Wednesday 27 February 2013

480 and counting

Thank you to all of you who left comments supporting me through my family “issues”. I should not have used that word, “situations” would have been better but I couldn’t think of a better word when I wrote the post!

The first “situation” (which coincidentally began on Valentine’s Day) was a good one, all the better for being totally unexpected, and has resulted in deeper communication and a much closer, even more loving, relationship with my husband of thirty-five years. What can be better than that?

I am trying to get back into a normal routine. I confess that I am easily distracted and can become a little obsessed with whatever has drawn my attention. It has been said of me that I “don’t do things by halves” and this was no exception.

After almost two weeks of living in this distracted, obsessive, nearly dream-like state, I am slowly coming back to earth and my sewing room, where I now sit, reminds me of Things That Need Doing!

My computer and my iPad, ever persistent in luring me, aren't letting me off the hook either! I have dozens of emails, including blog comments, that need answering. 

And Google Reader tells me I have 480 unread blog posts! How is that possible, it's only been twelve days? I will read them all but it’s unlikely I will leave a lot of comments!

I'm sorry, I can't hang around here and chat - I have have things to do! Winking smile

Saturday 23 February 2013

anonymous comments no longer accepted

Last week, I was thrilled to see that my blog had received over 100,000 hits in its lifespan.

Today, I am not thrilled that six out of six comments left on my blog were irrelevant spam! Do these spammers really think that bloggers are so gullible that we don't recognise poor English and irrelevant content?

Anyway, as of today I have disabled anonymous comments -- I truly hope that doesn't discourage any genuine reader, especially a follower, from leaving a comment.

And, if you're wondering about my absence from the blogisphere, I have been busy dealing with family "issues" -- one good, one not so good -- and really haven't been in the mood for anything, including crafting or blogging! Sorry, I hope to get back to normal soon!

Wednesday 13 February 2013

the joy of belonging to a local library

Having access to free books from the local library is such a blessing! I have borrowed from a local library since my earliest school days and I tend to take it for granted.

Now, in this wonderful age of the internet, I can (and do) borrow audio-books, ebooks and print books. In this way, I get to read books that I would otherwise never knew existed.

This month, I have borrowed the following from the library:
  • the books in print
The QuiltCut the ScrapsKaffe Fassett's V&A QuiltsKaffe Knits Again
Prayer Shawl Companion
  • I have yet to open The Quilt: a history and a celebration of an American art form
  • I really liked Cut the Scraps – in fact, I might even put it on my wish-list (I have a birthday in April)
  • The book about Kaffe Fassett’s V&A Quilts was interesting but I won’t be adding to to my collection
  • I have yet to open Kaffe Knits Again
  • Prayer Shawl Companion has some interesting patterns (including one by Kaffe Fassett) but I won’t be adding it to my collection; readers who consider “prayer shawls” a peculiarly Christian expression may be surprised by the inclusion of all faiths and eastern mysticisms
For entertainment, I have a tendency to gravitate towards mysteries and romance novels, as well as biographies and non-fiction books on subjects that interest me – e.g. history, culture.
I have borrowed this digital media (listed alphabetically by title for convenience):
  • A Lady of Expectations by Stephanie Laurens (e-book) -- finished
    - Jack Lester has to find a bride but where can he find the perfect woman?
  • A Man’s Heart by Lori Copeland (audiobook) -- finished
    - after the death of her father and her best friend, a young woman struggles to salvage the farm, honour a promise and win back the man whose heart she broke
  • Captain Thunderbolt and His Lady by Carol Baxter (e-book) -- slowly reading
    - the story of Australian bushrangers Frederick Ward and Mary Ann Bugg; I’ve only read a couple of chapters and am finding it fairly dry
  • Old Tokyo by Sumiko Enbutso (e-book) -- so far I have only read the introduction
    - a walking tour of Tokyo’s old downtown
  • The Golden Mountain by Irene Kai (audiobook) -- reading
    - the story of four generations of Chinese women and their relationship to USA (the “golden mountain”)
  • Town in a Blueberry Jam by B.B. Haywood -- finished
    the first book in a mystery series featuring amateur sleuth, Candy Holliday
  • Under the Summer Sky by Lori Copeland (e-book) -- finished
    - a romance set in North Dakota in the late 1800s; written by a Christian author, there is a list of discussion questions at the end of the book
What have you been reading lately?

Monday 11 February 2013

need supersedes planning

As you would know, I have a focus list of projects to work on this month. I have planned which project I will work on and in what order.

