I Miss my Sewing Machine!

My preferred sewing machine, Juki, is in being serviced. It takes two weeks. It's the longest two weeks of my life. I have been using my Featherweight, which I love, but it is limited. I made this bag today. There are some finishing touches that I can't do until I get my Juki back.

I have a couple of quilts that need bindings, but I'll wait for my Juki for that.

My small group met and had a fun Show and Tell -- dyed wool, a beautiful series, and a quilt made out of ties:

I learned about these little Crinkle toys for babies. They are super easy to make, and I can see why babies love them. I love them! A couple friends and I are going to order the crinkle papers for these and share the cost. These were made by my friend, K:

Are you familiar with Crinkle toys?

I made one so far. For the crinkly innard I used the bag from a box of cereal. It's OK, but I like the "real" crinkle paper better. Here is the front and back. I will do decorative stitches like K. did when I am reunited with Juki. I quilted those little squares in the middle, but those are not necessary.

Can't wait to get Juki back home. One more week... Meanwhile, I am headed to a class on Maintaining Your Featherweight.

Singer Featherweight!

Some time ago I inherited my mom's Featherweight. I inherited it when she moved into assisted living. It's the only machine my mom ever owned, and it has quite a history. It made several prom dresses, bridesmaid dresses, wedding dresses, bathrobes, many many items of clothing for all four of us kids as we grew up, and in more recent years, quilts.

I didn't take it out of its box until recently. I knew I wanted to get it cleaned and tuned up first. The machine repair guy I go to has cancer and has been having a hard time with his treatments, so I knew it would take longer than usual. I waited patiently.

This week I got my machine back and finally gave it a whirl. It purrs like a kitten and sews beautifully. I feel honored to own this wonderful machine.

Why Must I Read the Directions?? and My Camera is MIA

My camera is missing in action, and I'm getting frustrated. Photos on my phone are not satisfying! I'm 99% sure that the camera is somewhere in this house. I must have put it somewhere stupid. I do that sometimes. Last week, for example, I was at my guild meeting, showing a purse I'm working on. It's all done except the handles. While showing the purse, I opened it up and said, "Oh! There's my phone!" I had plopped it inside there while organizing stuff to go to the meeting, and then forgot and couldn't find my phone. I must have done a similar dumb thing with my camera some time in the last ten days or so.

Jay Cooke State Park, photo from MN State Parks Facebook page

It's a bad time of year to be without my camera, because I am wanting to snap decent pictures of the gorgeous fall colors. So far I've only had the pleasure of doing so on my phone. Well, I do admit I still have my previous camera - that I used faithfully just before buying the smaller size for last year's trip to Europe. I'm afraid if I pull it out I'll have to relearn the differences between that and my more current one. Plus, I'm sure the battery is long dead. Too much work!

Lake Maria State Park, photo from MN State Parks Facebook page

Yesterday I was sewing along, using my new sewing machine, when it came time to re-thread it. The first couple of times I threaded it, I just used the little diagrams on the top of the machine, and it worked fine. Yesterday I couldn't get it right. I needed to either pull out the book of directions, or watch the sewing machine DVD how-to. Both too much work, so I swapped for my older machine with its quirks. At least I'm familiar with it and can continue to sew without stopping to learn how.

Our church bazaar is this week, Wednesday. I'm trying to finish up some stuff to have there for sale. Last night I gathered it all together and was surprised that I had as much as I did. I still want to make more, however. There are always more ideas pushing around inside my head, wanting to come out!

My mom is back in the hospital. I am too tired to do another long drive today, so I'm going to wait and go see her tomorrow. Depending on how she is doing, I may or may not be able to attend our church bazaar and turkey dinner. At least I will have made a contribution of some STUFF to sell. I hope it sells.

My Busy Summer Days

Whew! I'm back home. I've been away, then back briefly, then away again. It's turning into a busy summer.

Husband and I went to Chicago for several days. He was exhibiting in a trade show, and I was playing. Our hotel was an hour outside of the city, so one day I took the train in and had fun being a tourist.

