORE OUT the track pad on my laptop! It started acting up, so instead of having a entire week to quilt, I’ve either ferried teenage boys hither and yon (both of them) OR spent 8 hours (4 hours Weds., 4 hours Thurs.) driving to and from the Apple Store in Portland to get the issue diagnosed and repaired. The good news is that the repair was $91 (plus gasoline), and not a new laptop needed. So I’m still behind on work, but getting closer. Now…back to projects:
As part of the Janome America artist/teacher program, I perodically do things / projects for them in exchange for their support / loan of a machine. One biggie this year was being able to use a Janome 8900 on the set of my Quilting Arts DVD! I was so happy to be able to demo on the machine I use at home and love, and they were happy to have it onscreen. Then I’ve been wanting to do a special item for them since last fall, but good things (like articles and DVD) kept happening. Finally, I am now able to give you a sneak peek at something I’m working on for them:
The quilting, as you can see, is partially done on this banner/tablerunner/long quilted thing! I’m having a ton of fun and will share more when I can.
Having fun with a lovely floral, colorful thread, and quilting!
Now, back to hoping the frozen stuff doesn’t go bad by morning (yes, in cooler, with ice) and hoping no new calamity crops up tomorrow so that I can actually, what a concept, work in the studio!
Hi all! Just wanted to share the good news that Janome has profiled me and my work on their website, here! As many of you know, I sew on a Janome, currently the brilliant Janome 8900. As their website says, I’m “powered by Janome!”
Powered by Janome
When I began art quilting and using a wide variety of threads, I was frustrated. I had a top of the line machine, a good one, from one of the major manufacturers, but it was crabby about threads. That led me to search for “MY perfect machine.” After a couple years of fruitless searching, I heard about the Janome 6500: Eureka!
The discovery of the 6500 began what is now a nearly 10 year relationship with Janome America, and I will say yet again how grateful I am for their support over the past decade. When the 6600 came out, they offered to upgrade me. I couldn’t believe they could improve on the 6500, which I loved like I hadn’t loved a machine in 20 years. But they convinced me to try the 6600, and it WAS better. Each time, they find ways to make small improvements to their machines (the 7700 followed by the 8900) — including by actually listening to customer feedback (what a concept! YEAH!).
So I’d love to invite you to head on over to Janome America and see their post (dated June 7, 2013). It was a fun email interview and you might learn a couple new things about my thread-filled life!
PS: I don’t do custom quilting for others, just my own work.
PPS: my Quilting Arts Workshop DVD (or download) on Fused Collage and Thread-Coloring will be available in mid-September as a download and at the end of September as a DVD. Watch this space for updates as we approach late summer!
On the set at Interweave in Loveland, Colorado, to film a Quilting Arts Workshop! (Who me?!!!!)
Can you believe it? I’ve been to Loveland, Colorado, taped a Quilting Arts DVD Workshop, come home (exhausted but elated) and I can still barely believe it. Yes, I have been “on the set” filming this week. Due out in September as both a download and as an actual DVD (which is wonderful for us who live in the boonies with glacial internet), the working title is “Fused Collage and Thread-Coloring,” a Quilting Arts Workshop from Interweave Press!
The project I used for the workshop is my Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic quilt (No. 1) [there will be 3 versions before I’m done], but the workshop is to teach you how to use your own photo to make an art quilt:
Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic, No. 1, the start of what I will call my Quilting the Good Life series!
My trip to the airport was an omen–a good one–for how the trip was about to go. I mean, look at the beginnings of sunrise as I crossed the driveway to the garage!
4:25 a.m., Tuesday: leaving for the airport in Owl’s Head (near Rockland, maine) just before dawn
It got even more dramatic just over the ridge heading to the coast, at the intersection of Route 105 (the Camden Road) and High Street in Hope:
Can you believe that sky? Makes me want to get to the dye pots!
The route in was equally stunning. Here, mist rising off the Megunticook River in Camden.
And ten minutes down the coast in Rockland:
And the sunrise over Rockland Harbor, en route to our little airport at Owl’s Head.
I flew Cape Air (maximum of 9 passengers) to Boston, then JetBlue (for the first but not the last time!) to Denver, where I caught the shuttle to Loveland directly to the Interweave studio where I met Helen Gregory and the filming crew. There we set up my materials, hung the quilts, and went over my plans for filming the next day. Congrats to Helen on her promotion to Vice President for Content, Interweave and Martha Pullen, and upcoming move to Colorado!
My DVD will have five segments, so five trays to lay out my supplies which I prepped at home.
And boy did I prep. I had about a month (shorter than usual I think) between my contract and filming date, so I pretty much did nothing but make step-outs, more step-outs, refine, video (to get used to talking to a camera and to time myself), cut/edit, cut/edit/shorten more, etc. For a month. Non-stop.
Make-up, first thing Wednesday!
