It’s dead, Jim

It’s a good thing my sewing machine doesn't have a battery or it might have taken a hit like several other things in my household yesterday, like the car and the computer’s battery backup, the digital thermostat, my cell phone… At least my brain seemed to be working.

And so were Rusty and Ginger, who obviously don’t run on batteries. Here’s one of their kitten pictures because you might be looking for something sweet right about now.

The dead car was especially exciting because when you get behind the wheel and turn the key, it’s usually because you have to be somewhere. Like work. And when it doesn’t start, it gets the adrenalin pumping instead. It eventually had to be towed to our mechanic where, for $166, he was able to deduce that my seven-year-old battery was simply deceased. I told him that if I’d known it was just the battery, I’d have put it in gear and rolled it down the hill to the local automotive shop downtown on the highway. The momentum would have taken it most of the way. And you can always find a few fellas around, willing to push a car those last few meters. Car is happy and running without complaint again.

And the computer’s battery backup is now sitting in the basement waiting for the electronic recyclers to visit town again. We had a very brief brown out last night and it was just enough to toast my failing backup. Since I didn’t have a backup backup, I have cords plugged in every which way now. Not a pretty sight.

The good news is that neither going back to work nor a cluttered sewing area has slowed me down much. I think my new Janome Horizon has a great deal to do with that, it's just so much fun to use. It gives me just the right amount of challenge to keep me interest but not overwhelmed. Unfortunately, it’s caused me to start several projects in the past two weeks, something I try not to do as I get so easily distracted and forgetful. Oddly, it's working out all right so far, but if something goes wrong, it’s the sewing machine’s fault.

I’m working on the Mexican Star, my Christmas Tree skirt, a zippered pouch, a needle case and these cute LITTLE paper pieced squares that I found here . The creator of the site has (or had) a variety of TINY paper pieced squares and they're a great way to get rid of those piles of itty bitty scraps that keep accumulating.

A couple of weeks ago I was taking pictures at a local Pow Wow and admiring the regalia worn by the dancers. The costumes were made up of striking colours as well as beautiful beadwork and stitching. And many of the symbols they used are similar to the blocks that quilters use. No big surprise there, really.

And several of these cute little bags -

Until next time,