Zoe:

What held you back until now?

Lack of confidence! And get started. Introducing myself to Claire (via Instagram) and hearing about The Big Janome Skillshare, gave me the extra push I needed to get me over the line. I have already asked Claire so many ridiculous questions, which looking back on will probably be hilarious – but all part of the learning process. In fact, only this week – I asked her if there was a trick to cutting squares from a big piece of fabric. She kindly made me a short video – so that I could see the way she does this, which made perfect sense. Even seeing the way she used the quilting ruler – gave me the lightbulb moment of realising how incorrectly I’d been using it.

Time of course was always another factor, yet funnily enough, now I realise – that was just an excuse. I can always find the time, even if it’s just grabbing 10mins here and there whilst my youngest daughter has a nap.

It’s a real shame that Claire and I are not able sew together in person (at the moment), however, what a fantastic opportunity for me – that Claire is able to guide me via video calls and WhatsApp.

The pandemic has shown us, that there are new ways of working.

Claire:

With the quilt pattern and fabrics chosen, the real fun could begin! First thing was to check that Zoe had everything she needed to make this as effortless as possible!

At the time that we both sat down to actually start work on the quilt we were both at home with two young children in our third Lockdown during the pandemic. The overwhelm was real and I knew it was a real possibility that this may never get finished in time so the one thing I kept repeating to Zoe was that it was OK if we didn’t get this finished in time. The last thing I ever wanted to do was make this a miserable experience that Zoe would never want to make a quilt again!

Zoe:

How are you keeping motivated with your quilt project?

Some weeks really have been a lot harder than others. As my youngest daughter gets older, she has become more demanding of my time and has far more ‘awake’ hours. With lockdown, I feel that we somehow should have more time but life still goes on and there’s always the day to day. I think both Claire and I were feeling that we had been letting each other down by not being as present with the project – however, after a few messages we realised this was not the case, life had just got in the way! Claire pulled together a plan & timetable, which I think put us both back on track. It would feel silly to have got this far and not complete in time to enter the competition.

The Retro Metro quilt is made up of 2 different blocks; the Birds in the Air block and the Roman Stripe block. The first block we were going to tackle were the Birds in the Air block which meant we were tackling half-square-triangles (HSTs)! And this pattern was going to show Zoe how to make her HSTs using three different methods……… the videos I had started making came in handy!

It felt like a massive achievement at this point. Half of the blocks for the quilt were made! On to the Roman Stripes - which are much quicker. This quilt was going to be made in no time!………. or so we thought!

Apart from struggling to find time with a young family and injuring lockdown, as first quilts go, this was going really smoothly - until we had our first hick-up! We have all been there, in this moment when you feel so chuffed with yourself for getting so far and then you realise you’ve done something so silly and not just to one block, but to all of them!

As a mentor this was so hard for me to be so far away and not there in person, I could feel Zoe’s frustration. It was an easy mistake to fix, the seam-ripper came out and the background square on each block was carefully removed.

So now all the blocks were made! Time to construct the quilt top - we could both feel the end was near and it was so good to see Zoe enjoying the process and seeing the pattern come to life.

For most quilt patterns you get to this part of the pattern where you have made your quilt top and that’s it - not many quilt patterns tell you how to baste your quilt or even how to quilt your quilt and it is the most daunting part. Especially when it is your first quilt, you have put your heart and soul into it and the thought of going wrong now is over whelming.

I am a spray baster - so this is the technique I showed Zoe. For a first quilt this is was also a big size but she did an amazing job. I had recently upgraded my own Janome sewing machine and had a spare walking foot so posted that down (with a bar of chocolate!) down for Zoe to use. I also recommended either using washing up gloves or investing in a pair of quilting gloves - Zoe did one better and found a pair of kid gardening gloves that fit her hands perfectly!

I am a huge fan of simple walking foot quilting. It can be so effective and I personally thing is a great introduction into quilting. Zoe had marked her lines and started to quilt parallel lines across the quilt.

This is the first time Zoe had changed a needle, never mind changed the foot to a walking foot and she dove right in and did an incredible job!

This was the first time Zoe had used a walking foot or even quilted a quilt so she started with parallel line 4 inches apart and then took a step back and decided if it needed more - she went with alternative gaps as it complimented the quilt design the best.

The last task ……… binding! The job you think will take a few hours and always ends up being days! I knew that Zoe would be fine machine sewing the binding to the front and even handling mitered corners - but I knew joining the ends may be tricky - it took me years to finally master the art!

I quickly jumped on to FaceTime with Zoe and we did it together and she did it PERFECTLY! The amount of times I still do this myself wrong and have to unstitch and Zoe did it first time!

We were almost there and within days of the competition deadline, all that was left was to iron the binding over (which makes the whole hand sewing part so much easier) and hand stitch the binding to the back. Although this is a longer process than machine stitching it is my preferred way and I knew this was a quilt Zoe wanted for the family and I wanted her to have the best finish.

and then just Like that, the quilt was finished!

Zoe:

I couldn’t had done it without you (tell us about your skill share partner)

Claire has been an amazing mentor (and newfound friend!). She has been creating short ‘how to’ videos as we go along which I have found super helpful. She is patient with my basic questions as well as being supportive and encouraging. On a personal level, despite having never met in person, we seem to be able to communicate openly and honestly. I know she’s found lockdown challenging, with the juggle of home-schooling and her own work, so I do feel privileged that she’s making the time for me and my quilt.

She has also lent me her spare walking foot – and after a particularly bad day of nothing going right, I was delighted to find a bar of chocolate in the parcel. Best mentor or what?

How does it feel to learn a new skill?

I strongly believe my Mum wanted me to learn a new skill as she felt the creative outlet and focus would help with my grief and it has. I have loved the process of learning to quilt, and I’ve already decided on the next pattern I’d like to attempt. I’m certainly not always the most patient and I got very upset and frustrated when I realised, I had sewn the seam on the wrong side of all my Roman Stripe blocks. Being time poor, I felt most angry that I had lost so much time making this silly mistake. But then seeing the quilt come together, has been so exciting and reminds me why I’m doing all this. I know I’ll be quilting in the future – and I hope Claire will still be at the end of the line to offer me support.

Claire:

So how does it feel to teach someone a new skill? It feels amazing! I literally am bursting with pride. Zoe was brand new to the craft, she hadn’t even changed a needle or knew how to take her presser foot off her machine, so the fact she has made a quilt from a pattern that is not aimed at new beginners is incredible!  I know how challenging this has been for Zoe, and it has felt really frustrating at times not to be able to help her in person when she has struggled, but I hope I have also installed the love of the craft. This experience has taught me so much and it has given me another layer of confidence, maybe I do know a thing or two about quilting after all!

Even though I didn’t know Zoe before this whole experience, I could not imagine ever doing it with anyone else. It really has been a ‘journey’ and let’s face it, all while blindly guiding ourselves through a pretty tough part of the year! I have learnt so much and gained a friend for life – and Zoe has gained a friend and a new quilt – the perfect combination don’t you think?! 

Thank you for taking the time to read about our Big Janome Skill Share story, we hope you have enjoyed it.

The winners are announced at the end of July, possibly at the Festival of Quilts if it goes ahead as planned this year - so if your going, keep an eye out and you never know, you may even see Zoe’s quilt there too!