But last Monday, my quilting teacher asked all of us who knit (I’m the most obvious one) for a favour. The neo-natal unit of the local hospital is desperate for hats for the babies, mostly premature, in the humidicribs.

As a mother and a grandmother, how could I say no to such a request? My DD was born at 2.630kg (yes I still remember) – a tiny 130g over “compulsory” humidicrib weight. Younger Grandson, even though well over that weight, spent some time in critical care and was given a hat.

The pattern called for 8ply (DK) yarn and 4.00mm (US 6) needles so I thought they’d be a quick knit: 15 rounds of k2p2 rib, 16 rounds of stocking stitch then 13 rounds of decreasing.

I had told myself that I would knit one a day during February (the month of Valentine’s Day and the month of my Older Grandson’s birthday). But they take longer than I thought. One hat takes me two hours from cast-on to completely finished!

Still, a need is a need so the target date for finishing my cardigan has been pushed back.

After I took this photo, I realised the hats are supposed to have turned-back brims! Never mind, they've been knitted in the round so it won’t make any difference!
2013 - neo-natal hats first seven plus SJ's first
The one on the bottom right is DD', she obviously has a looser gauge than me!

Seven down, twenty-one to go!

Sunday 10 February 2013

I've been Liebstered (part 2)

As explained in yesterday's post, Christ (Shared Creativity) and Janet (Caribou Crossing Chronicles) nominated me for the Liebster Award.
Here are the rules:
  1. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
  2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you
  3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate
  4. Choose 11 blogs with less than 200 followers and link them in your post.
 Yesterday I answered Chris and Janet's eleven questions.

Today I will tell you eleven facts about myself, and then pose my own eleven questions.
  1.  I was made in England and born in Australia on ANZAC Day, a holiday unique to Australia and New Zealand -- just to prove that I am really Australian to my Aussie dad and (then) English mum.
  2. I am the eldest of three children, married to the eldest of six children.
  3. I worked Thursday night and Saturday morning in the delicatessen section of a supermarket for five years (my last two years of high school and my three years of teachers' college) up till the Saturday before I got married.
  4. I was a Brownie Leader for five years. I took "leave of absence" thirty-two years ago and haven't been back!
  5. As a child, I wanted to be an actress but my father told me I had to get a "real job" so I studied to be a teacher and years later discovered it was a great acting job with a captive audience!
  6. In College, I took every drama class I could! English was my major.
  7. I was a primary school teacher for a total of eight years in two different state schools then, after a five year gap (as a SAHM with DD), I taught for five years in a private school (which my daughter attended).
  8. My husband and I owned a scuba diving shop 50km (21 miles) from the coast for three and a half years (1987-1990) during the "recession we had to have"! I do not scuba dive and would not pass the medical to do so due to a history of bronchial illnesses as a child!
  9. At the age of 45 I applied to go to university and was accepted. Over the next three years I completed my Bachelor of Adult Education from one university and earned a Graduate Certificate in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from another.
  10.  I love languages and over the years have studied French,  Italian and Japanese. I don't speak any of these well.  I can say thank you in eighteen different languages!
  11. My husband and I attended the same primary school and were in the same class in Grade 2.
Here are my eleven questions: (Just for fun, I have answered them for myself)
  1. Where were you when Armstrong walked on the moon? (I know, you weren't even born then!)
    I was at school, it was broadcast over the radio into the school quadrangle
  2. What colours in decorating, fashion or stitching do you remember without hesitation?
    In decorating, I clearly remember Mission brown, burnt orange and avocado green from the 70s, grey and pink in the 80s.
  3. What was your favourite childhood toy?
    My sister and I each had a Sindy doll, my dad built a wardrobe and my mum made clothes. We also had bought clothes for them which was novel because we'd only just started having store-bought clothes ourselves! We definitely had this outfit!
    1966 Sindy Doll
    http://www.poorlittlenell.com/bulletin/?attachment_id=324
  4. Name one song that you can sing from beginning to end.
    Only one? I've been a singer all my life and I know the words of lots of songs.  Okay, "Yesterday" by the Beatles (and a lot of others since it is one of the most recorded songs ever!)
  5. Name one advertising jingle from your pre-adult days that you remember clearly (and then tell me music has no power!)
    The KFC song that goes "the cows and the sheep and the birds and the horses..." -- and, yes, I can sing all the words!

