Pictured from left to right: Kathi Slee, QLD Sales Educator, Melissa Wilkes, Sales Educator, and Peter Kross.

During our recent trip to Bribane and Surfer’s Paradise in Queensland, we had the wonderful experience to meet some terrific new friends! Kent and I were invited by Peter Kross, Janome QLD State Manager, to visit the Janome headquarters in Brisbane and we were incredibly honored! We spent a few hours with Peter and his amazing team, and they were gracious and so very generous with their time (and some amazing Janome swag, that I plan to gift forward to some Janome-America ...

I felt antsy. Nothing has peaked my interest or seemed really fun to work on lately. Has that ever happened to you? Oh sure…..I have lots of projects-in-progress (in the quilting world, we call those UFO’s — or unfinished objects.) But I was really looking for a challenge. 

with Danielle Ross

Before I moved to Australia a few months ago, my friend, Danielle, and I had cut out all the bits and pieces to create a Tumbleweed Toiletry Tote from Blue Calla Patterns with the intention of making it into a hobby or sewing tote. (You can read about ...

Cheeto popping in to say hello!

It’s been awhile since my last post so I thought I’d take time to share some photos and provide an update. Let’s start with some new quilted wall art I made:

Last Christmas, Kent sent me four aboriginal-inspired fabric art panels he found here in town. At first I wasn’t sure how to use them but I quickly decided to hand embroider blocks of Australian animals I might meet on our travels using variegated floss. I used Solid-ish fabric strips to sash the blocks to the panels. I just love ...

The 2022 BOM Blitz II quilt-along has begun!

This is a FREE program and if you follow along, you’ll have the quilt top finished by early December! I hope you’ll join me on this fun-filled, skill building journey. It’s absolutely not too late to join, and you can work in the comfort of your own sewing space — at your own pace — while I walk you through construction process, step by step!

What you’ll need:

The supplies you need are simple. You’ll need 3 yards of one background fabric (includes the binding), one Jelly Roll with ...

Sometimes we have to put our quilting or crafting on hold while we deal with a big life event or situation. Because we have been moving into a new-to-us home here in Australia — all while scheduling work to be done (electrical, painting, new cabinets, plumbing, etc.), I haven’t had the opportunity to sew anything quilting related in the past six weeks. For me, that’s a long stretch of time without fiber therapy!

Creating is better with a bestie.

However, I did have a wonderful “last creative fling” with a dear friend just before I flew to Australia in ...

A quick selfie with Danielle (c) and Anne (r) to kick off our “Janome Girls’ Sewing Retreat!”

Last week, I experienced the restorative power of friendship and laughter with two dear friends who came for a sewing retreat here in my mountain studio. Words are simply inadequate to express how much this gift of time and the safe space to open up, be silly, creative, and truly authentic meant to me. We talked, we laughed, we sewed, and we visited the quilt show, Road2CA for a day in nearby Ontario, CA. 

In the booth at Road2CA, Sam Fung showed off ...

Several months ago, I was invited to participate in an incredible effort to honor and support a very deserving veteran and his family by the television show, Military Makeovers, on behalf of Janome-America. Due to contractual obligations, I wasn’t allowed to share anything publicly until after the episode aired but now that it has been featured on network television, I can share the behind-the-scenes story and some photos with you all! 

Daniel Burgess, his wife, Genette, and their two daughters were the recipients of a complete home makeover by Military Makeovers, hosted by Montel Williams. Dan was severely injured ...

UPDATE: CLICK HERE to watch MY FAVORITE THINGS!

I’m personally inviting you to join me for a FUN FRIDAY FACEBOOK LIVE event this Friday, March 19th at 3pm ET (noon Pacific) for something just a little different. 

There are so many new Janome Continental M7 owners — and many more considering making this absolutely amazing machine part of their sewing studios — that I thought it would be informative and helpful to share my most favorite presser feet and accessories with you! I’ve put together a FREE list of all these items, complete with the correct part numbers and some ...

Janome is celebrating their 100th Anniversary and in honor of this very special year, they commissioned this beautiful cotton fabric! So, to celebrate this most special occasion, I’m in the process of making some wonderful things for my studio using this special print! If you love this as much as I do, be sure to stop by (or contact) your local Janome dealer to get YOUR own yardage because when it’s gone, it’s GONE!

Last autumn I created a fun, FREE, easy little pattern called Holiday Star. I created holiday-themed quilts with this pattern so I could ...

Snowflake Stars by Kimberly Einmo. Quilted by Birgit Schueller

I was privileged to virtually teach an enthusiastic group of quilters this past Saturday on the ZOOM platform. It was an amazing day with so much learning, sharing and interacting across the miles!

