Who to blame.......Bonnie? Or Husband?

This past week, there truly has only been one thing on my mind:

6AM until 10PM -- all day long....school planning, school prepping, school fretting, school meetings, school potlucks, ....... you name it!  If it relates to school.... it's been my life for 5 days straight!

Thank GOODNESS Paul's "off-days" fell this week.  Life would have been much more hectic if they hadn't.  

But now, after spending a final (non-required) few hours at school this morning.....

I feel CALM!  Most of my energy has been dedicated to the updated AP-Statistics vision for the school year, and I feel ready!  ((At least for Day #1)  LOL.

So, at noon, Paul called me to see if I wanted to ride along with him to pick up pig food at a town 20 miles away.  

You Bet'cha!  Cass ended her volleyball practice at noon, I wrapped up a few last minute things for Tuesday's First Day, and we headed out.  {{Of course, I should mention that I read the "Staff Handbook" on the way down to the feed store, but then, I was DONE!}}  I zipped the school bag shut.  And we chatted.

And we stopped for ice cream "for lunch" on the way back.

And we stopped at a garage sale.......

Having NO intentions of really buying anything, we just "looked."  It was a "Paul-style" yard sale;  antiques, carpentry... it was at a huge farm, afterall.

And then.....

"Hey Amy, aren't those sewing machine cases?"

NOW, before I go any further....

I AM NOT starting a collection!  Nope.  Not an interest.

BUT, when each was only priced at $4.00......

come ON!  Who WOULDN'T pass 'em up?!?!!?!?  Even if they don't work....they'll be LOVELY decorations!!!!!!

SO......

Machine #1....

Machine #2:  (HEAVY!!!!)

I have done ZERO research so far.  My first stop was to update the blog when we arrived home.  So, if you have info you'd like to share, Super!  I doubt they run.  I doubt they have all "working" pieces.  But.....that black one is just PURDY!!!!!!

And THEN!

Shortly after turning onto our road, Paul says...."Ya know, we should really stop there at least once."

We have lived at our house for almost 10 years now, and just half a mile down the road is a "Homestead Crafts" ..... umm.....store?  It's a renovated ol' barn, nothing much to look at from the outside.  I've always thought "yeah, I should stop just to see what they have...." but it simply hasn't happened.

So we stopped.

OH!

MY!

WOWNESS!!!!!!

This is truly one of those "it's not much to look at from the outside, but the inside....WOW!" kinda dealios!  Both Paul and I took one step inside and said........WOW.....with our jaw dropping to the floor.

It is FILLLLLLED with crafts! Ceramics, sewing, quilting, crochet, knitting, woodwork, cement-moldings, knickknacks, bead work,  ..... well...... I can't even list it all!

Curious??  Homestead Crafts online, and the website really doesn't do the place justice!  I will definitely be stopping back there sometime soon!

So now.....

I'm going to have "me" time.

First, do some sewing machine research.

Then, do some sewing machine dusting, maintenance, and testing.

Then.....

This box has been waiting patiently since Wednesday for me to dig into!

My collection of scarves has grown with some time dedicated to them last week.  I mass ordered the Green/Gold team spirit yarn in order to whip up some more for the Fall craft shows coming up soon -- MIL is asking for me to "help out any way I can."  

Duh----let's see if GO PACKERS scarves will sell.  If not-----CHRISTMAS PRESENTS!! :)

School work will return, but I really think I'm "good" until Monday.

Then of course.....

the garden is getting red with tomatoes, and green with cucumbers and beans.  But for now...... I think that can wait until tomorrow.

Happy Friday everyone!  

Making room...

I HAVE been around; living life; sewing when I can; and researching a LOT this past week (more to come on THIS soon)...

So, yesterday morning, I looked at this mess of boxes...


and this mess of strip scraps that have been collecting for two years!......


and this hap-hazzard area of "quilt-layout"... (GOSH! I have piles of fabric all over the place!!!).....


and CLEANED--LIFTED--MOVED--SNEEZED (at the dust)--VACUUMED UP MOUSE "stuff"--EWWWWWWW--SWATTED AWAY SPIDERS--UGHHHHHH......

All at the same time, I emptied this (my former sewing room)...


and moved into my main basement area...
This is the same area that had the mess of boxes in the first picture...now with a "curtain" backdrop

Same area as the "quilt-layout" pictured above--SOON to be enhanced by a 4-piece matching desk/table combo being inherited by my parents...


Sadly, I STILL have boxes of fabric to sort through (SOME DAY), but at least they are organized now into nicer looking piles.