  6. When did you get your first computer?
    I bought WM a John Sands Sega with rubber keys that plugged into the television and used cassette tape for memory! We bought our first "real" computer when we had the shop -- I think in 1989.
    John Sands SC3000








  7. When did you start blogging and why?
    I wrote my first post in January 2007. My friend had a blog and it looked like fun!
  8. How many UFOs/WIPs can you name right now?
    Twenty-something!
  9. What makes you laugh?
    My grandsons' antics.
  10. What's the first thing you think of when you hear/read the word "Australia"?
    Home - the best country in the world!
  11. What's for dinner? Who's cooking?
    I have no idea!

The Liebster Award  was designed to introduce "small" blogs (under 200 followers). Here are my nominated eleven.
  1. Delighted Hands
  2. Hayestackhayes
  3. Kate's Arty Bits Blog
  4. Life in Pieces
  5. Life is a Stitch
  6. Quilting and Other Craft Therapy
  7. Sew Many Yarns
  8. Snippets 'n' Scraps
  9. Stitchin' Therapy
  10. Tops to Treasures
  11. UFOs and UBIs - My Crafty Blog
Why not visit some (or all) of these blogs?

Thanks again, Chris and Janet!



    Saturday 9 February 2013

    I've been Liebstered!

    Two followers of my blog, Chris (Shared Creativity) and Janet (Caribou Crossing Chronicles), have nominated me for the Liebster award. I am deeply honoured.


    As part of the award, I have to answer 11 questions posed by the nominators.

    Here are Chris's questions with my answers.

    1. How did you start crafting?
    As a child I was given many gifts of crafting activities -- embroidery cards, weaving, French knitting, basket making, flower making, pattern games, etc so I guess crafting has always been part of my life. As an adult I have had different phases of crafting, including folk art, decoupage, scrap booking, cross stitch, wool embroidery and dressmaking, but knitting has been there almost all my life. A little about my sewing history can be found in this post and the story of how I came to quilting can be read in this post.My knitting history can be found in my very first post (which I found to be an interesting read -- my how things have changed!)

    2. What is your favourite hobby?
    Only one? You're kidding! I'd have to say knitting if I could have only one! Or would it be reading?
    My own design in 63 different yarns!

    3. When is your favourite time to quilt/knit/sew/whatever?
    I prefer to sew during the day and I knit anytime but usually at night while watching television with my husband or listening to audiobooks or podcasts after he's gone to bed!

    4. Do you mostly use a machine or work by hand?
    I make quilts by machine, I knit by hand.

    5. If you could get on a plane right now with no financial limitations and no strings attached, where would you go?
    UK and Ireland -- to walk in the steps of my ancestors in England, Scotland and Ireland. I'd have to visit Wales too - my mother was evacuated there during WWII. I might wait till the weather warms up a little though (if you don't mind!)

    6. Do the seasons affect your fabric selection?
    No! I work mostly with the fabrics/scraps donated to our quilting group!

    7. What is your favorite book, ever?
    Seriously? One? Right now it's A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens!

    8. What is your favorite comfort food?
    Chocolate - preferably Lindor! In times of stress I'll eat milk chocolate --- but never white chocolate which, as we all know, isn't really chocolate at all!

    9. What inspires your creativity?
    Other people's creativity!

    10. Do you plan projects or start them on impulse?
    A little bit of both!

    11. How many projects do you hope to complete this year?
    Twenty-four sewing related, at least that many knitting related!

    And the questions from Janet:

    1. Who is your favourite author?
    Jane Austen. Of modern writers, Kate Morton.

    2. If you won the lottery, the first thing you would do?
    Question the bearer of the news. I don't buy lottery tickets!

    3. Share a childhood memory
    Silence at the dinner table while dad listened to the 6:30 news! I was shocked when I went to WM's place the first time, eight people at the table (excluding me) and everyone seemed to be talking at once!

    4. Live concert you would like to attend
    André Rieu -- it would make my husband so happy!

    5. Dream vacation:
    An around-the-world-trip (by plane) staying in nice hotels, visiting all the places I've read about and some of my blogging friends as well!

    6. Where would you like to live:
    On the Australian east coast where I can see the ocean! I have my dream house all planned out!


    7. Favourite pet
    I have lived with cats most of my life. I can easily live without pets but I can't bear animal cruelty of any kind! When I was a primary school teacher, 10year old boys pulling the wings off flies made me angry!
    our current "master" -- Tomodachi (Japanese for "friend")
     8. Favourite ice cream
    Chocolate with chocolate chips!
    Would you believe there was a time when I didn't eat chocolate?No, I didn't say I didn't like it, just that I didn't eat it! It was believed to be the cause of migraines but it turned out not to be so!