Interweave has a make-up artist come do you up for camera, as there are special products that make you look right on camera under all those bright lights. I shoulda shot a picture of me sitting at the table looking at the room…it was FULL of big tripods, cameras, and cables and cords EVERYWHERE. Miraculously, I did not trip and break anything or anyone!
Reviewing my notes before getting changed for taping.
THANK YOU JANOME-America and Patty WInkelman of Quilter’s Stash in WIndsor, Colorado, for arranging a Janome 8900–the machine I sew on at home–to use along with a Janome sewing table. I’d never used the table and we were all impressed at how sturdy and stable and heavy it is. Of course the 8900 sewed flawlessly!
Then it was time to get changed and start taping. Then we mostly forgot to take still pictures! But here are some….
Me on the left, Helen Greghory in the green top, and I think that is Laura (webinars guru) on the right, hidden mostly by one of the cameras. We were getting ready for the concluding segment I can tell by what is on the table.
At the end, I asked to have apicture of four of us: L to R, Laura E. (webinars and more), Helen Gregory (new VP for Content), me, and Lauren our camerawoman extraordinaire. Camera dude Nick was taking the photo, and camera dude Garrett had already run off to another “gotta be there” job. Those lights were bright, but sure make things visible and looking good.
I never saw this view, but either Helen or Lauren kindly took this photo for me, which shows the jib camera shot of the table with my project and quilts on it:
The jib/overhead camera view. If you look in the center just above the right corner of the screen view, you can see the overhead camera. Also notice in the backgorund it looks like the quilts are on an angle. They are–that is to offset the perspective angle that happens with the big camera lenses. Fascinating!
Then it was time to go home. Early.
Before I arrived, Colorado hit 80 degrees (F). Wednesday, it SNOWED. When I left the hotel at 3:58 a.m. for the shuttle to the Denver Airport, it looked like this! Then by today it was supposed to be back in the 60s–that’s more insane than our weather!
I’ll spare you the tedium of a crowded plane from Denver to Philadelphia, a smaller more crowded plane from Philly to Boston, the utter hopelessness of Logan Airport (UGH UGH UGH), but flying home on Cape Air is always fun. As we approach the mid-coast, first I’ll spot the Camden Hills:
There are two landmarks visible from the sky from a distance. I was in the seat behind the co-pilot’s seat (which is usually filled with a passenger). The first are the Camden Hills: Battie, Megunticcok, Maidencliff.
Then
The second landmark is the big white tower at Dragon Cement, visible dead ahead in the middle of this photo. I realized on this trip how massively huge the quarry is for this company.
As you near Dragon Cement, we turn right and head for Owl’s Head (Knox County, RKD) airport. The lights of home!
LOVE being able to snap out all windows of these small planes. Landing strip is visible just to the right of the bar up the center of the windshield.
Travel was the usual crowded insanity and waiting, but I was home 16 hours later to son, hubby, cats and dog. Two of the seven are here:
Doggie love is GOOD!
In the past month, I’ve not only prepped this, but THREE articles (more on them when they are close to being published), have a quilt to make in a week, another article to write, then teaching in North Carolina in June and southern California in July, then a quilt to make by August 5. Then I can collapse a few weeks before school begins (how will Eli be a SOPHOMORE already?) and fall teaching in Massachusetts and at International Quilt Festival in Houston. So I HOPE to blog more often, but at this rate can’t promise. I have so much to catch you all up on, pictures from teaching in Florida, Vermont, and Mass….but must be mom, wife, and author first. Stay tuned!
Someone from one of the Janome yahoo lists that I am on asked me a great question, and since my answer was detailed, I thought maybe it might help others so I decided to post it here. Apologies in advance for the length. Here’s the incoming (shortened) inquiry followed by my reply. Bottom line, I am THRILLED with the Janome machines I have had the fortune to use since 2004: each new version just keeps getting better and better. They have been utterly dependable with great stitch quality and all the features I need most. What you need to do is figure out what YOU need, then find the machine that best meets those needs. There is no such thing as the one and only perfect machine–just what is best for you.
Here’ s Gandalf, “my” new Janome 8900. He replaces Rubeus Hagrid, the brilliant Janome 7700. I must say, I DO miss that ruby red, but I think the changes on this machine make it even better (hard to fathom!) than the 7700. As always, thanks to Janome America for their support since 2004! (And that odd black thing hanging on the machine’s harp is a Martelli quilting ring…go back a couple of posts for more information.)