The first picture is as close as I came to the Ellis Tower with the little glass boxes you can stand in. Can you see them? I didn't even try going up there. I spent some time in the Chicago Art Institute (very cool), walked to the lake, and found the Bean. Had a good time in Chicago where everyone I encountered was very friendly.

Our daughter was with us, too. She suggested going out for Chicago-style deep dish pizza one night, and oh, were we glad she did. It was DELICIOUS!

I was home for a couple of days and then took off for a quilt retreat Up North. Six of us spent about 5 days sewing, ice dyeing, eating, and visiting the Headwaters of the Mississippi River.

After the sewing days I went to my mom's town. Sister and I worked on cleaning out the condo. The great-grand kids "helped" for a few minutes. Mom is now in assisted living and doesn't need/have room for all her stuff. It was quite a job! We weren't quite done when I had to leave, but we had made great progress. We divided up a lot of things (with Mom's permission and input). My car was stuffed to the top, and there's more I need to bring home on my next trip.

Now I have all this "stuff" I need to organize into my own house. What a job! Here's one very exciting thing -- I got to have my mom's Featherweight sewing machine. It's a 1951 model and has the carrying case, the extra parts, and the table that it fits into! This is the only sewing machine my mom has ever owned. It was purchased for her by my dad when we lived in Panama. And guess what else I found: the bill of sale from the purchase in 1951!!! It's written in Spanish. I can see that it was purchased in August of 1951 and was a total bill of $164... quite a large sum in those days. Another proof of how much my dad loved my mom. And it was a great investment, after all. I'm excited to get it set up and start sewing! I have no pictures of it yet.

I'm a lucky girl!

Now I need to go start organizing.... another big job! Want to come over and help?

Back to Normal

Hooray!! I got my friendly sewing machine back Friday evening. It's lovely and clean and purrs like a kitten. I did a lot of sewing on Saturday and Sunday, on one project that I'm not showing you yet. (Some of you may have seen it on another list, but for the rest of you, it's a secret, simply because I want to think about it more before I finish it. Hold your horses, OK? You may not even like it.)



I also got some knitting done. Worked some more on my first-ever sock which is going well. And I made another dish cloth. A friend wants to buy some from me. I had these ready for my church bazaar this next Wednesday, but I decided to let her buy them early. The money will still go to the bazaar which ultimately is for global mission work.

And... ta-da! ... I am finally an official substitute interpreter in my old school district and have done a few hours work. I've worked a few random meetings, two hours here, two hours there. I love having a bit of work, keeping my fingers in the field, so to speak, and also love the ability to say no. I am in the process of being approved to be a substitute special ed assistant in a neighboring school district. I'm happy that I have a few skills that allow me to work on an occasional basis when I want to. This retirement gig is great!

On previous posts I forgot that I had re-instituted my gratefulness list. Today I remembered.

I'm thankful for:
1) skills that I can still use in this economy and that keep me employed to the extent that I want.
2) gorgeous fall weather; we have been utterly spoiled this year.
3) great books (book group is currently reading Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, and I'm loving it).
4) a repaired and smooth-running sewing machine.
5) friends... a new friend passed away this week; I'm sad I didn't have a chance to get to know her better, but lucky I met her at all... and other friends in my life who inspire and challenge me. I'm so blessed!

Missing My Machine

My Pfaffie is in the shop... the woman in the shop was able to extract my quilt quite easily. That gave me hope that the problem is not serious and that a simple tune-up will do the trick. I had to just leave my machine and wait for a phone call from the repair person... when, I have no idea.

I dropped by church and picked up my old machine that I had left there. I had to pull out the manual to help me remember how to thread the thing and how it works. I think someone had used it, and had left it in bad shape. I monkeyed with it and got it running, but I couldn't get the tension set no matter what I tried.. so I gave up.

Now I have no machine, and it is amazing how unsettling that is. I barely know what to do with myself. I've been able to work on my knitting ... I'm almost done with a hat ... but I sure miss sewing!

Last night I attended this outdoor wedding. I have promised the happy couple a quilt, so my Pfaffie better come back home soon. I need to get busy.