Janome Quilt Binder Set

I have tried out the Janome Quilt Binder Set recently, and I think this might be just the tool I need to get more of my sample quilts, as well as utility quilts bound up in a jiffy! I seem to stall out at the quilt binding stage, but with a little more practice, I'm going to get caught up.

 Now, there are a couple versions of this binding set for different machines. I had one that came with the existing inventory when we bought the shop. It was rather old and the packaging showed it. It's not a cheap tool, so I knew I'd have to play with it if I was going to prove that it was a worthwhile item. I set it aside and there it sat.

When I got it out finally, I discovered it was made for the bigger 7mm stitch width machines like the 6600P, MC7700, 11000, and the like. I didn't have any of those machines in the shop so I tried it on a smaller 7mm machine, the 4120. It fit that machine, but just barely. It was a little hard to maneuver.

But after just one test quilt, I went ahead and ordered the set that would fit on my 15000 and other Janome 8mm stitch width machines, like the 8900, 8200, 9400, etc.

Corners were easier than I expected. However, once I moved to a real quilt, I had trouble lining up the edges of the 1/2 inch binding to get it to stitch down perfectly, all in one pass. I do think trying to work under the small space of the 4120 was partly responsible.

I was able to stitch the entire binding down, including all four corners in 57 minutes! That didn't count for the final joining of ends, and I missed the binding in a few places, but overall, it's definitely worth doing it enough to perfect the technique!

I'll keep you posted on this tool and whether I think it's worth the investment.

Also I am happy to announce that the Ruler Work Upgrade is now available for the Janome 9400. The demand is great and it's getting into an out of stock item quickly. In fact, Janome is sending me a loaner machine so I can shoot videos of the ruler foot in action and it's been put on backorder! If you have the 9400 and want to do ruler work....talk to your dealer asap! Yes, it's totally worth it! The software update will make it impossible to clunk your ruler foot and your needle clamp together. Janome is the only machine on the market with such a foot and feature.

By the way, many of you have asked about the Glide thread that I use for so much of my quilting. I sell it online, but have yet to list it in as many colors as we actually have at Sew Simple of Lynchburg. But I an excited to share that we now carry the Angela Huffman Glide Thread Collection. Ten cones at a great price in a handy storage case. You can order it at Amy's Quilting Adventures.

Janome 9400 Ruler Foot and Upgrade

So many people have been asking me about a ruler foot for the 9400 and I can finally let you know that it's almost ready to launch. Dealers have already gotten this information, so while I can't really tell you all about it until the public launch, I can tell you its on the way and I'll give you full information about it shortly!

Free Motion Quilting Videos and More

Happy weekend everyone! Or likely, I hope you had a happy weekend, by the time you read this. A big box of the thread is on it's way to my thread giveaway winner, Dyan.

I've been working on my websites lately. Yes, sites. Ridiculous really. I have three of them, three email accounts (inbox zero will never happen) and all of the typical social media accounts for all of them. It's enough to make me feel like I have a split personality!

As I work to bring these pieces together, one thing I have stuck to is a single YouTube channel. You can find me there under my own name, Amy Johnson, but for some reason, until recently, I didn't have a link here on the blog to that channel.

Now I do.  See the upper left hand corner of the blog. Ta da!

On my YouTube channel, you will mostly find free motion quilting videos with and without rulers. You will also find videos on machine techniques and other quilting techniques as well. No family stuff, no matter how much my middle school boy begs to use my followers to jump start a YouTubing career. OK, there was that unfortunate time when I didn't realize that I needed to change some settings so that every follower didn't get a notification to every train video I put into a playlist for my little boy. (Which would be that same middle schooler I referenced. Where does the time go?!) Anybody remember that?

I am working on getting some new videos posted there soon and my channel introduction is certainly in need of updating, as well as some of the older videos. But if you never have checked it out beyong the videos I post here on the blog, you might want to check it out.

Be kind. You won't find super polished videos there and some of them are apparently more 'real' than people want to see. I even get some trolls from time to time, including the recent, "What a mess!" comment I received on a video of a workspace I had in my house back in the thick of baby raising. The whole point of the video was to share that you can make space for creativity even in the mess of life, that not all of us have polished studios worthy of an IKEA or Where Women Create spread. OK, it was a bit sarcastic and self deprecating, but it was real.

Some videos show rulers I no longer use, but back when no one else was talking about quilting with rulers, that was what I had. Not sure whether to keep those up as tribute to how things have changed over time or what. But I'm just learning and sharing as I go. That's what life is all about anyway.

Love y'all! Thanks for coming along on my quilting adventures.

Thread Winner

Hello from windy Virginia. I'm keeping this short as the internet has been spotty all day due to the crazy amount of wind we've been having, leaving trees down in a lot of places, and power out for a lot of folks. It was bad enough that the kids were even out of school. Several times I heard the bell that signified we had a customer, only to find that the wind had blown the door open. It even blew over our A-frame style chalkboard that is very heavy!

There were 720 responses to my thread give away and the random number generator chose response #427, which was Dyan. I'll be emailing in the morning from the shop.

I may do another one of these giveaways as I have a bit more thread to re-home, next will be smaller spools.

That's it for now. Wherever you are I hope you are safe, at a comfortable temperature (Gotta hedge there for my followers is other geographical climes.) and getting to do something creative.

BTW, have you joined my new Facebook group? Not just the blog's page, but Amy's Sew Simple Adventures, where I'm pulling together creative quilters from both my blog and my brick and mortar shop to share, encourage, teach and more. I've been doing quite a bit of live video there, including live quilting. It's been fun to connect in real time. Make sure to answer the 3 questions when you ask to join.