{"id":1909,"date":"2015-07-13T20:09:18","date_gmt":"2015-07-14T00:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.gretchenschaefer.com\/?p=1909"},"modified":"2015-07-13T20:09:18","modified_gmt":"2015-07-14T00:09:18","slug":"sewing-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.gretchenschaefer.com\/?p=1909","title":{"rendered":"Sewing update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the winter, I did even more sewing, and in the late fall, I decided that a new machine would be a great way to mark my 40th birthday, in July. I had researched several machines, and had decided initially on a Juki F600, because it met all the requirements I was looking for (I had a spreadsheet. Of course<\/a>.) but then I tried a Viking at the local dealer, which is inside a Joann Fabrics, and that was pretty nice – and I would not be able to test drive the Juki, but just go on what the internet reviews said. I had looked at Janomes, but their basic models were too basic, and their next step up was a giant leap up and too much machine and way out of my price range. BUT THEN. Janome introduced a new machine in late fall, that seemed exactly what I wanted. My $150 Brother had served me well as I learned, but I also knew exactly what I wanted in my next machine – a bigger harp space, better lighting, thread cutters, and a knee lift (or other hands free ability). I also wanted it to be solid and sturdy, and quiet – my Brother was prone to having to be chased across the table when I worked on bigger projects, and that could get annoying.<\/p>\n

I loved the hover foot on the Viking, but dealer reviews left me a little leery. Janome had a fantastic dealer at the Fabric Garden<\/a>, a LQS that was on my way to the mountain, so a place I passed and stopped at pretty often , and they were always a great place to visit, and after a couple of missed opportunities, in February I FINALLY got time to stop in and test drive the Skyline S5<\/a>. It was exactly what I wanted, in all ways. I went to the mountain and told my parents, and Dave, that all I wanted for the next few occasions were gift cards to the Fabric Garden, so that I could buy the Skyline. I was sold.<\/p>\n

Later in February, less than a week later, actually, an email came through from Janome about a contest – I read the details: submit a picture, unlimited entries, winner chosen from a random drawing. It sounds a little woo, but I read that and had a feeling wash over me of “I am going to win this.” I immediately found one of my pictures on Flickr and uploaded, and shared the contest with my sewing group. I decided I’d make an entry for each day. The contest ended March 31, and I missed some days in the middle, so I did a big push at the end, but in the end I think I had posted 35 pictures. It seemed like the other entrants thought it was a ‘get the most likes\/comments\/shares’ contest, but it wasn’t – the terms and conditions clearly said it was a random drawing, with unlimited entries, so odds are better when you enter more. The terms also said that the winner would be notified by 10 am on April 1.<\/p>\n

All month as I took pictures, Ingrid was excited to help, and she knew that I was entering a contest, and on the morning of April 1, when I left for work she knew that was the day of the drawing and she was very excited, gave me a big hug and said “I’m crossing EVERYTHING hoping you win!!” I went to work, and watched the clock. 10 am came…. and went. Oh well, I figured, there were still 85% OTHER entries, so I did what I could, and would keep entering contests if they showed up. And then, at 10:06, an email popped into my inbox. Subject: Congratulations on winning a Janome Skyline S5 Sewing Machine!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"IMG_4432\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was floored. I went back to that day I first entered, and how I’d just had this sense that this was going to be mine, and couldn’t believe I was RIGHT! A flurry of emails, and the machine was backordered from the company, so I FINALLY managed to get it on April 24…. from the Fabric Garden! Not only did I win the exact machine I wanted, I was able to get it from the exact dealer I wanted, so I get those dealer benefits, too. Kala and her staff there were so great, and almost as excited as I was that I won. We took photos for the company<\/a>, and I got a lesson and bought some accessories, and since it was the month of the Maine Quilt Shop Hop, Ingrid and I spent the rest of the day driving through Maine to get our stamps and spend the day together. She inherited my old machine, which was just as exciting for her.<\/p>\n

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\"IMG_4443\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fall is when I usually get the sewing itch, but with the new machine I have been trying to scratch it earlier. The very first thing I made was a weighted blanket for Willa – we had picked out the material on March 31, HOURS before being notified I’d won, and once I knew my dream machine was on its way, I couldn’t bear to use my old one, so she got her birthday blanket almost a month late. It was a simple project to start with, but also a good one to start with, because I found that when I accidentally hit a bead, the machine just basically stopped feeding until I noticed, and cleared the bead, and then it would go on. No loud noises or error codes or broken needles, just a “hey there, something in the road, mind checking it out for me?” pause in the action.<\/p>\n

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When Willa’s dance pants needed to be hemmed (by a LOT), the Skyline handled the stretchy lycra with no problems. And I made my first Hour Basket, and the thick seams didn’t slow down the Skyline for a second. I LOVE this machine.<\/p>\n

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\"IMG_5286\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the things I felt bad about was that by my winning a machine, the Fabric Garden ‘lost’ an actual sale – but the week after I got my machine, I took it to my sewing group and a week after THAT, a member of the group went to the Fabric Garden and bought one for herself!<\/p>\n

I plan on doing a full review (and comparison to my Brother, which was a great machine to learn on) but I also wanted to get the story of winning my machine written down. I know that so many contest winners smile for the pictures and then turn around to sell their prize for money, which is fine, but this was a prize I REALLY wanted, and am so thrilled to have received.<\/p>\n

Janome has hit the sweet spot for a sewist like me – someone who has learned some, but wants to go farther, with a quality machine. Before the Skyline, there was a big gap between the 4160 and the Horizons, and this machine bridges that gap PERFECTLY. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to go a little farther with their sewing – the convenience features mean I spend more time sewing and less time doing maintenance, and that is just amazing to me – I feel so lucky to have won.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the winter, I did even more sewing, and in the late fall, I decided that a new machine would be a great way to mark my 40th birthday, in July. I had researched several machines, and had decided initially on a Juki F600, because it met all the requirements I was looking for (I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-1909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-sewing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.gretchenschaefer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.gretchenschaefer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.gretchenschaefer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.gretchenschaefer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.gretchenschaefer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1909"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.gretchenschaefer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1919,"href":"http:\/\/blog.gretchenschaefer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1909\/revisions\/1919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.gretchenschaefer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.gretchenschaefer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.gretchenschaefer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}