Texas tumbleweeds progress

Three things to be happy about:
(1) lined notebook paper
(2) a lace hanky
(3) a new key chain

Still working on the Texas Tumbleweeds spinning star units ...

A bunch of twosies sewn together!

Multi-tasking!

I like playing the games on Facebook, especially House of Fun... I can collect spins and play on my Kindle while I sew!

And a few tumbling star blocks pieced, just to keep from getting bored...










That's it for now, sew forth and sew on til later!

Making friends with my Brother

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a good decision
(2) listening to The Carol of the Bells
(3) a new calendar

Last week I was determined to make friends with my Brother.  What!??  No no no - not the little doodie-head I grew up with - nuh-uh!

We're talking about my Brother LB-6770 computerized sewing and embroidery machine!

I saw this machine at Costco and talked myself out of getting it, then over the next two days I talked myself into getting it, so back I went to Costco.  BUT... just that quick they were all gone, eeek!  Checked Costco online and boy o boy, they had it!  I couldn't wait to get this machine -  the price was good, it did embroidery, it had a gazillion stitches - just HAD to have it!

It came within a couple days, I opened er up, looked at all the shiny new stuff, put er back in the box, and there she sat - since January 2010!

This isn't my first experience with a computerized machine - on each of the quilters' cruises I took we were supplied with really nice Janome machines, and each time it was the latest model, new out the box.

But my go-to machines til now have been my Singer Touch n Sew purchased in 1970, or the Janome Sewist 521 that I use for bee or guild meetings - hardly computerized!

I like being able to set the stitch length on the screen; it took a bit of trial and error but now it's set!  The upper and lower tension is so much easier to fix than on my Singer.

Automatic needle threader - yes!  Accurate quarter-inch seams - saved in memory!

I always had an issue with the quarter-inch seam on the Janome, so I only used it for things where the seam wasn't crucial.

I haven't tried out any of the other 66 stitches yet, for now good ole straight stitch is all I need!

Embroidery isn't something I've ever done before, but that treat will wait til I'm ready.  The main thing is - I made friends with my Brother and I like him a lot!  Why didn't I do this sooner???

And last but not least, here's a timely tip:

If you haven't picked up your calendars for 2015 yet, and if you can wait til New Year's day, you can get nice calendars at half price from Jo-Ann fabrics. 

When I got mine this year they had a pretty good selection left and I was seeing them at this particular store for about a month, so you should be able to find something you like!

That's it for now, have a great Monday, get those Christmas projects finished - sew forth and sew on til later!

Guild fun!

Welcome to the shortest day of the year!  As I understand it, we'll gain one minute more of daylight starting tomorrow, isn't that great?

Yesterday was our guild's annual Christmas party meeting, and as always it was fun with so much going on!

When I left home it was a bit cold, but the atmosphere at the meeting was warm with good cheer, great food, and chatting with friends you only get to see once a month!

We had the drawing for our raffle quilt (won by a lady in Baltimore), gift exchanges, door prizes, an ugly fabric auction - look at some of the uglies that were auctioned off:

somebody got a nice piece of "batik-y" that can be used for a back, for around $3 (I think):

And what would any guild meeting be without a parade of quilts - also known as show n tell:

so much talent in our guild!

And of course lots and LOTS of great food - and these were just some of the leftovers!

Sew much to see and do at guild every month!  Short day today, gotta run - sew forth and sew on til later!