To Sew or Not to Sew

Around November 28 or 29 every year I get this great desire to make a gift for someone. Usually I've run across some Christmas gift idea or I have unearthed a project I started months (sometimes even years) ago and I become convinced that I can make this item before Christmas.  Sometimes they are simple items like a scarf or a small quilt and sometimes they're not. This year was no different. While scanning Pinterest one afternoon I happened upon a sweater quilt. It was beautiful. Made from old wool sweaters, felted and cut into large blocks, sewn together into a soft,cozy looking quilt. I had been wanting to make a quilt for my oldest niece for years but never seemed to find a pattern or style that I liked for her. But this was it! I read through the blog with the "easy" to follow instructions and within hours found myself at Goodwill stock piling wool sweaters.

Now coming from a line of fabulous seamstresses and quilters one might believe that I had inherited a gift for sewing. One would be wrong. My grandmother was always able to whip up beautiful dresses, lovely summer outfits, and gorgeous quilts. My mother could take any bolt of material and turn it into a fantastic pageant dress, amazing prom dress or heart stopping wedding gown. She evened owned a custom bridal shop for a while and produced a  number of the prom gowns that paraded through my high school prom.She could also pick up a pile of scraps and in a matter of days have a quilt to be cherished for a lifetime. I however had received none of this talent. For one I can't cut a straight line. Never have been able to, even with the use of tools that are guaranteed to produce a straight cut. For another, I have never mastered the sewing machine. I have always had the desire to use one, I even own one but in most cases allowing a monkey to use it would produce about the same results. Nonetheless I always get a stirring for creating some work of art using the sewing machine. ( I can piece and sew by hand but not really an option when you are trying to produce a quilt in less than 15 days.)

And so as soon as I gathered the sweaters I liked best I raced home to felt them. So far all was going well. The next day I cut out patterns for the block sizes I needed and quickly began cutting the sweaters to pieces. Before long a large stack of sweater blocks adorned my table. The quilt would be a mix of large solid blocks and large blocks made of 4 smaller blocks so first I needed to sew the smaller blocks together. So out comes the sewing machine (which by the way had been at my sister-in-laws for 2 years and I can't find the instructions for). In order to sew I first have to fill a bobbin and then thread it. So I pop the bobbin on, the spool of thread goes flying through the air, then the bobbin ends up in a tangle and after about 8 times of trying to get it to wind, finally I'm successful. Then I go to put the bobbin in the little thing that holds  it and guess what; It doesn't fit. Somehow there are three bobbins in the my stuff that do not fit the bobbin thingy. Time to wind a new bobbin. Next comes threading the machine. Not as easy as it sounds when you only use a machine every year or so and not having instructions is definitely a handicap, since to thread a machine takes a complicated pattern of up down and round several little metal objects and the correct order is very important. It takes several attempts but I remember just enough that I finally get it. But of course there is still the trial run to be done to ensure that everything is set up correctly. I grab a scrap of material and to my great surprise it all works wonderfully.

So I grab my first two small blocks. Now you might remember that I can not cut a straight line so in fact my squares are not technically squares. And if one can not cut a straight line I'm sure you are wondering how one sews a straight line. She doesn't. But that does not stop me. I quickly sew up 3 large blocks from the smaller blocks but low-and-behold on block number 4 the sweater material in this block is much thicker than in other the other blocks and machine just sticks. By this point it's late a night and I figure it best to head to bed and tackle this problem in the morning.

The next day I sit down at my sewing machine refreshed and ready to go. I grab that block that was giving me problems before and begin working with it. Again the machine just sits there. I'm pressing the foot, the motor is humming but the material is not moving. I jerk on the block and suddenly it pops through under the foot, only when I turn it over, instead of a beautiful nice stitch there is a mess of thread on the back of my block. I pull it all out and try again. Same thing. After a couple of more tries, re-threaded the bobbin a few times and a call to my mother I finally figure out that needle is no longer threaded correctly. I re-thread the needle and try again. A few stitches into the block suddenly I realize there are no stitches happening anywhere. The bobbin has run out. Re-load the bobbin and now I have to try to thread it again and 20 min later we're back  in business. I sew a few more squares together and the needle breaks. Replace the needle, start again, the spool runs out. I find a new spool of thread, get it threaded (I'm starting to get pretty good at that) and back to work. Then the foot falls off (if you aren't familiar with a sewing machine this is the little piece that holds the fabric down and pushes it through the machine).  I fix the foot, making sure it's tight. Of course by now it's time to get back to the business of running my household, so I put everything away to tackle again later.

