I Love My Janome 9000 Sewing Machine!

It's true; she is not the most current model of sewing machine. She does not have computer compatibility. She and I share only three memory craft cards. But she is a JEWEL!

Last February I set myself the task of creating a twin-size quilt for each of my seven grandchildren. But they could not be just ordinary nine-blockers, oh no. Each of these great kids is unique and wonderful and their quilts could be nothing less.

I asked both Moms for ideas of special interests and color preferences for each of these kids. Obviously, I got seven quite different responses. Let me give you quick summery of these ideas. My daughter's son, 9 year old Shawn is a staunch Kansas City Chief's fan (a big no brainer for Grandma here.) Her 7 year old daughter, Shaylin, loves dogs. 6 year old Katie loves farms and 4 year old Rachel treasures ballerinas and elephants. OOOKAY.

My daughter-in-law said her 9 year old Kelsey enjoyed music and was taking piano lessons. Her 6 year old Kayla shared a love for dogs with her cousin. Hailey, the one year old, was pretty much a freebie for Grandma to go crazy. Allrighty. Here we go.

Well, I took my list of ideas and sat down before my Janome 9000 and began to think. Where to start? I checked out my quilting magazines and books. I searched the internet for ideas. I looked at all of my fabrics for color, patterns and textures. Finally, I decided to go by age. I started with the oldest, Shawn, and launched my odyssey into quilting.

I won't go into a step-by-step process of this creative journey but let me just briefly share what my Janome 9000 and I have done over the last 10 months. We have appliquéd footballs, football helmets and stars. We have appliquéd Sunbonnet Sues out the "wazoo" (excuse my French). We have appliquéd hearts, flowers, animals of many varieties, houses, trees, clouds and even three little blue birds.

We have embroidered animals, embellished hems, written names and words, and straight stitched miles and miles of straight seams. In all of this my wonderful partner never broke a sweat or tangled a thread. Only once in a while she did demand that her bobbin was getting close to being empty and occasionally I had to change the color of thread.

I am here to tell you we did it. They said it couldn't be done but WE DID IT! All seven quilts are finished, each unique in many ways. I could never have done it without my partner, Janome 9000. She cost a bit more than the average sewing machine but she was worth every penny. Perhaps one day I will upgrade to a newer model of Janome but, I don't know, I kind of like this one.