There were attendees from all across the USA, including two students joining from Alaska, one from Tenerife, and one from Ireland! There were two sisters in attendance who live over 2000 miles away from each other who took the class to spend time quilting together — all without having to leave their respective homes. There was a sweet young ...

Cheeto has a very BIG announcement!

Cheeto and I are thrilled to tell you my Pineapple Punch pattern is available for sale as a downloadable file on my website. There have been so many requests for this pattern, I’m tickled to know so many people love this fresh, cheerful quilt as much as I do! 

I used a variety of fabrics from my stash to make this quilt. But the majority of fabrics are from my Solid-ish line by Timeless Treasures. Due to popular request, I have created a very limited number of fat quarter bundles of 15 of ...

This is so cool, I just had to share. I’ve been blessed with honors and wonderful things which have happened to me throughout the years. But this most recent event might be one of the coolest things yet! 

Cheeto and I have been made into a cartoon! 

Yep…the good folks at Janome made a cute little cartoon for their digital and social media presence and they modeled the character after yours truly and Janome Cat, Cheeto! 

Granted, the clip is only a quick fifteen-second video ...

I hinted I had a new quilt in the works back in February. As I pieced the blocks, I posted a few sneak peeks.

After I finished the quilt top, I shared a picture of it in my rearranged studio during the early weeks of the pandemic. 

Then I sent the quilt top to my very talented friend, Birgit Schuller, and she frosted it with her exquisite machine quilting! It was wonderful to work with her again on a quilt (thank you so much, Birgit!) When I received the quilt back from her, I was thrilled; but I still needed ...

I have wanted to write a complete and thorough review about Janome’s newest sewing machine, the Continental M7, for many months. I was first introduced to this machine before the official launch during the summer of 2019 and then a new M7 arrived in my studio last November. I’m glad I waited to formulate my thoughts and put them in writing until now for many reasons. The main reason is that while I’ve been at home during the pandemic, I’ve had large chunks of uninterrupted time to dive deep and really get to explore and learn ...

UPDATE! If you missed the Facebook LIVE event today, you can watch the video by CLICKING HERE. 

Have you been following along on the Facebook Janome Sewing Machines and Janome Sewing Classroom pages? If not, you’re missing out on so many fabulous FREE classes and tutorials! Since early April, when stay at home orders were issued for most of the US, the talented Janome educators and I have been producing LIVE events to share tricks, tips and tons of techniques to help you learn to use your Janome machines and all the amazing features and presser feet which ...

Many of you have been following along on the Janome Facebook pages these past several months where the talented Janome educators and I have been presenting LIVE events, demos, tutorials and classes. If you haven’t been watching, well…..oh my goodness — what are you waiting for? Since the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve collectively created a supportive and encouraging community of sewing enthusiasts (whether or not they are Janome machine owners) from all walks of life and around the globe which is now almost 100k strong! This feat alone has taken dedication and forward thinking. No ...

The definition of cogitate is: “To think deeply about something; meditate or reflect.” 
I’ve been cogitating.

It’s hard to believe the last time I wrote a blog post was in May. The Covid-19 pandemic, turmoil, social unrest, and changes in our world have been truly mind-boggling in the past several months. I must admit, I’ve had to really take time (all while working harder than ever at home to meet deadlines and commitments) to really look inward and think about many things. I’ve challenged myself to examine old beliefs in new ways with a fresh perspective ...

The Southern Pacific Dogwoods which bloom in Lake Arrowhead in spring are spectacular!

Blooms larger than your hand!

How are you doing through this COVID-19 event? I pray you and your loved ones are healthy and well. If you have been affected by this terrible pandemic, I pray things improve quickly and you’re back to feeling as right as rain very soon.

As for me, I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed. Several months have gone by in a flash. But it didn’t start out this way. While we were lucky to return from an ...

Have you been tuning into Facebook every day at 3pm to see the LIVE events being hosted by Janome? The talented educators and I have been sharing our favorite features, tips, tricks and all kinds of exciting and fun things every day, Monday – Friday.  

My next event is this coming Monday, April 20th and I’d love for you to join me. You can find these LIVE events on the Janome Sewing Machines page on Facebook.  This Monday, I’m inviting you into my studio to show you all about the awesome Accuspark app, plus I’ll review many 1 ...

I’ve been in the planning process for this Facebook Live event for a couple of weeks. While I love teaching classes or sharing tips and techniques on camera, going LIVE brought with it a whole different set of things for which to plan and prepare. And I was quite nervous leading up to the event. But once we got started, it was truly so much fun and I loved the interaction with all of you watching from across the country and around the world!

Janome initiated these Facebook LIVE events last week. They will appear on Facebook every Monday ...