Much traveling, not blogging

I know I've been very negligent of my blog, and I must apologize for my absence.  

October found us busily finishing up the painting in the house between trips to see family and friends.  I must admit, it was refreshing to take a break and just stare out the windows day after day while driving hither and non during the lovely Autumnal weather. 

Rural Ohio sunset

We started our journeys by going to Charlotte, North Carolina, for our daughter's baby shower.  Her in-laws came in from Peoria, Illinois, bringing one of their adult daughters and two grandchildren.  It was such a lovely visit, and we got a chance to get to know Ben's family better.  

Baby Shower

After a few days, Ben's folks headed for Myrtle Beach, and we headed off to Ohio....the Cleveland area...to visit with our youngest, Katie.

We also got a chance to visit with Lee's family and friends.  Lee is from the Cleveland area, and went to Kent State, so he has many family and friends in the area that we got a chance to spend time with. His brother, Tom, plays with a couple of bands in the area, and we were able to attend one of his concerts at a small bar one evening and hung out with some of his other groupies.

Lee, Karen, Em, Tom

Living in Southern Virginia, we've missed the crisp Autumns of Ohio, so it was great being in Akron in October.  Sunny and cool weather was perfect for pumpkin carving and a visit to an apple orchard with Katie...so much fun.   Plus all the hiking we could handle.  Akron has a wonderful system of parks and trails, and the colors were at their peak. 

Valley Overlook with Katie

Then in November, we spent several days in Charlotte, again to share Thanksgiving with Julie, Ben, and the pups.  A lovely, quiet few days with good folks, good food, and good weather, too.  

Ben and Julie

Our next trip to Charlotte won't be so quiet because we'll go back when their little girl is born in January....and that will be an exciting time filled with hustle and bustle with loads of both families again.  Can't wait! 

Sewing Room Refinements

Sewing tables

Sew So, this has been my sewing room setup for a few months now.  We purchased two of these tables from Ikea a few weeks ago, and I just love them because they are so stable.  With a serger that jumps and an embroidery module that jumps, too, stability is very important.  The arrangement is functional, but not ideal.  I needed another trip to Ikea.....preferably, the store in Charlotte, NC, because I hate driving through DC.

Since our daughter's and her hubby's announcement last week that she's pregnant with their first child, we just had too many very good reasons to make the 5-hour trip to Charlotte....one, we just had to go there to hug her in person and be one of the first to pat her tummy, and two, we needed to make another shopping trip to Ikea, and three, to visit our grandpups as well.  

Janome Auto Buttonhole Foot

Julie has been working on a bench pad for their living room, but the machine I had given her kept jamming (a loose screw was the culprit).  So, we set up the machine and fixed the jam, then proceeded to learned (re-learned in my case) how to use the automatic button-hole foot (a remarkable piece of engineering, I must say).  Although one can make button holes using a tight zig-zag stitch, having an automatic foot makes the job go oh-so-much-faster-and-neater.  It gives a much more uniform product, and once she made a few practice runs, she was able to finish the cushion in about 20 minutes.  This was her first major piece of work, and it turned out beautifully.

Anyway, getting back to my Sewing Room.

Linnmon Corner Table from Ikea

Well, we headed off to Ikea the next morning to picked up a few items for the house:  A chiffarobe and dresser for the bedroom, a 72"x 2" shelf for the laundry-room, a narrow picture shelf for our bathroom sundries, and most importantly, this corner table to fit in between the two tables I already have in the sewing room. It works beautifully as a place to set-up my computer that I use for my machine embroidery (I also have all our CDs on the hard-drive and a groovy pair of Bose speakers attached, too, for when I'm not embroidering). 

Of course it started pouring rain as we were loading up all this stuff into and onto the ole' Highlander.  We had to push the passenger seat up pretty far to accommodate the lengths of the boxes which made for some interesting seating for Lee on the way back to Julie's place (he has the shortest thigh of the three of us, so he won the short-seat). This not-so-little table top had to be strapped to the top of the car so someone could still sit in the backseat (its 47"x 47" before packaged...kinda takes up the whole cargo area). Luckily, we came equipped with strapping just in case.  For the trip home the next day, we unpacked it from its box and then were able to fit it into the back of the car since there was only going to be two of us for the trip home to Virginia.  Whew!  Always interesting when we go to Ikea.

Here's how it all came together.  There was even enough room for my favorite chair for those seam ripping/hand-sewing moments.  Now, all I need is the repairman to get my Bernie back so I can start sewing up all that pink fabric I purchased for the Julie's new baby.
 

Bernie is in the shop, just when I need her the most

As you know, we're expecting a new grand-baby girl this winter.  My oldest daughter and hubby have been trying to get pregnant, an finally they achieved success.  Woot!


Of course, when she told me, I immediately thought of about forty-eleven things I want to make for her and the baby.  (I just can't say here, because she reads my blog, and I want it to be a surprise.)  However, I can say the 1st thing I did was to visit the fabric store and pick up a few pieces of pink flannels...checks, polka dots, flowers, and kittens.  Yup, went a little crazy, but not too crazy.  Must save some sewing dollars for later, too.

So, here I am all ready to start the fun, and my Bernie won't turn on.  Took her to the shop yesterday, and am anxiously waiting for the repairman to call me.  After speaking with my old Bernina dealer, I think its one of the circuit boards.  The joys of electronics....a board costs about $220.  If this were a mechanical machine, I could fix the bushings and rewire the motor and ....voila ... back in business.  However, this machine has electronics and chips and such making it much more difficult to fix.  Dag nab it and some other stronger words.

Now I'm thinking that tomorrow I'll start sewing up a few things by hand.  Yup, you read correctly; by hand.  Hand sewing can be so soothing, really.  It gives you time to think your project through thoroughly, and after all the excitement from yesterday's news, it'll be nice to just work quietly and slowly, ....feet propped up....dreaming of our new little one's layette. 

Best News EVER!

Our little girl is having a little girl.  She called us yesterday and gave us the news while we were in the checkout line at the grocery.  We calmly went outside to our car, then hugged each other and cried.  Still doing the happy dance.....gotta get my Bernina fixed this week for sure now :)