A little sewing machine

Nothing completed recently to show. I AM sewing though. And Colin! (His is a secret... He and I are having so much fun! I speak for myself... maybe he is just bearing with me.)

Marcy's baby quilt for a friend is coming along. I will finish quilting it today and then get the binding on tonight. Maybe I can convince Marcy to sew the binding down (it IS her quilt.)

Back in Japan I was sort of thinking about buying a new sewing machine if my old one couldn't be repaired. But as it turned out, it DID get repaired and I ditched the idea of buying a new one. That's okay, because they were way too expensive for me anyway. And then I come to the States to do my summer sewing and I use Kiana's sewing machine. It is set up in my mother's living room and every morning I look at it fondly and think,

"Okay Sweetheart. You're doing just fine. Don't give out on me. I know I'm working you pretty hard and I know I'm forcing you to do things you never planned to do but I recognize how much you are trying to stay with me and make me happy. You are a good little machine and should be proud of yourself."

Kiana got her sewing machine three years ago. It is a Singer Prelude and Marcy says they paid less than $100 for it. Maybe $75. Every summer we give it a workout making pillow cases and aprons and QUILTS and then it gets put away in a closet until the next year. Kiana claims when she tries to use it during the year that it doesn't work but I think the thread just gets tangled in the bobbin case or someone has mis-threaded. It works fine for me... The problems must be things that a newer sewer wouldn't know but that I can coddle out.

That's not to say there aren't frustrations. The dang bobbin has a bobbin case (not the drop down type) and it such a pain to change bobbins. There is no thread cutter and the dumb needle doesn't go to the needle down position. The feed dogs don't retract which I had thought would negate any free motion quilting but I went ahead and tried. I don't notice a huge difference in my quilting even with feed dogs up... Which does or doesn't say much about my quilting ability...

I guess one doesn't need a fancy sewing machine. The little Prelude does just fine. What can I do for Kiana's sewing machine to show my appreciation? (I already made it a cover...) It is trying so hard....