My dealer suggested the Elnita EC30 as the best all-around option for my $300.00 price point. The machine has 30 stitches including a 1 step buttonhole, drop feed, speed control slider and 820 spm. It does not come with a wide accessory tray or a hard case; however my dealer included a complimentary machine service at the one year mark.

The Elnita EC30 is very similar to the Elna 450 (sold outside the USA) and the new red Travel-Mate TM30. All machines are made by Janome.

This machine certainly met my requirements for a kid-friendly sewing machine. After a quick lesson, the 4th graders who used this machine were able to navigate the computerized functions and sew independently.

Over the past month, I’ve pulled it out several times to help me complete sections of the Homebody Quilt that gave the Baby Lock Jubilant fits. The Elnita EC30 didn’t hesitate at going over thick seams and the foot didn’t catch on the seam allowances of my FG and HSTs as I sewed over them. The seams sewn with the Elnita EC30 were a more consistent scant 1/4″. Stitches were nice and tight and the seams securely sewn.

The machine also did a very nice job sewing buttons on my Dad’s knit shirt and with repairing torn seams/hems on bed linens. The 5mm wide zigzag was wide enough to sew on the buttons, but still narrow enough that I did not feel the need for a straight stitch plate when topstitching the hem. The machine simply did not pull fabric down in to the opening. The bonus? Everything I needed to take to make repairs, including the machine, fit in an XL canvas tote from LL Bean.

What I do not like about the machine (and what I did to resolve the issue):

(1) dim lighting – even my students complained about how dimly lit the sewing machine is. A Bendable Bright Light addressed this issue.

(2) super light mint green stitch library on the front is hard to see (can’t do anything it, but the TM-30 offers greater contrast).

(2) noisy operation – This is purely subjective; however, I did measure the noise level using an app on my phone. This machine is 5 decibels louder than the Baby Lock Jubilant and my Elna STAR. The drone the machine makes at lower speeds takes some getting used to. Solution: the machine needs something like a hard placemat (hardmat) and/or a low profile (1/8″ thick) workbench mat underneath it. Janome makes a muffle mat that works to quiet the machine; however, the mat is about 1/4″ thick and my machine bounced too much for me when sewing at higher speeds. I also stuffed batting in the front accessory tray. I can now tolerate the noise. I’ll mention the noisy operation when I take the machine in for its complimentary service. We’ll see if the noise level improves once I receive the machine back from the service technician.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by this machine. It’s both kid-friendly and suitable as a travel machine.

Bet you haven’t heard that word in a while!

Miss Pat is officially closing Stitch N Quilt at the end of March.

I’m truly bummed. This quilt shop has been a part of my life for so many years now. While I’m happy for Pat to be able to scale back and enjoy semi-retirement, closing the doors does leave a hole in the surrounding quilting community. I made friends, bought fabric, swapped stories, taught classes and led summer camps, took classes, brought both Boomer and now Sadie for visits and bought more fabric.

Pat mentioned the possibility of closing the shop last year, but had recently talked about keeping it open through March 2023. I was so looking forward to being able to attend week-day classes and workshops once school ended. The table runner club has been fun. Guess I’ll swing by the shop to see if the March club meeting will go forward.

I did a quick search for quilt guilds and sewing groups in my part of town. I find it ironic that groups list evening meeting times now that I’ll be able to attend during the day. Most are still meeting via Zoom, though.

Silver Comet Stitchers, Chattahoochee Evening Stars and Out on a Limb Quilt Guilds look interesting. Of course, there’s also the East Cobb Quilt Guild and Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild that both meet a little closer to home

I’ll definitely have fun checking them out!

One of my non-negotiables for 2022 is to donate at least one quilt to a children’s charity each quarter. Quilts for Kids is my charity of choice for 1st Qtr 2022. I participated in an online QAL hosted by Cozy Color Quilts. Over the past six weeks, each participant was invited to piece a quilt top using a modified version of Beth Ann’s Homebody Quilt pattern. At the conclusion of the QAL, participants were instructed to complete the quilt using the Quilts for Kids’ specifications and mail the laundered quilt to the group’s national headquarters.

I added two parameters for this endeavor: (1) all fabrics, batting and thread had to come from my stash and (2) machine quilting would be done by me.

I don’t keep a lot of yardage on hand, so the scrappy version became my choice. Blocks were constructed using leftover 10″ squares from various Lori Holt collections with Shabby Cloud (Beehive) as the background fabric. Backing fabric choices in my stash are rather limited. I decided to “borrow” some gray-brown polka dot yardage earmarked for another project. It coordinates very nicely with the colors in the quilt top and any machine quilting in an off white/yellow thread color will blend with the backing fabric. Combined with a yellow print binding, this makes a quilt that’s suitable for a boy or girl.

Next time I make this quilt: (Psst: it will be a surprise for a super special somebody who’s about to retire!)

Use only 3 colors for the quilt: (a) a patterned focus fabric, (b) dark contrast for the Flying Geese blocks and (c) a light to medium tone on tone for the background (light blue, turquoise, gray, green or beige).

Backing should be a light to medium all over print that coordinates with the front.

Consider a muted plaid, check or stripe for the binding.

Press all seams open – make seams as flat as possible (spray, tailor’s clapper, mallet)

Use the same sewing machine and 1/4″ foot for the entire project.

Use a scant 1/4″ seam.

Machine quilt using using crosshatching or an allover E2E design.