J’s – Jem, June and Jane

Fellow Quilters,

It’s that time of year again, when my mom and I make a road trip from Canada to her winter home in Florida.  Last year was the first time I did this drive, and in snowy weather through Buffalo (so fun!), and I must say that I am enjoying the drive much more this time around, partly because I am more familiar with the route and also because the weather has been fantastic for a road trip – clear blue skies and warmer temperatures.  Today we drove through NY State, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.  The hilly scenery was delightful!

We have an extra “passenger” onboard – a new addition to my sewing room.  A compact little Janome Jem Platinum is packed in my suitcase, along with 8 packages of fabric, each one a partially cut quilt top – my travel cutting mat is only 12” x 18” instead of the 36” x 68” one in my sewing room, so I did my preliminary cutting at home.  I will be working on the quilts as time permits over the next 2 weeks, and will bring the machine back in my carry-on when I fly home.  It is certainly small enough to fit under my seat in a padded backpack, and weighs only 12lbs.  Have you ever travelled with a sewing machine?  I did a google search to gather travel tips before I decided to travel with my machine.  I am curious to hear any stories, good or bad, or any suggestions that you have.

Somewhere that you DON’T need to bring a machine is Quilt Canada 2016, in Toronto next June 15^th – 18^th. Machines are being provided for the conference, thanks to Janome. I am delighted to be part of the faculty for Quilt Canada, and will be teaching my Simplified Double Wedding Ring class on Thursday June 16, as well as presenting my “Interesting Quilts from Unusual Fabrics” trunk show Friday afternoon.  I am joined by 16 other talented teachers from Canada, and 3 teachers from the US, including Thursday evening’s keynote speaker Jane Sassaman. Sign-up opened last week at http://www.canadianquilter.com/events/quilt-canada-2016.php.  I shall be reviewing the list of classes and lectures in the next couple of days to see if I can squeeze in some “continuing education” when I am not teaching or lecturing.  It’s never too late to teach an old dog some new tricks.

One of the quilt kits that I will be working on while in Florida is a project that I designed exclusively for The Canadian Quilter, the fabulous quarterly magazine of the CQA.  My project will be featured in the Winter issue, coming out next month.  Needless to say, I am SEW thrilled!  It features a really creative way to use STRIP-R’s, Northcott’s fabulous fabric with pre-printed 2” wide strips.  I’ll post a picture in an upcoming blog post.

Time to catch some zzzzz’s – I have another 9-hour drive tomorrow, maybe stopping at a quilt shop or two if I can! Cheers,

Patti