A New Way to Sew

I had a very exciting weekend. For years now I have been casually mentioning that I would like an embroidery machine. I have always wanted a sewing machine that could just do more than my reliable old New Home. When I started selling on Etsy I told Patrick that I was going to save for the machine of my dreams. He started getting pressure from all the women he works with (thanks ladies!) to just buy me one and this weekend he broke down.

So I am the proud new owner of a Janome Memory Craft 11000. We bought it at Montavilla Sewing Center here in Portland. As part of the package I get free instruction and a bunch of discounts so I was really happy.


So far I have made 3 baby bibs. I also finished most of my weekend projects on the new machine. However, for a bit I need to keep the Janome doing embroidery and keep myself pumping out booties on the New Home. There is less than 2 weeks between now and crafty wonderland! It is a lot of fun though. Below is one of my embroidered bibs. I LOVE the funny monsters and bought a whole set of designs.

Migraine Week

The ups and downs of our spring weather has put knots in my brain and my shoulder I think. I am always a little effected by the weather, but with it being 30 degrees and hailing one day and 50 degrees and sunny the next the pressure changes are starting to upset what little balance I am able to maintain. So it hasn't been a good week. It certainly has been hard to drag my butt into work this week! Tonight I came home and took a 3 hour nap. That helps sometimes and tonight it did.

I did manage to start making some baby booties for etsy.com. A few booties went up this weekend and then I completed a couple more during the week. I have been really wanting to sew lately so this will be a great outlet for me. I took a few patterns that I found and have been experimenting with lots of different combos and incorporating my own ideas along the way. I think the booties are turning out pretty snazzy and I have been getting quite a few hits on etsy... no sales yet, but people are looking and marking items as their favorite. I need some more ideas of tiny things I can sew. I like these small, creative projects!

This weekend we are hoping to go out on our pontoons and catch some trout. We are going to try Battle Ground Lake again and see if we do better a month later on a boat. Yay! I will try and remember to bring the camera so I can post a few pictures here.