The next few attempts go better and I eventually get the top of the quilt finished. Now to put the back on. Now let's review. I can't cut a straight line, I don't really sew a straight line so when I lay the top out on the back it's not anywhere close to straight. When I ask my Mom's advice she says "Just square the back and it will look fine." Yeah right. So I do my best to square the back and attach it. Just in time to bind it on Christmas Eve. I chose a quick closed blanket stitch and by 3 am I'm done. The finished product wasn't too bad, a little crooked and I've got my fingers crossed that it won't fall apart, but finished. All the work and complications were definitely worth it when I received a grateful thank you from my niece.

And now arise the questions, do I have so much trouble with my machine because I only use it once a year or do I only use it once a year because I struggle so much? As of now I think I'll put the machine away, being sure to put the instructions with it which I happened to find as I was cleaning up from Christmas. Maybe I pull it out again soon or maybe next November I'll get the itch to make something new and the fun will start all over again.

Finished product - one square has a pocket and a couple have buttons. Not too shabby!

Oh Christmas Tree

Getting a fresh cut Christmas tree has become one of our family's favorite holiday traditions. It's kind of funny though as neither my husband or I grew up with a fresh cut tree. Sure we had the occasional real tree. But in my home I remember dragging the large box that contained the tree up from the depth's of the basement and spending hours trying to find all the right holes for the right branches. Then we'd fluff , bend and twist each branch trying to give the appearance of a real tree. In fact for the first few years of our marriage we used an artificial tree. In some ways I preferred it. I could put it up when I was ready instead of waiting for a day when we could all make at trek out to the tree farm, it didn't leave needles all over the floor, I didn't have to water it, and when it was time to take it down it was pretty quick and easy. But one year we decided that we wanted a real tree and after we had done it once we couldn't go back.

I'd like to paint you picture of a family of seven that merrily packs into the car with smiles on each face and Christmas carols on our lips as we make the 30 minute drive to the tree farm. All getting out with kind and caring words to one another excited to share in the process of choosing the perfect tree. Our family strolling through the lot laughing and joking with one another as we discuss the pros and cons of each tree before choosing the one that will look just right in the family room adorned with the family's collection of ornaments and lights. Father and son working together to cut the tree and load it on the cart. And of course the merry ride home as we all chat about Christmas memories and plans for the next few weeks. I'd like to paint that picture but that wouldn't really be fair. As much as we enjoy our tradition it is not without it's challenges. Of course what adventure with seven people is.

This year started out much the same as always. A thirty minute search for hats, gloves, and appropriate outerwear. Amazingly even though we had all those items just yesterday it still took a while to locate them. Once we were finally loaded the car ride was rather dull. (Nope no singing of carols.) We arrived at the lot and as always there was a little crying and pushing as everyone tried to get out of the car at the same time. Not because they were overly excited about the tree but that's just the way they always get out of the car.


We gathered our crew, picked up a saw and a cart and headed into the somewhat barren lot of trees. (We were a weekend later than usual so the farm was a bit picked over.) As Roy , K, B, and I discussed the few trees left, C used the cart to drag the little ones around occasionally being helped by the oldest two. This is where the third line form the picture above actually works. It only took us about 20 min to decide on a tree, which is quite a record for us. We've been known to be out in the lot for an hour or more. But with limited selection and the kids behaving well it was an easy decision. We took our traditional picture in front of the tree and then cut it down. B pulled the tree up to the main part of the farm and waited in line for it to be shaken and wrapped. As he and Roy stood in line I took the K, C, and the younger two to the barn to pet the sheep and llama. Lil B and Lil K desperately wanted to feed the animals but as I had no purse with me so there was not a quarter to be had. I left K there with the others and went to see if Roy had a quarter or two. Now up to this point I know your thinking what kind of challenges have you had, well here it comes.

