Why? Because I decided two years ago to learn quilting. I asked my Great Aunt Leona (whom I simply call Aunt Lee) to teach me. She was happy to and she taught me how to hand quilt. It was fascinating to listen to her tell me about her early childhood, tips and tricks she learned throughout the years, and her utter dislike of the iron. I thoroughly enjoy hand quilting...however, I then made the mistake of deciding to make a quilt for each of my nieces and nephews. Since my family tends to breed like rabbits...I have committed myself to a LOT of quilts. And of course, I feel like I should get them to them in a timely manner...you know, before they head off to college or something. But, as fun as I find hand quilting...it is not a quick process for me. And so, I realized for the sake of timely gift making I was going to have to take advantage of the technology available to me...aka...the Machine...
This is a major deal for me since I have been rather afraid of sewing machines since I was seven and somehow managed to sew through my left pointer finger while constructing a pillow. I have since avoided them like the plague. And when sewing machines would become a topic of conversation, as it tends to do amongst those who sew, I would pretty much just tune out anything machine related and just focus on my friends finished project.
As a result, I am utterly clueless about sewing machines...other than they can be pretty expensive and the technology has made leaps and bounds since I was seven.
This cluelessness led to me being at a complete loss about what type of machine I needed. I knew what I wanted it to do...just not which machine would be able to do that. Of course I asked my friends what type of machine they had and if they thought it could quilt. Since most of my friends who use sewing machines use them for garment making they were at a loss to whether their machines could perform in that manner. I then tried to do online research...but all of the information seemed either to be advertising hype that was probably more than half false or conflicted wildly---again, I was stumped. I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on something that wouldn't do what I needed it too...
And so, I found myself in the fabric store...which also conveniently sells things like sewing machines. I was asking questions...and they were asking me what it was I wanted the machine to do...It soon became clear there was a machine that could do all I wanted it to...and more. And best of all--it was on sale! (I love sales on products I already plan to buy!) Best of all, however, is the fact that they had free classes on how to use my new machine...I was sold.
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And so, machine in hand and a class scheduled I trotted off home to make room for my new crafting tool!
This proved to be less than easy. Firstly, because my beloved cat Simon prefers my desk as a napping spot. He begrudgingly give it to me when book-making, but I am convinced he only does so that he may sneak into the glue when I am distracted. Having a large and immovable (yes, the cow tried to push the new machine onto the floor!) object blocking his favorite sleeping haunt has been less than ideal for him. And secondly because of the need to rehome the knickknacks that cluttered my work surface. I like looking at them, so, the desk was a perfect spot for them (when Simon wasn't shoving them off). So, a day was spent on rearranging. And then a thought...if my sewing machine is now in pride of place on the desk...should I move my bookmaking supplies out of the desk drawers and back into the closet of stash? But, of course there is the fact that I could just temporarily move the sewing machine down to make books, and then move it back once the surface was cleaned off...but would I want to move the sewing machine...or would I just find it easier to make my books at the kitchen table (which is where I end up making large multi-step books anyways...decisions, decisions...and surprise! I have yet to decide about the desk drawers. However, everything is now ready to begin learning how my new machine works.
In other news, I have gotten a new betta fish...I have named him Zoltan (well, my four year old nephew named him, but I agreed that the name was perfect!) And because I think he is very beautiful I am giving you a picture of him as well!
Happy Crafting! Seckmea.
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