One way to source quilting supplies

February 4, 2026

Recently, a book club member shared a post from her neighbor requesting help with divesting of his mom’s quilting/sewing/crafting supplies as she moved to an assisted living facility. The son sent photos of her stuff. Mom had obviously been a serious quilter. I shared a list of local organizations/groups I know of that could use the donations and also advised that our guild’s community service would appreciate any fabric she’d like to donate.

Nora and I went yesterday to see what was still available after family and friends had made their selections from the voluminous stash. Our small SUVs were packed with batting, bins of fabric, craft supplies, books, quilting rulers and stencils. We brought everything back to my house and spent 2-1/2 hours sorting through it all. About 10% of what we brought back was thrown away or taken to the recycling center.

We set aside items for the guild library, quilt show raffle basket goodies, young sewists needing supplies, and requests we’d received for items for specific community service projects (like muslin yardage and flannel pieces). We also picked out some items we wanted – batting, white-on-white yardage and yellow FQs for me, plus batik yardage/precuts for her. Nora took all the fabric she felt was suitable to cut pillowcase kits for community service (about half of what was left). The remainder stayed with me and will go to the infamous guild free table – where many quilters shop for fabric to use in community service projects.

All in all, over 80% of what we brought back will go to community service and the guild free table alone.

The takeaway: Keep an eye out for estate sales or downsizing sales mentioning quilters with large stashes. You never know what you might find.

Sewing Machine Service

February 2, 2026

More like: what are my options now that my long-time sewing machine repairman has finally decided to retire?

Backstory: I took advantage of a great opportunity to purchase the Elna version of the Janome 9480 with ASR that I’ve been coveting for the past 18 months. A friend and fellow guild member expressed interest in purchasing my Janome 8900. I’m so happy about the 8900 going to a new home! Now to get it ready.

Today, I took the machine in for service. Ashby Sewing has been my primary go-to for machine service and repair since moving to Atlanta. The business changed hands in September 2025, with the previous owners staying on to provide machine repair services and support for a set period of time. I was so happy to see the previous owners when I dropped the machine off this morning. I know the 8900 will be in good hands. I’m also aware that the previous owners will have fulfilled their obligations under the sale agreement sometime soon. I’ve not seen any apprentice techs in the shop, so I’m not sure what the new owners have planned with regard to future machine service & repair. The new owners have put a lot of effort into refreshing the store’s interior and focusing on apparel and garment sewing. The revamped sewing machine line-up also reflects this new direction. These changes definitely meet a need on the NW side – just not the type of sewing I like to do.

With input from those much wiser than me, here’s my plan for future sewing machine service & repair!

(1) Kid-use machines and anything vintage I can’t fix will go to one of the independent sewing machine techs who make monthly visits at Tiny Stitches and Stitched Gifts.

(2) Janome/Elna machines requiring dealer service will go to A-1 Sewing in Tucker or Sew Sew Studio in Bogart/Duluth. A little bit more a drive, yes, but not that big of a deal. The machines that I actually take to the dealer average 1 visit every 3 years.

Except for the Baby Lock Jubilant, all of my sewing machines are either vintage Singer or made by Janome. My goal is to have all of the modern machines made by Janome. Why? It will make CraftLAB much simpler if the machines can all use the same feet/accessories.

Good things come to those who wait

January 31, 2026

My new sewing machine WITH a stitch regulator is due to arrive mid-week. Cue the happy dance music!

This time last year, my sewing machine dealer strongly advised that I move on picking up a new machine before price increases due to tariffs went into effect. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a possibility as I’d needed to buy a replacement vehicle at the time. Over the next several months, I watched prices keep increasing with lackluster sales promotions. Dealers became even more selective on which machines they’d accept on a trade-in – if they even accepted trade-ins. I kept saving money and waited to see if a used machine came on the market or if prices return to reality. Neither happened.

I practiced FMQ on my Janome 8900. (I’ve gotten pretty good at variations of a loopy meander plus a boxy meander). I took a longarm quilting fundamentals class at a local quilt shop. This helped me realize 3 things: (1) I prefer to FMQ sitting down, (2) a stitch regulator is a game changer for me and (3) I’d still continue to send larger items out to a longarm quilter. Scheduling time to use the longarm has been a hassle due to limited availability of time slots. We’re limited to hand guided only – no computerized E2E for folks who rent time on the machines.

So when a substack article writer mentioned how his dad had negotiated a great deal on the sister version of my machine of choice, I reached out. An Elna 782 with the ASR for the same price my local Janome dealer was selling the 9480 without the ASR in December 2024. DEAL! They are the exact same machine – just a different color scheme and badging on the outside.

I’m supporting a family-owned business and got what I wanted at a really fair price.

I‘m good.

I’ll post pics once Ellie arrives, gets unboxed and set-up.