Lone Stars & Janome…my favorite things!

Last week, I found out that Janome was sending me a couple of yards of their new anniversary fabric to make a project. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was to be one of only a handful to first get this gorgeous fabric by Benartex in their hands. Now what was I going to do with it to showcase just how gorgeous, and exciting, this line of fabric would be?

So let me give you the countdown on how I got from “you’re getting fabric” to “here’s the finished project” in less than a week. Yep you heard me, less than a week, and all original! Knowing that the fabric was coming, I immediately went into design mode. I design all my quilts in Electric Quilt 8 (EQ8) and this was certainly no exception. My main goal was trying to find a way to showcase not only this fabric, but also part of me and what I love. I spent 1 1/2 days just working and reworking a design until I had it just where I wanted it to be. Finally, I had what I felt was the perfect Lone Star that would look stunning, and I’d still be able to meet my timeline to have this debuted this week. I mean, why shouldn’t this Texan make a Lone Star happen with gorgeous fabric.

Step two is the test out. Of course I wasn’t going to cut into that beautiful fabric until I knew the design worked. So, I ran a test using Aged Muslin by Marcus Fabrics. I happen to love the look of this line, it’s great to work with because it starches up nicely, and the vintage look is great too! In 1 day I had it cut, and pieced together. Yes the design is that easy, actually it is very much of a beginner friendly design!

Now that I knew the design would work, and just how to lay it out and make it happen, I finally cut into the anniversary fabric. Can we talk about nerves suddenly…like “what if I cut anything wrong will I have enough to fix it”. I swear the quilting friends from afar must have been watching over my shoulder to make sure it all cut right. The only one I ever had to recut was a white fabric when I cut it too small by accident! Want to know the craziest part, all the other fabric came from my stash. I found the red ombre style fabric hiding in my “reds” pile. I have no clue when I bought it, how long I’ve had it, but I guess I was waiting on the perfect project for it. This would be that perfect project!

Since I taught a class on Saturday, I cut and pieced it fully on Sunday. First thing Monday morning I was up and began the quilting stage. This piece was done all in ruler work and free motion quilting. It’s my preferred method, and I’m faster at it than anything else, so that’s the route I chose. Now, throw in a mix of the kids, doctors appointments, errands, Christmas shopping, and farm life…and somehow I got it knocked out and up to look at by 3pm on Wednesday. Yes I did sleep, though there may have been a night or two I didn’t sleep well because I was seriously worried about what this would all turn out looking like. It’s one thing to have it on paper, it’s another to see it in front of you.

But, I did it, I knocked out this whole project in 1 week. I am absolutely honored and humbled to be chosen to make a project with this gorgeous fabric. I’m even more proud that every step of the way it was in my hands, start to finish, from design idea to hanging on the wall. It was tough to keep quiet and under wraps, but I wanted to make sure it was perfect before it went out there.

Now the important details…where can you get your hands on this 100th Anniversary fabric? Contact your local Janome dealer. It should be available for them to order and then it can be in your hands. I would love to see whatever design you come up with, from masks, to bags, to aprons, quilts, whatever! Just enjoy what you do and have fun with it!

Also…a huge CONGRATS to Janome on celebrating 100 years in 2021. I feel absolutely blessed to be part of this team of incredible people! The machines speak for themselves in terms of quality. It’s the quality of the people that make me proud to be part of this all!

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