    9. What famous person/fictional character would you like to get to know?
    Jesus!

    10. What would you like your biographer to say about you?
    That I am/was loyal, generous and creative.

    11. What was your first car?
    A 1963 Ford Cortina that I bought for $200 and sold eighteen months later for $200!

    Come back tomorrow for the second part of this award!

    Thanks Chris and Janet for nominating me!

    Thursday 7 February 2013

    2013: the Year of the Finished Project – February

    Never Too Hot to Stitch!
    How did you go in January?
    What plans do you have for your UFOs/WiPs in February?

    Write your post which answers these two questions (you can be as expansive – or not – as you like). Then join up with the linky party below. Please remember to use the URL of your specific post, not just your blog URL. Thanks.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    January was a hectic month for me. Not only did I have house guests until 9 January, then overnight guests on 22 January, I put enormous pressure on myself to “get things done”!

    You see, our quilting group has the “Airing of the Quilts” on the second weekend in April. I was asked towards the end of last year how many quilts I would be contributing and I said six. It seemed reasonable at the time! However, I started 2013 with only one finished quilt so I planned to finish two in each of January and February, and the fifth in March. Easy-peasy, right?

    Well, putting pressure on myself means I tend to rush a little and don’t notice things – or I ignore the things I do notice! The second quilt I intended to finish in January was quilted. The binding was cut and ironed and ready to go. But there I stopped!

    I think the top of the quilt was not pulled tight enough when I basted and it looks “wrong” now that the quilting is done. Deep down, I wanted to pull out all those quilting stitches and start all over again. But no-one wants to do that in reality! So there I was, torn because the quilt was so close to being finished and wanting it to look better than it does! Will more quilting fix the problem? Perhaps!

    Look at the bunching of the fabric around the brown square on the left and the green square in the centre right. Look at the wrinkles in the light brown fabric of the four patch between them!
    P1300090
    It didn’t help that the border fabric I chose, which looked so right to begin with, has changed the quilt from looking quite sophisticated (which I loved)  to looking more frivolous! 2013 borderless flimsyP1300092
    Fortunately, my quilting class resumed on Monday (after our seven-week summer break). I asked for my teacher's opinion. Whatever she recommended I would have done. The good news is that she told me it was fine and to get it bound and done! So the binding was added during class.

    I'm a bit concerned about the backing fabric now though -- look at my sewing machine:

    Remember this backing fabric I showed you last week:
    The founder of our community quilting group doesn't like us to wash quilts when we're finished them, she likes the pristine look for exhibition but I think I'm going to have to wash this with a packet of colour catchers! I know the quilts are taken down at the end of the exhibition and stored, then a few weeks later they are sorted and distributed to the local hospitals and other charities. I can't let this one go while it's leaking this much dye! Imagine the mess if it got wet!

    So, my January list looks like this:
    1. Westall Cardigan – I am currently knitting the bottom ribbing. I then have sleeves and the front band to go. I should have it finished by the end of February but would like it sooner!
    2. sideways baby jumper – started November 2011 -- to be finished by end of the month -- frogged 6 January 2013
    3. Deb’s Diamond Blanket – I didn’t work on this at all during January; all my knitting time was spent on the Westall cardigan, except when I had company and then I was working on plain self-striping socks!
    4. Squares quilt – blocks made, the layout planned (done 10 Jan), and the blocks sewn into rows by the end of January (done 15 Jan); this is the quilt mentioned above. As you can see, I reached my progress goals by the fifteenth of the month; it was in pushing myself to get it done by the end of the month that things fell apart!
    5. Dotty Bright quiltfinished 25 January (yahoo! a real finish!)
    6. hexagon project bag – I didn’t touch this during January
    7. piano cross stitch – I didn’t touch this in January
    8. placemats for the Grandsons – this was to have been a new project but, because I am drowning in unfinished projects, I’ve given myself a two-for-one deal: finish two quilting projects and you can start another! Because that squares quilt is not finished, the placemats have to wait! As Shakespeare said, “to thine own self be true!”
    So, do you think I will go easier on myself in February?
    Here’s my list – what do you think?
    1. Older Grandson’s birthday surprise  – UFO
    2. Westall cardigan  – WIP – ribbing, sleeves and band
    3. Black Stump Creek quilt  – WIP 
    4. hexagon project bag – WIP
    5. Scrappy Log Cabin quilt – UFO – border, backing, bating, quilting, binding
    6. Rainbow improv quilt – WIP – layout, joining blocks into rows and rows into top; I think I’ll be content if I get to completed flimsy!
    7. Deb's Diamond Blanket –  WIP –  will not be finished this month, this is a long term project 
    8. placemats for the Grandsons – this will be my new project for February but first I have to get one more quilting project finished!
    9. piano cross stitch – UFO -- if I do a little on this every month, I may get it finished sometime this decade!
    So, what about you? Did you meet your goals for January?
    Are you, like me, pushing yourself too hard?
    And what are your goals for February (are they realistic?)


