Susan Sews: Yes But What Have You Done For Me Lately?

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Yes But What Have You Done For Me Lately?

I'm working on a big intranet project with my company, trying to learn new things like how to post things to an intranet site, and how to organize pages so people can find things easily.

Big job... easier said than done too.

Just like I said about the sewer systems years ago when I started working for Water Engineers, I know way more about the internet now than I ever wanted to know! (Note to self, it's a lot more pleasant than learning about sludge, wastewater and the like!!)

So that's keeping me hopping, and with family obligations I haven't had much time to spend in my sewing studio lately.

DH and I celebrated 45 years of marriage last Sunday... and those years seem like they just screamed by me like Secretariat!! I don't feel a whole lot different than I did back then. Well except for the aching knees some mornings, or when it rains, or the exhaustion after a late night or several. OMG when did I get OLD?? LOL!!

This is my latest project, the denim jacket patches for a coworker...very colorful. There's one patch for every band he's seen live and in concert.

Do you see the cross on the right side of the photo above? It says Black Sabbath. It crosses a seam. Before I realized that I was doing it, I stabbed the needle down and it bent. It didn't break, but it bent further to the right than I thought was possible.

Maybe the band name was an omen!!! (music from Jaws...)

I put in a new needle, moved over, took another stitch and BROKE that needle. I pulled everything out, changed the needle, and rolled the flywheel gently to see what was up. The needle was hitting about a sixteenth or maybe a thirty-second of an inch behind the hole in the sole plate.

I bent my machine! OH NO!! (sounds of groaning...)

OK, that cannot be good.

DH took the machine to our local repair guy at the wonderful Frank's Sewing Center the next day. I worried... what if they tell me they can't fix it? Because I have done this before on this machine -- I braced for the bad new.

Three days later, they called and said it was fixed. They left a voicemail, and didn't leave the cost in the message.

OK, bracing for the worst... DH went and picked it up. When I got home from work I looked at his face, searching for the bad news that he had to take a second mortgage to pay for the damage I'd done...

<pregnant pause for drama>

It was only about $15 more than what it cost to have it cleaned and serviced for its annual checkup!! Which they also did while it was there -- Brad, I love you man!!

The rest of the patches are below. Enjoy the tour!

BTW here's a little app I have on my phone that will do a collage of the photos I have in my gallery. I thought these pics from the Madison Quilt Exp made a cool grouping.