When I lived in downtown Toronto, a friend of mine used to joke that his nose would bleed if he had to go north of Bloor Street. Well, he’d need a full-body transfusion if he tagged along with me when I travel with Janome. lol! I’ll go wherever I’m asked to share the Janome love!
Recently, I had the pleasure of driving up to New Liskeard, ON about 7-8 hours north of Toronto – to present our Janome Dynamic Duo education seminar at our fabulous Janome dealer, Gem Sewing.
It was only my second visit to the store, but I’m hoping it’ll be annual event. Owners Mike Damour and his wife Gayle McNaughton pull out all the stops and always make me feel quite at home.
June 2018 was my first visit to the store to unveil the fabulous new Janome Quilt Maker Pro 18 which Mike and Gayle had recently purchased for the store.
The store is not huge; approximately 1200 sq ft, yet all 12 feet of the Janome Quilt Maker Pro 18 fit in beautifully. The machine is used to quilt store samples, but they also rent it out so other quilters can finish their own quilts, and they also take in quilts to finish for others, as well. The Janome Quilt Maker Pro 18 is in constant use!
This gorgeous quilt (below) is a Block of the Month quilt, one of the many programs and classes offered at Gem Sewing. Gayle often says that Gem Sewing is really Mike’s store and she is the “Activities Director”. From the flurry of activity I’ve seen each time I’ve visited and on their social media posts, there’s always something going on at Gem!
I was SO proud of Mike for quilting this fun and funky quilt (below) using one of the Couching feet, which is one of the optional specialty hopping feet for the Janome Quilt Maker Pro 18. Oh, the soft, fuzzy texture! Very cool!
Yes, Mike is a quilter as well as the mechanic. HA! Wasn’t there another Mike who was a Mechanic, lol!?
Just look what he came up with!!! It’s SEW cool!
Mike took a current Janome machine and adapted it to use with an old treadle base so he’s making the machine sew by moving his foot; no electricity whatsoever. I wish I was as skilled at taking a video as Mike is with his tools!
For this year’s visit I presented the new Janome AT2000D air thread serger and Janome CoverPro 2000CPX as part of our Dynamic Duo seminar.
I brought along a special guest who the staff at Gem Sewing had the honor of naming, Rebecca. Rebecca is modelling some of the fabulous creations made using the serger – any of our Janome sergers would do + the Janome CoverPro 2000CPX.
I had a great time at Gem Sewing and will hopefully make it up again before the snow starting flying at the end of summer. It’s a beautiful drive and a cute, quaint little town, but, no matter how much I love Janome, I’m NOT visiting in the winter! I don’t do snow very well.
Thank you to Mike and Gayle and all the fabulous ladies who attended my presentation to share in the Janome love! Until next time!
