Christmas time is here...

...and I just want to wish everyone a wonderful, merry, and peaceful Christmas. As we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace I hope everyone will try to have peace in their hearts and that it will extend out to all around us.
Merry Christmas

Class Time

Well, in addition to my regular everyday things of working on one quilt or another (hmm, I have to start putting in pictures of what I'm working on!), working on homework for my distance learning classes from BYU, cooking meals for my family, I have also decorated for Christmas but I haven't gotten out all my nativities yet, still a few buried in my sewing room under my makeshift cutting table that I can't get to without help and so far no one is helping. I guess I need to ask a little LOUDER! Anyway, that's not all I've been doing. With the purchase of my new sewing machine came some free classes so that I can learn how to use it--all its plain and fancy features--so for the last 2 Tuesday evenings I have gone to the classes. It is supposed to be a series of 4 classes but with the 4th week falling during Christmas week the series has been shortened to 3 classes. That makes next Tuesday the last class and we are going to learn how to use the embroidery unit. Should be fun! I'll admit I have tried it already and my first attempt turned out pretty nice but my second attempt failed miserably--all I got was a big mess. It seems that you have to hold on to the top thread when you start embroidering and it slipped out of my hand thus creating the mess. Oh well, it's a learning process. Hopefully I'll get some good tips in the class next week. But for now what I've learned so far is: how to thread the machine--VERY important!!!, winding a bobbin and putting it in-also important, how to clean the bobbin case, basic straight stitching and zigzag stitching, a stitch similar to what a serger does to finish edges (like on T-shirts and such)-I think she said it was an overcast stitch, easy buttonholes, some heirloom stitching with a wing needle, all of these with just what came with the machine; then she taught us pin tucking--but you need a twin needle and a pin tucking foot, gimping (stitching over a cord or yarn to make designs on the fabric)--again a special foot is needed, making corded piping and inserting it along an edge (like on a pillow)--another special foot, all these special feet cost at least $32 EACH! Hmmm. Lastly, thus far, I've learned how to program decorative stitches into the machine and then have it stitch them out more than one time. And then of course after class they like you to go over and buy some of the things that we've just been taught to use, if we buy them right after class we get 25% off but still it could be pricey! For now I think I had better just make do with what has come with the machine. Ah well. but for right now, I need to get some homework done. Fun, fun!