Coming in out of the cold

I'm not really a squealer. Rarely does a squeak or and shriek exit my lips. I'm not even much of a gasper unless, of course, I discover a taxi bearing down on me suddenly. Or maybe if Tsia is en route to overturning a plateful of, say, syrup all over the carpet. (Not that these things ever happen, mind you.)

And really, that's one of the joys of having a toddler: every little thing gives cause for shouts of glee. Discovering yesterday's toys awaiting you in the living room first thing in the morning is reason enough for joyful exclamation. Snow. Dogs, no matter how many you've already seen that day, are always a perfect excuse. And ice cream? Forget it. Simple exclamations aren't nearly sufficient; you need a Happy Dance as well.

But last night I became a squealer. Just as I had given up hope of package deliveries for the day, the doorbell rang. My new sewing machine had arrived! How quickly can we get dinner made, the kitchen cleaned up, and Tsia to bed? Not fast enough.


Once our jobs were completed, Todd sat down in the living room to read the manual for his own toy, err, business tool as I opened the carton and began my rolling discourse of exclamations: "Whoa: it cuts your thread for you at the end of a seam! In fact, it back stitches the ends of the seams for you as well! Oh my gosh: the food pedal has a retractable power cord! Did you see what this button does? This is amazing!"

Needless to say, I had no idea what I've been missing in the sewing machine universe. And so far I've only tried the straight stitch!

(Oh, and this doll quilt was not made with the new machine. In fact, it was hand sewn and hand quilted. It's the first quilt for Tsia's wall. Great fabric, huh? As I was searching for a link to the fabric--I couldn't find it, sorry--I discovered these fabrics as well. Oh my.)