Last week, I decided that I am really sick of my current clothes and I want some new stuff. Now I am working to lose weight, and I am making progress – slowly. However, another season wearing all the same stuff just about put me over the edge, so I decided that I should take a look on the internet and see what kind of clothes are trending right now. Of course, after seeing some of the prices, I decided the better idea would be to pull something nice out of my stash and throw something together for the office. A skirt, maybe (although I haven’t worn one in about 10 years) or a pair of pants … I just think that skirts and dresses look very professional, and I think it’s time I start wearing them on occasion again. And as they say, you should dress for the job you want, not the job you have. My wardrobe could use some work for the job I have, and I don’t know what job I want but I do believe that I should get some new stuff in my closet. It’s just that I’m unwilling to spend $200 for a single dress that’s supposed to be “career wear.” For that price, it better make me look damned good AND pack my lunch for me every day. Since I know it won’t … time to turn to the sewing machine.
There was just one problem – I don’t particularly care for the look or feel of unfinished seams, and I didn’t have serger, having sold mine in the Great Denial Movement of 2012. But I knew someone who DID have a spare serger, just sitting around, doing nothing. So I called my mom and told her I was on my way to liberate the serger and her quilting machine & frame set up and she said, Sure, come on over! I’ll have it all ready to go when you get here. Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr … I might not have mentioned the quilting set up when I said I was going to liberate the serger. I can’t really remember, but I do know that I hopped in the car with my husband and son in tow (who wants to drive through Houston rush hour traffic on a Wednesday evening alone?) and we set off to grandma’s house, through bad traffic and over passes, or something like that. When we arrived, my mom had pulled out the serger and some foot attachments and the owner’s manual. She even let me bring them home with me, but she wouldn’t even let me go LOOK at her quilting set up, probably because she was afraid I would abscond with it. She’s a pretty smart woman sometimes, my mom.
And then we sat around and talked for a little while. My “little” sister came in while we were there, and we sat around and talked and laughed a bit. She accused our mom of being mean to our dad and pretended to take up for him, and we laughed some more, and then I realized we had left a roast in the oven, and we still have more than an hour’s drive to get back home, so we left. It wasn’t until we got home and brought the serger into the house that I realized … Mom didn’t give me the FOOT PEDAL and power cord that goes along with it!! So on Saturday, I had to go over and pick it up. I figured since I was going to be over there anyway, I might as well go check out my two favorite shops in all of Houston – the Painted Pony in La Porte, and Sew Contempo down in Clear Lake. I don’t know if Clear Lake is really down from anywhere, but my entire life, we’ve always said “down in Clear Lake” about anything that is in that general direction. I lived down in Clear Lake for a year! It didn’t seem any further down than anywhere else I’ve ever been, but you know, who am I to question it? It’s a bit like asking a Southerner “How far is it?” Let me just tell you, if you don’t already know … It’s ALWAYS going to be “Just over yonder” or “just over the hill.” I spent my entire childhood going “just over the hill” with my aunt during the summer, even if it was 100 miles to wherever we were going.
Anyway, I saw lots of stuff in both places, but I really only purchased some Isacord thread from Sew Contempo because I have enough fabric for about 15 quilts right now, and I was only interested in some autumn fabric that no one seems to have locally. I bought four spools on the recommendation of Leah Day at the Free Motion Quilting Project. She said it’s what she always uses because it doesn’t break as easily as cotton, so I thought I’d give it a try. I mean, why not, right? I’ve had the problem several times with Ricco, so I figured that it couldn’t hurt to try it out. I was pretty impressed because there’s about a bazillion colors, and I am all about color. I also went to JoAnn’s to buy some serger thread because, duh! Stupid me, I gave all of mine away to the woman who bought my serger last year. I bought all sorts of colors because JoAnn’s had it on sale for $1 each, plus a 15% off coupon. So I got $3 cones of thread for $0.85 each. I mean, who can argue with that??
I didn’t really get a lot of time in the studio because I was busy with other things, but I did set aside all day Monday to work on Heather’s quilt and I have to say that I’m pleased with the progress. Most of the large squares are done – I think I have two more left. Then a couple of corrections to the first set of squares I put together, and the nine patches that are being used as setting squares need to be done, and then maybe I can start putting together the quilt top and have it done by next weekend. That might be a bit ambitious, but we’ll see how it goes. I’ll post photos of my progress so far and a discussion of a problem I encountered for WIP Wednesday.
Under the Texan Sun 