Monday, April 18, 2011

Welcome to Wedding Wars

We've gone to visit two venues so far. There's another scheduled for tomorrow evening and one for Wednesday afternoon. Dear daughter and I aren't seeing eye to eye on a few things (like the day, the time, the venue) but I'm sure we'll work that out. At the moment dear daughter is doing her best to be impulsive (which is what she does best), and mother of the bride is doing her best to be negative (which is what she does best). We've got until next Thursday to come together in a Vulcan Mind Meld, so hopefully we'll make some progress this week.

Life is still a bit scattered. I've not had proper time to correspond with my newly connected Jr. High School friend, Debbie, so I've not corresponded at all (shame on me!). I think I'll fix that after this post and at least shoot her a short message...a short message is better than no message at all, don't you think?

The heat fixer guys come again tomorrow, and from their last call, it sounds like they may have come up with an ingenious way to blame the problem on the possibility of mice in the wallschewing the wiring that goes from the thermostat in the dining room to the heat pump outside.  (I don't think it matters that we haven't seen a mouse, let alone any evidence of a mouse in the house since the 1st year the house was built and it was still all woods around us...we've been mouseless for at least 20 years.) Obviously they're stretching to find something outside the warranty. Honestly?  I'll tell you this, when he brings those wires in to me tomorrow, he better have sufficiently chewed them and I'd better not see any plastic coating in his teeth.

My boss gave his notice last Friday, and I've got until Wednesday to decide if I want to apply for his job. This is a tough one for me, for many reasons, and at the moment, I can't believe I'm saying this, I don't think I want his job. It would mean no more telecommuting days. The hubs says I need to figure out how much of a raise it would have to be for me to give that up. There's a lot to be said about rolling out of bed, grabbing a cup of joe and starting your workday in your PJs two days a week. Decisions....decisions.....

I've been looking at the Winding Ways blocks on the design wall for a week now and they just haven't inspired me to sew them. I think there's a reason for that, and that would be....





Yay!!!!!! The Stitch in the Ditch sole plate for my walking foot finally arrived. See the metal piece in the middle of it?  (look at the bottom). Well, that sits in your seam as you stitch....invisible in the ditch stitching, every time.  For you Bernina users, it's like having a #10 walking foot. It's been a long time coming. It was ordered back in March and it took more than month for it to get here.


I think I'm going to throw caution to the Winding Ways and I'm going to thread up the Bernina and finish off the Mexican Star. All that's left on this is to ditch stitch the vertical and horizontal bars, and I've been holding off waiting for this soleplate to arrive...no excuses anymore.

Saturday was one of those crazy, rainy days and the hubs needed to go shopping up in Frederick, so I volunteered to go along as long as he would stop at JoAnn Fabrics for the last day of the Daffodil Dash sale. Now, mind you, there's really nothing I want from JoAnn except some thread, some batting, some rulers, books...and I had seen this really cute bird print home dec fabric in their flyer that I thought would make a great chair cushion and sewing machine cover for the studio.

The bird  print I had my eye out for wound up being way too large for what I had in mind, so I wandered back to their quilting department. This is a JoAnn superstore, and I gotta tell you, as I'm walking down this 'special purchase' fabric row that was 30% off,  I was experiencing a little quilt shop deja vu.



I don't know about you, but I can spot an Alexander Henry fabric in a JoAnn like Sara Jessica Parker can spot a pair of Louboutins in Payless. And it's not that easy because in JoAnn, the Alexander Henry fabrics aren't on gold foiled bolts. I don't ask why they have them (for $7.99 and 8.99 a yard, no less---on sale for 30% off that), I just buy them.

As it turns out, I've already got the Day of the Dead print on the left, so you'll see that again in an upcoming giveaway.

With the hubs beginning to whine about how long he'd been in the store, and how he thought I was just running in for one thing, whaaa, whaaa, whaaa....I was somehow miraculously able to maintain brain function and remember that I needed to see if they had wool on sale....bingo! I was able to pick up a yard of lovely cream wool for 50% off to use on one of my upcoming wool applique projects. It's so much easier to throw it in a hot water wash when you only paid $13 a yard for it. :)

So, life is almost back to normal. And now I'm off to test drive the walking foot.

Don't forget to post your comments for a chance to win the April giveaway!

11 comments:

  1. So I have to be nosy about this sole plate. I do a lot of quilting 1/4" from the seam--would I be able to set my needle pretty far to the left (I have a 730 that is 8mm, so I have a lot of wiggle room). My current sole plate on the walking foot (likely the same as yours) only allows me to go a couple of millimeters to each side.

    Best wishes on the wedding--I hope my kids want to elope when they are grown!

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  2. Interesting reading. Good luck with the wedding.

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  3. Jo-ann's is getting lots of press these days! Too bad there is none anywhere near me :( I'm helping a friend plan her wedding. Different than doing this with a daughter where you have more invested I think.

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  4. So many decisions to make . . . job, wedding and quilting. Take your time and choose wisely what will be best for you. It will all work out.

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  5. Ha ha, best wishes for the wedding plans, I have to say it reminds me of what an objectionable child I was when I was making wedding plans a million years ago! Still regret not doing it properly and allowing my now ex-husband to cause a rift between me and my parents. Hmm, therapy session over, back to the sewing. Love the cool foot, looking forward to seeing your winding ways project (mine's still a bag of fabric and a magazine article, hey ho). Keep smiling, hugs.

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  6. I hope the Vulcan Mind Meld happens soon! I remember my wedding with my ex-husband, I didn't get to make a single decision. Mom made them all.

    I picked up my new sole plate last weekend but haven't had a chance to play with it yet. I've heard that they are on serious backorder. My dealer ordered 36 and only got 12.

    I totally understand your reservations on the job front. I was in a similar situation last fall and finally decided when I was asked to fly out for another interview that I didn't want it. So glad. The person who got the job has been on a plane so much - something I don't want to do. I hope you find peace with your decision.

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  7. Enjoy your walking foot, they are wonderful!!

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  8. When my daughter and I planned her wedding, everything went perfectly. So glad that it did. I love how you go from one project to another without finishing the first one. Just what I do. Too many things to make... to little hours in the day.

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  9. OH MY!! What a busy lady you have been!! Hope you figured out the job thing, and yep a short note is better than no note, love the fabrics too! hahaha!! (on the wedding wars...)

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  10. Hope the wedding plans have gone better. I just ended up doing a courthouse wedding so I didn't feel the pressure of planning it with my mom, she would have hated it anyways. Your fabric purchases are great! I love those prints!

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  11. Love the toadstool print!
    I wish we had Joann's here in the UK!!

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I appreciate and look forward to your comments. Thanks for reading. Happy quilting!