    Monday 4 February 2013

    "Earth and Sky" quilt

    One of my focus projects for February is to turn some (or all) of my improv blocks (made 2011-2012 in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge over at SoScrappy blog) into a quilt.

    I spent quite a long time on Saturday fiddling with different layouts. Because we don’t have many quilts that are suitable for men, I decided to focus on the brown blocks and work around them.

    This was the first layout I came up with, using brown, green, teal and blue blocks. I christened it “The Dog’s Breakfast” quilt.
    P2020001
    Here it is again in black and white – look at those values: all over the place!
    is this a dog's breakfast
    It didn’t look good in colour and looked even worse in black and white!

    I tried other layouts but wasn't happy with any of them and couldn’t be bothered fighting with my camera to take photos (my camera has some issues with batteries, even though I use rechargeable batteries if I turn the camera off – even if I only took two photos – the camera will tell me the batteries are flat! We’ve tested the batteries in other items – it's not the batteries!) 

    Every layout I tried was still “a dog’s breakfast”. I even tried setting the blocks on point but that didn’t help. It did, however, give me an idea, which led to the layout I have settled on!
    2013 layout finalised
    Sorry about the angle, it was the only way I could get it all in! And yes, since I took the photo I've turned that bottom left block in the central blue square to point to wards the centre!
    This layout used all my brown improv blocks, and all my brown nine patch and string blocks! Of course, I have more brown scraps so there’ll be more blocks when brown comes up in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

    The name of the quilt is obvious, it comes from the two colours used in this layout. Now you have to use your imagine a little bit. Imagine a light-coloured narrow sashing around the central square, then around the brown square, and separating the top and brown rows from the blue.

    What's that? Can’t see it? Well you’ll just have to come back when I’ve made further progress, won’t you? LOL

    But for now, I’m off to work on Older Grandson’s birthday present, I have less than two weeks to get it done!

    Oh yeah, I’m a bit late but I’m linking this up with Scrap Happy Saturday. Sorry, it’s not purple, Angela, but it is progress!
    http://superscrappy.blogspot.com

    Sunday 3 February 2013

    sleepy Sunday

    You know that feeling you get when you've had a lovely meal? Time for siesta?

    Well that's how I feel this afternoon. We went out for lunch with friends after church and had a great time of food and fellowship.

    I could be working on this but I'm way too sleepy!

    taken with my iPad -- sorry for the quality

    What is it, you ask? It's the beginnings of a drawstring bag, which I think will be just the right size for small knitting projects!

    This is my first "sewn by hand" project, and I'm hoping it'll lay to rest all of the ghosts of childhood sewing projects mentioned in a previous post!

    Linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts



    Saturday 2 February 2013

    a month of UFOs?

    Never Too Hot to Stitch!

    For those who are participating in 2013: The Year of the Finished Project, don’t panic – your post is not due until the first Thursday of the month: that is, February 7.

    My blog friend, Carrie, of A Passion for Applique, is participating in 2013: The Year of the Finished Project, and has also invited me to participate in her linky party, Nothing but UFOs.

    Nothing But UFOs in 2013

    She asks for a list of three quilting-related UFOs that will be worked on this month. Last month I declined to participate because I didn’t have three (quilting) UFOs that I was working on. But this month I do – so I’m in!

    Here’s my three:

    1. Surprise for Older Grandson who will be three on 17 February. I can’t say any more here, it’s a surprise!
    2. Scrappy Log Cabin quilt – I need to find some fabric for a border so I can proceed.
      2012 Scrappy Log Cabin with inner border
    3. I need to turn some (or all) of my 99 Rainbow Improv blocks into a quilt (or quilts). My goal is one completed quilt by the end of the month.
      2012 99 improv blocks

    Want to join in? Then pop over to Carrie’s blog and sign up (oh, yeah, there’s a prize on offer!)

    Come back on Thursday to see my full list for February, how I went with my January goals and to share your story!