Hi Sarah,
I’m sorry to bother you. ….! I hope to retire within the next four years and dedicate more time to sewing/quilting. In the meantime though, I would like to invest in a very nice sewing machine. I currently sew with an XXXX . I am curious in your opinion of which brand I should buy. Thanks for your time. (Note: she specifically asked about Bernina and Janome machines, hence the brands in my reply which follows.) Signed, XXX
Dear XXX:
That’s a decision you’ll have to make, alas. Berninas are brilliant machines, at a very high price. Some of the machines (all brands) have become–for me anyway–too complicated! I like having the computerized machine, but there is a point where you need a Master’s in Computer Science to navigate all of it. Just too much…and sometimes too finicky. Where the line is depends on the individual user.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: figure out what you need and will use. When we built a house in 1997-8, our builder told us to list Need, Want, Wish. All items on the “need” list should be in the house, a number of the wants, and even a wish or two. For example, we needed three bedrooms, a kitchen, and two baths. We wanted an extra half-bath and a studio space for me. That sort of thing. So sit down and list what you need on a sewing machine. For me, the list would be something like this:
Bernina machines I sometimes say are all the quality at double the cost. Janome gives outstanding value for the price: what you can get on a 7700 or 8900 would *easily* cost $2-3000 (yes thousands) more in another brand, and the other brands might not be as reliable. Bernina has the best presser foot system (changing, quality of manufacture) in the industry bar none–but their feet are expensive. So buy a sturdy metal foot for $40? Or buy a Janome foot that does the same thing for $10 then replace it in a decade if/when it wears out? So far, I’ve not had a single Janome foot die from over-use, and I use my machine a lot.
Once you’ve figured out WHAT you need, then figure out what simple set of things will allow you to test different machines. When I bought a machine in 1996 just before leaving the rat race (and the nice salary), I took a quilt sandwich to each dealer and tried different things on it, writing my notes on the white cloth. If you make garments and buttonholes, take some stabilizer and cloth similar to what you would use and test-drive the buttonholes. Put notes right on the cloth (or safety pin or staple paper to the sample) to remind you what you thought as you made it: was the process easy/intuitive? Convoluted?
Repeat this process at each dealer/brand/machine. Then think about it. And don’t forget that a top dealer with good, courteous, prompt customer service is worth their weight in gold!
A couple years ago, when the Bernina 830 came out, I test drove it and frankly, it was amazing, but so far beyond my budget… so I applied to be in the Bernina teacher program despite misgivings because Janome has been SO good to me. Bernina never really answered. And since then I’ve heard some grumbling about the 830 being TOO complicated and finicky but don’t know if that is operator error or what–there are always people who grumble.
I LOVE that the Janomes are so dependable, take any thread you put on them and sew well, etc. And the price–even if I were paying full retail–is a fraction of the Bernina, Viking, etc. Not sure about BabyLock as I have never lived anywhere that had a BL dealer, so have no experience with them at all. And since that time, Janome came out with the 7700 which was pretty close to being my dream machine, and I’m thinking that the 8900 is even better (except I wish it still had that ruby red instead of the silver-gray!).
BOTTOM LINE: I’m really glad Bernina didn’t offer me the opportunity to try their machines on a teacher loan program. Since then the 7700 has come out and now the 8900, and they are simply FABULOUS machines. I’m definitely a Janome girl!
As for Top of the Line versus better but not most expensive in a given brand , last summer when teaching at Vermont Quilt Festival, one of the muckety mucks from Janome ended up sitting in my classroom for an hour or so at lunch. I had opted to stay and teach through lunch, and they needed someone in the class and were able to accommodate my desire to keep the classroom open. Well, he must have liked what I was teaching and how, because he offered to have Janome lend me a 12000 that I could take home from the show!!!! So I went down to test-drive it. Answer: brilliant machine, thank you SO MUCH for the generous offer, but not for me. It didn’t have the two feet I use most: open toe accu-feed, and circular free-motion foot (the one in the convertible set). [Note: I’ve heard that the open toe accu-feed will be out this month, and there is now a free-motion foot that would meet my needs that fits on the 12000.] That ruled the machine out right there. Plus, to change tension you had to go through several screens on the computer. I don’t like computer interface stuff–there’s nothing wrong with it, I just vastly prefer the simplicity and ease of turning a dial or knob like you can on the 6600, 7700 and 8900! It’s one of those “what’s your favorite flavor of ice cream things.” So I thanked the Janome honcho, said it was a fabulous machine but wasn’t the best machine for me. The embroidery capabilities would be wasted on me…. I’d rather wait until whatever was going to replace the 7700 came along—and that I hoped it had the visibility around the presser foot of the 12000 on the 7700 body. Well, guess what the 8900 is? Exactly that! So I think I’m going to be very happy with this machine. It’s a matter of figuring out what YOU need and will work for you, then comparing the machines/brands/models until you find the best fit.
Hope this VERY long reply helps, and think I’ll post it to the groups, too, as others may have the same question! Thank you for asking!
Cheers, Sarah
Author of bestseller ThreadWork Unraveled
website: https://www.sarahannsmith.com
blog: https://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog
e-mail: sarah@…………
PS: Someone asked about the knob/dial on the 7700 and 8900: it is actually a dial that you see when you flip up the lid on the top of the machine. If you think of the dial like a tire, the “tread” shows on the top curve of the dial. Just above and to the right of the take-up lever area (which is that gray stripe up the front left of the machine) is where the dial is located. It is a manual adjustment and easy pease: see, do!
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