When I got to the line I found B by himself. Roy had gone pay and since we were the next up to have our tree prepared for the drive home I decided to wait for a moment to make sure B didn't agree to anything with extra charges. After the tree was taken care of we walked back over to the barn and I instantly noticed that Lil B wasn't there. I quickly asked K where he was and she thought he had been with me. I gathered everyone up trying not to get panicky (but not doing very well) and told them to wait together while I looked. As I began looking Roy returned from the cashier and I told him Lil B was missing. We both began to search. There were so many places for him to be, so many people around I wondered if they would notice a little 3yr old boy wandering on his own and I suddenly couldn't remember what his coat looked like. As I rushed around trying to think of where he might have gone, what might have caught his attention I suddenly heard B yell, "There he is!" As I turned around I saw him walking out from around the little shed where the cashier is. The kids and I ran to him. I scooped him up and asked what he was doing. With a tear in his eye he said :"I wanted to see if Daddy had a quarter." Just then Roy walked up. Thankfully he had a couple of quarters. We fed the animals, loaded up the kids and the tree and headed home. It took almost 20 min for me to finally relax from the 5 min I didn't know where Lil B was.


The rest of the trip was uneventful. Except of course for the "pullover" you know when you have to actually pull over and get out of the car to explain to you children what "keep your hands to yourself means". In the end we have another beautiful tree and more memories for the kids pack away and share with their children. My hope is that these trips to get our trees will be events they look back on with fondness and not as a dreaded event their parents forced them into each year.

Lil B safely in the car

The Tree

Tradition

Bad Luck

Well I'm pretty sure I have some of the worst luck around.  Just look at my history with household appliances. I'm on my second washer, second dryer, had a refrigerator go out, a dishwasher quit working, moved into a house with a bum air conditioner at the beginning of a long hot summer, had a well pump almost fall into the well,  a sump pump quit in the middle of the night, an oven quit working the night before Thanksgiving while baking my famous rolls and the list could go on. This weekend my luck proved to be just as bad. On Friday night around 9pm I was driving home from 3 hours at my sons' basketball practices with all five kids in tow. We were at the end of a long day and were ready to get home and into our p.j.s. Only one thing stood in our way.....the drive home. Now we live less than 10 min from where we were. It's a path we take frequently, especially when basketball season begins. But on this night that quick drive home turned in to a 40 min ordeal.

Just moments after starting down the state road I hear a loud POP followed by a thud, thud,thud. Lucky for me (or maybe not) I had experienced a blown tire before so I knew instantly to get off the road and assess the situation. Now had this been several years ago I probably would have kept driving to see if the thudding sound got worse before pulling off.So I quickly pulled into the apartment complex, got out of the car and sure enough my back left tire was flat. And when I say flat I don't just mean a little low on air. I would say that there wasn't any air left in that tire at all. In fact the whole car was tipping in that direction. I drive an expedition by the way so I'm sure you can imagine the dramatic look of that scene.

Now I'm sure those who know me are thinking what's the big deal, your husband's a mechanic just call him and have him come fix it. Well unfortunately that evening he was home not feeling good, hence why I was at practice with all 5 kids. So I couldn't call him for assistance. I am however blessed with a great extended family that lives in the area. My sister-in-law, her husband, and my father-in-law quickly came to my rescue. The load us up and took us home, deciding the car was safe and could be dealt with in the morning.

Here comes the best part. The next morning my husband and his friend head over to the car to determine the damage done to the tire. When they get it off the car , in the tire they find not a nail or piece of something but a pair of pliers. Now I ask you who else but me could run over a pair of pliers just right to get them jammed all the way up in a tire. They weren't just kinda in there, only about a inch of the handle was sticking out of the tire. (If I think of it I'll have my husband take a picture.)

Really though ......pliers???