Choosing a new sewing machine

I had two sewing machines.  One that I purchased in the mid-eighties.  It's a nice domestics Brother with a few special stitches and an electronic display.  It has really served me well over the years but in 2009 it began to have issues and needed service.  The stitches would skip and repeatedly make birds nests.

Because I needed to hen my DD's wedding dress, I put my machine in the shop and bought a cheap Singer machine from Walmart.  It's a very basic machine mostly made of plastics.  I don't enjoy sewing on it because of its light weight.  It feels like it is going to jump off the table.

Since 2009, I've made do with what I had fairly well but I've noticed that the Brother was beginning to have issues.  It smells to me that the feed dogs were not moving the fabric along as it should.  I was having to help the fabric move through the stitches.  I've pieces a few quilts and sewed a bunch of doll clothes over the last year or so and felt that I needed to do something about the sewing machine situation if I was going to continue to sew.

I had a short list of requirements:  basic stitches, bright lights, effective movement of the fabric, ability to do some for (free motion quilting).   Most of the machines offered by the fabric stores were also very light weight models - no big improvement from the cheap Singer model.

I finally found some free time on a Saturday and headed over to the local sewing machine store.  Initially, I was going to purchase a walking foot for my Brother.  I was looking at a $40 investment to try to fix a problem.  While I contemplated my purchase, I asked the sales lady to show me what they had available that was reliable and had the ability to do some fmq.

She showed me a Janome Skyline 5.  I was instantly impressed with the smoothness of the machine and the speed control.  I liked the fact that it could be operated without the foot pedal and had a knee lift.  It has variety of stitches (not the most important feature to me) along with alphabets for simple monograming/labeling.  It came with several feet including a walking foot (important for quilting).  Along with all these features, it has a healthy price tag - more than I would normally considered for a sewing machine.  

After doing some research on reviews and pricing, I found pricing as high as $1300.  My local store sells this for $950 new and mine was a new machine only used for one class.  It still comes with the regular warranty and first year's service.  It was still a stretch to the budget at $850 but my reasonings that I got 30 years out of my last machine.  This one can do so much more and it so much easier to use. 

I've done a little sewing on it - mending and a little piecing - but I really haven't had the time or project to put it to the test yet.  I have two t-shirt quilt projects that I will be starting on soon and have Christmas deadlines.

                                               My new machine on its first day home.

                                                                        This was my test project to make sure I liked the machine.  I was able to machine appliqué the leaves onto the runner then machine quilt the runner diagonally.  Binding was applied by machine and hand stitching.

A menu and goals for the week

This week's menu was thrown together quickly and haphazardly.  I have a few holes but I think it will come together.  I purposefully tried to plan meals from items we already had and thus reducing required grocery spending.  I'm thinking of instituting a Thrifty Thursday .. a pantry meals or a meatless meal.

Sunday - Homemade Vegetqble Soup with bread 

Monday - Barebones Tacos

Tuesday - leftover soup

Wednesday - Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Salad

Thursday - Salad Bar

Friday - Pizza or tbd

Saturday - tbd

I usually don't make goals for the week because I find that they quickly go south.  I'm going to try four for this week and grow the list each week.  I'm still working so I have just the evenings to work on any projects.

1.  Money/Bills:  follow up on refund from dentist, deposit and hold cash for grocery funds

2.  Creative:  Average 30 minutes each night of sewing, quilting, etc.

3.  Household:  clean floors in kitchen and dining room

4.  Cooking/Food:  cook dried kidney beans

If I can pull off three of the four, it will be a success.

Frugal or not frugal weekend?

I It's hard to pin this last weekend down as eithe frugal or not frugal.

In the not frugal category, DH had the 1000 mile service done on his bike at the dealership.  Definitely, not frugal.  We also ate out a bit more than usual with two of the meals while we were waiting on the bike to be serviced.

In the frugal category, I spent a reasonable amount on groceries despite two trips to Publix, one to BJs, and a stop at Aldi's on Friday.  I would guess less than $100 for all the groceries.  I was able to stock up on mandarin oranges, fresh apples, coffee Kcups, olives, etc.

Also in the frugal category, DH was able to make some modifications to his bike himself without having to pay the dealership's high labor rates.  To make it even more frugal, the parts he needed were paid for by selling some unused items he had around the house.

We were also able to save money because he found some old rain gear he thought he had given away and therefore didn't have to buy new ones.  

