Untimely demise of my sewing machine.

The other day(Tuesday, April 6th, approximately 11 pm, but who's counting?) my sewing machine came to an abrupt halt, mid-project.

The hand wheel was stuck.

I checked the bobbin to see if my thread was stuck, but it wasn't.

John was asleep, so I went to the garage to find some screwdrivers to dismantle my machine. You might be thinking "No big deal!", but to me this was a big deal. I never attempt to fix any type of machinery. I even checked an online user manual. But nothing seemed to be helping my poor machine.

My handy friend Natasha attempted to revive it the next day. If she couldn't fix it, nobody could. She pronounced it dead.

Boo.

My sister asked me if I oiled my machine.

My reply: "Oil???"

We're guessing that was the problem. This machine ran around 13 years without ever being oiled. Pretty impressive if you ask me!

Nothing like an unfinished project to make one feel nice and accomplished.

So, what was I working on?

I was making some rosettes that I was going to sew onto a pillow.

Rosette 1: Raw edge

Rosette 2: Hemmed edge.

And here they are, side-by-side, for comparison. I am not sure which one I prefer.

I'm leaning toward the one to the left(hemmed edge). But does it look too smug? Or is it the obvious choice? Is this a no-brainer?

I need to select one of them to go with the other little rosettes on the pillow.

So here is the pillow with the first one(raw-edge)

And here is the pillow with the second one(hemmed edge).

And just to beat a dead horse, here they are again.

In the meanwhile, I started looking at new machines. I found a basic Singer machine at Joann's that was on sale from $119.99 to $84.99.

I had $79. John and I have a "no borrow money" rule. We have to save in advance for purchases. So instead of whining and begging for John to loan me a couple of bucks from our supplies money(or savings), I just said,

"Hey, can I have a few dollars? I don't want to borrow the money. I just want to have the money. I don't plan on paying you back".

Heehee.

Well, I guess he took pity on me and my sorry ways. At least I wasn't trying to be manipulative.

I don't know who was more excited to open my new box.

These two look-alike munchkins are the Model B prototypes. (Finn and Ollie are Model A)

And yes, the back of Twain's hair could use a trim.

So here she is, in all her glory(Suzanne, you may want to avert your eyes).

"And what is this?", you ask.

This is called oil.

I hereby solemnly vow to learn how to use it.

Now go oil your machine!