Remember me?

Sorry it has been so long between posts. My mom is holding her own with some days/hours being better and with less pain than others.

There still isn't much sewing happening here :( but I am hoping to get a little in later this week. On the bright side, I did manage to hem a pair of my daughter's jeans that have been floating around the sewing room for a month (or two!).

Construction of our addition is proceeding as well. These two pictures show the outside of my family room on Sunday and then on Monday. No more door wall. The room looks like a cave at the moment. Final plans include adding windows on either side of the fireplace, but we aren't there yet.

I think it is a lot of fun to watch the progress on the addition. I was pretty excited when they delivered all the wood.

I hope you all had lovely holidays and have a Happy New Year!

Construction?

Well before my mother fell on Dec 4, we were in the throes of planning an addition to our house so that she could move in with us. The addition is a large master-suite style space off our family room.

As any of you who have done this sort of thing before know well, everything takes longer than you think it will. I won't bore you with all the delay details, but they finally dug the hole on Dec 7. Right now, I am just keeping my fingers crossed that the footings can be poured before it is too cold for concrete. If we can get that done, progress should allow her to move in properly sometime late winter/early spring. I say properly, because she is currently living with us in our living room. We did not factor her fall into our plans!

Mom is having surgery tomorrow to make sure her arm heals properly and increase the amount of movement she can regain. I'm afraid any quilting content will be a bit scarce for a while.

I hope you and yours are well and enjoy your holidays!

My Sewing Machine

This is my sewing machine. It is a Kenmore 1345. My sister and her boyfriend (later husband, then ex-husband and also my husband's brother!) gave it to "us" for a wedding present. It certainly has to be one of the presents that has seen the most use over the years. My husband and I have been married 27 years now!

It has really been a trooper of a machine and has needed very little service over its lifetime so far. The quality of its stitch is good and I can machine quilt without a walking foot - which is good since they don't make one for this model anymore.

While I love the reliability and consistency of this machine, I hope someday to have a machine that has needle down. I dream about needle down! (OK, not exactly, but you know what I mean). I'd also love a blanket stitch that works. And, because I am not very familiar with newer, fancier machines, I'm sure that they have any number of bells and whistles that I don't even know I want!

But, for now, old faithful here needs to keep on going and going...

(PS Sorry for the long time between posts - my mother fell last week and broke her arm and I have been helping her manage. Posts may be scarce for a while, but I'll get back into the swing of things as soon as she can manage better on her own.)

Non-quilt sewing

I have been busy sewing like crazy, but don't have any quilts to show for it! I have been working on bibs. One of the very part time jobs I do is to make bibs for a local company. They include them in gift baskets they sell. (The other job is working at a local non-profit as an accounting assistant).

I really appreciate this job as it would be very easy for the company to get their bibs from overseas. While I won't exactly get rich on making bibs, it sure helps support my fabric buying habit! Being able to work at home when I have time is another huge perk.

This picture is one of the batch I have been working on this week. Aren't those snowmen cute! I get to pick the fabric I use as long as it isn't too girly or boyish or holiday themed - it has to work for everyone.

I consider myself very lucky to be able to make some money doing one of my favorite things!