Getting Better

I may or may not have mentioned on here that I got a sewing machine from Mike for Christmas. I had been wanting one for a while, not because I am some sort of master of sewing, but because it is something that I enjoy and am always learning about. Plus, it's nice to have a sewing machine if anything ever needs mending. I know most people these days are likely to just throw clothes away if they they get holes. But you know me. I like to make things last.

The only formal training I ever had on a sewing machine was in junior high school where I learned how to do things like threading the sewing machine and making pillow cases. My mom had an old sewing machine that weighed about a thousand pounds that I could practice on at home. During my early teens I used that thing to practice my latest obsession - making small bean bags that could be played with like hacky-sacks. Not that I ever had any skill at hacky-sack. Those bean bags mostly came in handy for throwing at my brothers.

When I was in my late teens, my brother came to me with the brilliant idea of making a quilt for his then girlfriend (now wife) on the 1000-pound clunker. Aw the stupid ambition of young love. I agreed to help him even though I had never made anything more than a pillow case and a hacky-sack. He bought a book on quilt-making for beginners and we began our haphazard journey.

In the end we finished that quilt after countless calculations and measurements, huge expenses on fabric and supplies, and many long hours cursing at the sewing machine. And wouldn't you know it, it actually turned out somewhat nice. Here is what it looked like -

You would think I would have remembered all that when I got my new sewing machine and decided to make a quilt for Mike. I didn't. But surprisingly it wasn't as bad as the first time. I guess it helps that newer machines are quite a bit easier to work with than what my mom had. Or maybe something is starting to sink in. Anyway, here is the finished product -

Mike LOVED it, even with all the mistakes I made on it. There must be something addicting about quilt-making, because I think I may even try to make another one someday.