    Friday 1 February 2013

    Sew Thinky Thursday

    Sometimes, my problem is that I think too much! I over-analyse and have a tendency towards detailed introspection. So I don’t really need any encouragement.

    But this linky party over at Mommy’s Nap Time looked like fun and didn’t involve adding more stitching projects to my list! Thanks Sarah (Sew Sweetness) and Elizabeth (Don’t Call Me Betsy) for leading me to Emily’s blog.

    This is Emily’s first linky party and her questions are fairly simple:
    When did you start sewing? Tell us a bit about your sewing history.
    When did you realize you were really hooked?

    I started sewing as a child. My mum sewed our clothes – now I realise that was from necessity not desire. She actually doesn't like sewing all that much! I owned a little sewing machine that did chain stitching – I wonder what became of it? I don’t remember ever making anything but quite happily spent hours just feeding bits of fabric through the machine and watching those little stitches develop!

    I was given a handcraft kit that included sewing cards and I loved sewing those. Look closely, you can see the much used holes!
    childhood sewing cards
    Why yes, I still have them! Doesn’t every late-middle-aged woman have her favourite things from childhood? LOL

    Somewhere along the way I was also given two types of fabric embroideries – one on a gauzy type of fabric, the other on what looks like lawn. Looking at them now I can see that the only stitch I knew was running stitch – no wonder I never I got around to embroidering them!  childhood pieces
    We had sewing in primary school; I was an awkward, uncoordinated leftie and couldn't reach the high standard expected! All I learnt was to hate hand sewing! (I’m getting over that now)

    I remember one Christmas my mum decided my sister and I should embroider cross stitch patterns on the edge of checked fabric to make placemats for my aunty. She then scared me by telling me that aunty’s sister-in-law was a sewing teacher and would inspect the back! No instruction was given and my cross stitching, as well as my hemming, was an awful mess. I don’t think aunty ever received those placemats!

    The high school I attended didn’t have “domestic science” so, fortunately, there was no torture of sewing in those years!

    When I turned seventeen, and was in my last year of high school, my grandmother retired from work. She had made curtains and soft furnishings for a living. Now I know how difficult that is, I wish I could tell her how much I admire her! Anyway, when Nanna retired, she bought my sister and I a Singer sewing machine each and she taught me how to use it by using “the book of the words” (the instruction manual). My first garment was a very full, lined skirt, complete with waistband and zipper, which I loved!

    A few years later, I decided to take “garment assembly” classes one evening a week at the local technical college. Garment assembly was one part of the no-longer-available fashion course. I attended those classes for three, maybe four years, and made a lot of clothes. But I was always disappointed with the finished articles. They were beautifully made from expensive fabrics but they just didn’t look as good on my large frame as they did on the skinny models on the pattern sleeves! I put my sewing machine away in disgust and despair!

    Anyway, along came DD, and my sewing machine got little use. Children grow out of their clothes so quickly and it was cheaper to buy them. Besides, I had a sister-in-law and a good friend who had daughters a bit older than mine who gave me out-grown clothes. MY machine was used mostly for repairs, especially to WM’s trousers that always seemed to come apart at the crotch!

    I did, however, get involved in embroidery and cross stitch as a way to relax and create in the hot summer months (there was a time when I didn’t knit in summer – are you shocked?) I bought kits then moved on to buying patterns and threads. This picture shows the first cross stitch I did which  wasn’t from a kit!
    Christmas church
    Fast forward to DD’s high school days and the machine got some use again but it didn’t last long.

    Fast forward again a few more years. DD is now married. She has a three-week-old son. We go to a craft show, help make blocks for quilts for Haiti on brand new machines, and she's hooked! I’m reminded how much I used to love sewing!

    I told this story just a couple of weeks ago on this post, so I’ll be brief here. We bought fabric to make a quilt – actually we bought enough fabric to make two quilts but it wasn’t until a year later when, at another craft show, we met Elizabeth Wallace of Aussie Patches and signed up for her monthly all-day Sit and Sew session that we really fell in love with quilting.

    I was hooked enough to replace that old Singer with a Janome Memory Craft 6600 (a machine designed with quilters in mind, therefore having a wider throat space). I also joined a community quilting group that makes quilts for donation.
    Janome MC6600P
    Being in “forced” retirement, I usually get into my sewing room several days a week, even though our summer temperatures are over 90°F!

    And now, I think I’ve rattled on enough – you can check out more “thoughts” about sewing over at Emily’s linky party!