I have to do the grocery shopping tomorrow morning, then I can work on the food. I think we're doing a Christmas lasagna, along with some alfredo and garlic bread. Lasagna is something I've done for Christmas several times, not a tradition, but not uncommon for us either. DH is off on Christmas Eve, so I might do a nice dinner then too, even if it's just the five of us.
I managed to make five quick Christmas gifts, small things that went in stockings. I've missed making Christmas presents in the last few years, and it was fun to make something. When my kids were young and we were broke, I made almost all of their presents, and I loved thinking of stuff to make for them. This year three of my kids made things for Christmas gifting, and I was so proud to see the tradition of handmade gifts going on.
Today I am working on DS the Younger's wedding quilt. I hadn't touched it in the last couple of weeks, with all of the other wedding stuff going on for DD#2. Today is the only day I have to work on the piecing this week, and I doubt I'll have another chance until Christmas Day, when I'll likely be home alone.
Today I'm working on the pinwheels for the center of these blocks. When the pinwheels are done, I can put together all of the brown stars. I haven't done the sub-units for the green stars yet, because I need to cut more background fabric. Maybe I'll work on that on Christmas. I haven't pressed any of the pinwheels yet, and that's why I used two pins to hold it somewhat flat to my ironing board in the photo.
DH bought me an early Christmas gift. He snagged a Singer 403 in a cabinet for $20. The cabinet looks rough, but it's solid. DH is going to look into refinishing it for me, but I can use it out of the cabinet for now. All of the cords were missing, and there were no accessories with it. Between my Singer 301, and my 503, I had everything I needed to get it going, but I snagged this machine it's own stuff on ebay for cheap. I even have an original manual and accessories. I did buy a new foot pedal, because although I have gotten used to the button pedals, I still prefer the newer gas pedal style foot pedals. I love the old Singers because parts are so easily found for them. I have a few other brands on my wish list of vintage machines, but only specific models. Some brands of vintage machines are so hard to find parts for, that I just don't want them, no matter how cool they look. I only want machines I can actually sew on.
I've had a couple people ask why I have so many sewing machines. How many do I need? Well, absolutely need? One probably, my Bernina 440 can do everything I need. The thing is, I love sewing on vintage machines, it's like sewing on history. What else have been sewn on these machines? Corsets? Poodle skirts? Petticoats? I'm sure if we downsize someday, I will downsize my sewing machine collection as well. For now, I will happily play with my $10 and $20 sewing machine finds.
Oh, one more thing I've been working on? I turned DD#2's bedroom into a guest room. We bought a queen sized bed for in there, I repurposed some furniture and lamps from other areas in the house, and now it's a pretty functional guest room. Eventually, I'd like to repaint the room, but no time for that right now. I ended up throwing an OLD quilt on the bed in there, one we got as a wedding gift almost 30 years ago. It is made from polyester double knit, and has a couple patches that are falling apart. As soon as I finish quilting Double Delight, I'll switch the quilts out, but I didn't have a spare queen sized quilt in the house besides that one. I let DS the Elder take Orca Bay to South Bend, IN with him, to keep him warm in those lake effect snows. It would have been large enough for the guest bed, but I'll get Double Delight done soon, and the old quilt will work until then. The honeymoon couple will be down tomorrow, and they'll be the first to sleep in the new guest room.
1 comment:
Some people don't understand the 'love' for older machines. I have 3 relatively new ones that have the embroidery functions as well, but for sturdy, nothing beats the older machines. People are surprised to find out that I actually rotate my machines so that they are all being used and not just shelf sitters.
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