Who knew that upgrading your sewing machine would lead to an amazing opportunity - and push me out of my comfort zone to try something new!

Let me explain further……. Last November I started looking into upgrading my Janome sewing machine. I knew I wanted to keep with Janome and being a quilter, I had a good idea which ones I liked, but couldn’t quite rule one out from another. So I contacted Janome directly and asked them for their advice. They were incredibly helpful and suggested one that I had already bench marked - and was eventually the one I chose, the Janome Atelier 3.

During my conversations with Janome, they had mentioned they were launching a new incentive to encourage people to quilt, ‘The Big Janome Skill Share’ and asked if I would be interested in becoming a mentor and entering the competition, all I had to do was to find someone to teach to quilt!

My first reaction to becoming a mentor was ‘ I can’t, I’m not good enough!” but I had a sudden change of heart and thought I’d just go for it and ask my followers on Instagram if any of them would like me to teach them to quilt - no harm in trying is there! (gulp!)

Now, one thing I will mention at this point of time is I don’t do very many talky stories on Instagram - but I wanted to really push myself out of my comfort zone and I knew I needed to ask face to face and not just in text that could be swiped past!

So on November 27th 2020, I did it! I put my face on camera and asked my followers if there was anyone who would like me to teach them how to quilt! I felt exposed and a fraud and so nervous, but then the following morning I received a message from Zoe:

I was so happy to have a response, but what came next made it even more special! The next paragraph is Zoe’s side of the story:

Zoe’s Story:

May 2020, the month I will never forget. I gave birth to my second baby daughter, Frankie, and exactly two weeks later my beautiful Mum lost her battle with ovarian cancer. Not to mention all these life events in the middle of a global pandemic. On one of my Mums last days, she handed me an envelope of cash, and told me to buy a sewing machine. 

Despite having studied at London College of Fashion (I graduated with a business degree), my sewing skills were limited to a couple of years of textile studies at school. So, following my Mums dying wish, I bought myself a machine and slowly started to familiarise myself making some simple items – bunting, drawstring bags, and an attempt at a dress for my eldest daughter. By November, I was ready to take on something a bit weightier, and decided I wanted to make a quilt. To my knowledge my Mum never made a quilt, but she did love them. Through some in-depth Instagram browsing, I came across Made Just Sew, instantly fell in love with the designs and purchased one of her patterns. I don’t own a printer, therefore asked my Dad to print the pattern for me. When it arrived in the post a few days later there was a note attached ‘Looks complicated to me xxx’. I had to agree, who was I kidding, I wasn’t skilled enough for this! So, when only a couple of weeks later – Claire (Made Just Sew) mentioned on her Instagram stories that she was looking to mentor someone for The Big Janome Skill Share, I had to apply. A few Instagram messages later and I couldn’t believe my luck when Claire chose me.

My Mum was very creative and a talented artist. I’m sure she’ll be watching over me as I sew and calming me when I make mistakes and get frustrated, which let’s face it is bound to happen. Sometimes the stars align – and something magical happens, and I feel honoured to be mentored by Claire.

I feel like I have honestly struck gold with Zoe. She is the loveliest person and even though we have only ever met via the power of Face-Time, I feel like I have already made a friend for life. Her story is so moving, and I feel so honoured to be the person to guide her through making her first quilt.

We try and face-time every weekend to catch up (have a good chat too) and make a plan for the week ahead. What we didn't plan for back in November was to be in another Lockdown situation, but we are working around it and making great progress.

We can’t wait to share more of our Big Janome Skill-Share journey with you all. We hope you all enjoyed part one - where we started!