I don't have any permanent carpet installed on the floors; all of my carpets are left-over "scraps" from installing in other parts of the finished house. The old sewing room in now carpet-free with one hope: To have a "finished" room by mid-summer! Until then, I will sew in the main area of the basement and use my "sewing room" as the quilt-layout area.

Pictured here is the same area as the collected-strip-scraps above. The two bins pictured have since been moved, and you'll notice my lovely green "outdoor-indoor" carpet??? I needed 130" of carpet (I ALMOST made it; 122"----good enough!!!)

Why you ask? The outcome of my research this past week....Grace GMQ-Pro and Juki TL98Q combo...


It's not a "Cadillac" by any means, but, it's affordable and better than what I currently have (kneeling, basting, and fighting the quilting under the DSM)

Now for those of you following Angela (Soscrappy)----our "twin-dom" has returned! We "found" each other in 2008 and were amazed by the similarities between us (teachers of Math and Science, three children almost the same ages, quilters, runners...); I officially dubbed her my on-line twin! Now---we're at it again. However....YES! I WILL admit that I'm jealous of HER purchase versus mine, but...se-la-vee...I will enjoy watching her with her beautiful HQ 16 while I learn on my Juki 98. I'm okay with that :0) And besides-----she has to wait a couple of weeks; MINE is being delivered (hopefully) tomorrow! I've been eyeing up the tracking site every few hours ;0)

Okay---off to actually SEW something now that the cleaning is done!

Happy Tuesday

Patient and Disciplined Researcher today---but trying to NOT be impulsive on a new machine is HARD to do

Well folks----it's 4:00 in the afternoon and my research started at 5:45 this morning for a new sewing/quilting machine! It hasn't been completely uninterupted----I DID make it downstairs for about an hour before lunch. If I didn't, I would have just Clicked the stinkin' BUY button on this Janome 4400. Selling for $699.00 seemed SUCH a good buy----BUT, I was disciplined. I KNEW I needed to really research my options ......

so....most of the morning consisted of mannnnny Janome sites after excluding the Bernina's. Trust me---(I think I even posted my 'passion' on Quiltville this morning)---If I suddenly won the lottery, my ULTIMATE dream machine would be the Bernina 440QE (stitch regulator and all the bells-n-whistles). But----**sigh**---- WAAAAY too expensive ($3500**GULP**).

My Janome choices were narrowed down to the 4400, 4800QE, and the 6600 within an hour. THEN came a couple of hours of searching through reviews on the three machines. A great website for reviews: PatternReviews.com. Bottom-line---even though the 6600 seemed to be top of the line of the three, I just couldn't see the price vs. some of the downfalls of the machine (~$1500.00). The big PRO about the 6600----harp size (bed size) is 9 whopping inches instead of the 7" standard. The big CON seems to be the plate and fabric always getting "pushed" down into the bobbin housing. So, by lunch, I had narrowed my list to basically the 4800QE or the 4400.

Then, when I came back online after lunch, there was an email from a lady an hour north of me---she has the 4800, but suggested the 6600 since her sister and mother each have one and love it. After a few emails back-n-forth, she informed me that a quilt shop 30 minutes away carries Janome's. So---phone call to the quilt shop. They carry the 6600 for $1599.00, but not the 4900 (replaced the 4800). However, she said it wouldn't be a problem to order a 4900 ($1100.00) if that was my final choice. So--my hope tomorrow is to go to the shop after my 5K race (will update about that later) before it closes to try out the 6600.

And that's where I left things for about an hour.

Then came another email. This one from the southern part of the state, an hour away from my "home-town." She informed me that the LQS was closing and selling Bernina's at reduced prices. I thanked her kindly for the information, but dismissed it without a second thought. Until, 30 minutes later----and I figured I'd just call to see what the prices were dropped to....

So--phone call to the shop, and the owner answered. Come to find out, she was closing THAT shop, but keeping her OTHER one open that is MUCH closer to me (2 hours versus 4 hours away). I mainly asked her about the Bernina 440QE, but also asked about the 430, (since that is was Angela purchased). She was all out of the 430's but quoted me $2924.00 for the 440. *GULP* Yeah right----

and then...

...."oh, I also offer a 15 month/no interest finance plan."

Aghhhhhhhhhh!! She just HAD to put that little tid-bit in!!!! So my mathematical mind was saying..."WOW---that's affordable now---really, it's only about $200/month---ask more about it....."

So, another 15 minutes of conversation lead to directions to her other store and a meeting time of noon at her other store to "test run" the 440.

DH Paul just got home, and after giving him the "short version" of the day's research, he said "Duh---get it."

To be continued....