Grey and purple quilt started

So, I’ve finally started a new quilt project. I’m still sewing up a storm making some new clothes for myself, but the quilting fabric I stashed nearly a year ago has been calling my name. Not really feeling these colours anymore since I bought them, so I was a little pushed for inspiration.

However, before we get started, I must introduce you to the newest member of the crafting team…. Georgina the Janome!

My old Janome was a fully mechanical one, which I have almost 15 years. It’s still a good solid machine, but had a few limitations, most notably in size and control. I had been shopping around for an extension table to try to help with quilting on it, however they were a minimum of $100, heading upwards very quickly. So I thought about maybe getting a second-hand machine. One that’s been well looked after, recently serviced, and will get me through this awkward teenage phase of my sewing – when I’ve outgrown my kiddie machine, but I’m still not sure I want to invest two or three thousand in a grown up machine.

Enter George. She was a trade-in at a Bernina shop. A Janome 6500 Professional, she came with walking foot, quarter-inch foot, AND her very own extension table. The shop owner lost her knee lift, so he gave me a $50 discount and I’m sure I can buy one as a spare part. As an added bonus, I now have a free motion quilting foot and can give that a try on my next project if I’m feeling particularly adventurous! She was fully serviced and is ready to go!

Because she’s a Janome I was immediately comfortable threading her, changing feet etc. The digital display and buttons are taking a bit of learning, but I have the manual and infinite patience! Although I had to do a bit of shuffling to make both machines fit comfortably on my sewing table, as George is a bit bigger than my old machine.

Her only drawbacks are her lack of free-arm, which I will probably miss, and her lack of inbuilt “even feed” which the next model up started with. Hence my dreams to update her in a couple of years once I’m sure that’s what I want to do.

So, we have been getting to know each other over some gentle quilting.

Starting with this assortment of mostly fat quarters, I added some more, and then cut them into angled strips.

And more strips…. and more strips!!

The plan is for a wonky log cabin, each block trimmed down to 12.5″ square. The final round of logs on each block will be this fabric….

Because it’s quite light in comparison to the others, my vision is for it to make a fake sashing around each block, and to unify the different strips and angles within the different blocks. The lines of stems and leaves will give even more dimension to this sashing.

So far, the stitching is going like a dream. I’m still learning all her quirks, but I’ll definitely be enjoying my patchwork more using a machine that doesn’t pull and fight me every step of the way! The way we are whizzing through the first seams, there will be a quilt update very soon!

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