there's someone new in my house. no, it's not a baby..haha, but it's close. it could the best earliest christmas surprise ever (or so i'm hoping). my cousin sent me an email last week for an ad on one of our local websites usedvictoria.com for a free serger! yes free! yep, you heard me right, free! now first, i freaked out and thought it was a joke then i decided to take my chances and phone the number. seems it wasn't a joke and this nice lady hadn't used her serger in a very long time and was making room in her sewing space. she was giving it away. would i like it? heck yes i would, but i calmed myself asked for the model number and brand, told her i would call her right back and then hung up.
what model is it? a pfaff hobbylock 786! ohhhhh, ok, something must be wrong....it can't be this good can it? so i called our local pfaff dealer (sawyer's sewing centre) and asked about the model, should i take it, will they service it, are parts available etc...basically the guy told me to grab it and it was a very good deal! so i called her back, thanked her immensely and picked the puppy up on saturday. now, yes, it's old, yes, it's dirty and dusty, and yes, discolored, but before you get grossed out, it's from oil heat. the machine looks to be in good condition and she had the manual (insert me happy dancing). i noticed when picking up the serger the sewing machine she was currently using and wowsa - it's a nice one! she said she had taken care of it when she used it but it had been a loooong time since she had. she quilts mostly now. so i brought sue the serger home - we're getting to know each other :P
so cross your fingers for me folks. i'm going to bring her in sometime to get made over and hopefully it can become useable and not cost me a ton of moula to fix up. a serger is something i have been dreaming about since i started sewing and i still can't even believe that i may have one!!!! squeal!!!! i do have to admit i'm scared of trying to figure it all out. santa must have thought i was a very good girl to bring me such a cool gift so early :) maybe it was because i sat through the movie "the search for santa paws" with mackenzie (don't watch it...it's horrible!).
****spoiler alert - if you are my nana or omi, do not read this!****
how was your week? i missed all of you. it was so weird not to blog for so long and i'm happy to be back. was my week productive? nope. was it stressful - yep. did i get my stuff sewn and knitted? not even close...haha. i guess i stupidly thought not blogging would help me find more time to sew...yeah right. i was wrong. it was life that get's in my way..haha. albeit it's not all bad things, i do love spending time with my kiddos, but it makes it hard to find the time i need to get all my goals accomplished. the hubs is doing school at night after he is done full time work and it's been very tiring on my end as well. i'm not whining, it's gotta be done, but the things i'm passionate about get put aside during this time as it's hard to do with the little ones. i know you can all relate :)
here's a few pics of some of what i did end up being able to get done that i can show you without giving away too many christmas presents:
this is the tea pot cozy pattern from retro mama. what do you think? i'm a little nervous. i would love to hear your thoughts. i'm new to quilting and still learning but i'm pretty proud of them myself. i think it's a project that combined a whole lot of new things for me to try. it pushed me out of my comfort zone a lot and i liked it. it was the first time i have quilted on something other than a coaster, my first time piecing, and choosing my fabrics for this kind of design and the first time i made my own bias tape. i also learned how important it is to choose the correct needle for your machine based on what you are making (don't forget to always change your needle when starting a new project) and to use the triple stitch on my sewing machine. phew, that was a lot. it was fun to make and the pattern was easy to follow.
these two lovelies are going to my grandmas for christmas. i hope they love them as much as the love i put into making them :) they are very special ladies whom i will miss being with over the holidays. they both love tea and both sew, so hopefully they will enjoy using a spiffy new cozy! have any of you made this pattern before? have you made your own tea pot cozy? find some more tea inspiring posts here in our tea cup month!
what were you up to last week? did you get a dent made in your xmas to do and make list? come say hi and let's catch up :)