I had to buy a new iron.  My old one was actually still working but the cord has been getting too hot and has thrown the fuse a few times.  I was worried that it would start a fire.  I had looked at a few and a coupon came out for a TFall iron at BJs.  It sells for $40 less a $15 coupon.  Not a bad deal.  So far, I really like it.

The cooler weather meant that the air conditioning has mostly been off this weekend.  That will save us money on our next electric bill.  We were able to leave the windows open all day Sunday.  That doesn't happen very often but it was cool and breezy.  We will probably need to turn the a/c on at bedtime since we don't have the new windows upstairs.  It is very difficult to open the windows and there are no screens currently on those windows.  I was hoping that those windows would have been replaced by now, but we've had other expenses and we are trying to put money away to bridge my unemployment at the end of this month.

For dinner Sunday night, I created a pantry dinner (no special purchases) - Vegetable Soup.    I used canned vega less along with some fresh onions, celery and potatoes.  The result was a full Dutch oven full of soup, enough for two dinners.  I picked up a Demi loaf of olive oil Rosemary bread at Publix.  It was excellent but at $1.99 for a very small loaf, I think I can make my own (larger loaf) cheaper.  The Prudent Homemaker has a recipe for the same bread.  Once I have more time during the day, I will get back to bread making.

Enough for now, I have a quilt to be hand quilted and one that needs machine piecing.

Stocking up

I will be stopping by Aldi's on the way home tomorrow specifically to pick up mandarin oranges.  I will likely get a case, 12 cans.  (I got a case of kidney beans there last week.). They also have a great price on apples so I may go ahead and get some of those as well.  I feel like it is too early to be working on applesauce and apple butter but I may go ahead and prep some for dehydrated apple slices.

I will also stock up on paper napkins and some tissues.

Planning for a new week

I got something done today that I've been putting off for a couple of months.  I finally selected and ordered a pair of glasses.  Last time I got glasses, I simply had new lenses put in my frames.  As I recall, it cost me over $300 just for the lenses after my insurance.  Today, I ordered a pair from BJs Wholesale Club.  They were having a sale and there was a pair of frames I liked.  My cost was $311.  I did not use my insurance it I think I can get reimbursed for the covered items.  Even if the reimbursement is a $100, I still come out way ahead.

While we were at BJs, I also bought a three pack of pork loin and some round steak.  We had one of the pork loins for dinner.  It was the best pork I've had in a while - like a tender barbecue pork chop - very lean.  Tomorrow, I will be using about half of the steak to make beef stew.  I will be adding the two remaining pork loins to the freezer along with half of the steak.

I still need to pick up a few random things from Publix tomorrow - milk, deli meat, etc.  I will try to limit my spending to the items we need.  For the rest of the meals this week, I will be relying on items already on hand.

Saturday - pork loin, potatoes and broccoli

Sunday - beef stew with rice,  tomato and cucumber salad

Monday - BBQ chicken or tacos

Tuesday - grilled cheese and tomato soup

Wednesday - smoked sausage, stuffed peppers with Spanish rice

Thursday - salad

Friday - pizza

Oh my, what a week already!

It's Wednesday and it seems like a Monday. (Let's face it, all the work days seem like Mondays to me right now.)

I finished two projects last night: embroidering the new baby's name on his blanket and finishing the hem one fall table runner.  I still have two skirts to hem and a top to mend.  A Hexie quilt in progress and a new quilt to start.

I triaged last night and made some real progress but alas, I will need to do that again tonight, just to stay on target.  

Three day weekends are great but what usually happens is we try to do something extra that throws our whole schedule off kilter.  At least, that's how I'm feeling this morning!

Handwork

I've been working on this project since the first of the year.  Almost completely made from scraps I already had in hand with a few fat quarters throw in for variety.

The pattern is commonly known as Granmothers Garden and was popular circa 1930s depression years.    Presumably, it was a good way to utilize small scraps to create wonderfully artistic works.

Evidence of hexagon quilts date back as far as 1770 England with the first American hexagon quilt dated to 1807. (www.womenfolk.com)

Mine started as a self test.  I had never done any English Paper Piecing.  Once I started, it became a challenge to use as many of my pastel scraps as possible.

Now, I'm at the point of trying to find a finish line.  My shape was a big hexagon but I'm trying to change that to a square or rectangle which will be easier to manage.

As I finish up this project, I will also post a basic "how to."  For further hints or instructions, there are many tutorials available on you tube.

Watch for the "how to" coming soon and my finished quilt in the coming months.