Friday, January 2, 2009

New to me

Happy New Year! That's not all that's new. I have a new (to me) used Janome 6600P sewing machine.

In 1975 I had time to sew. After many frustrations with a Singer, I bought a new Bernina 830 Record. The original receipt says I paid $730 with $55 off for the Singer as a trade-in. $675 was a lot of money for me then. I made a lot of my own clothes until about 15 years ago when I lost my sewing room and my free time.

Now I am making time for art quilts.

In classes I was eyeing the newer machines. Lighter weight. Needle down. Automatic threader. Speed adjustments. Wider, longer stitches. Start-stop button. Different fancy stitches. Easier faster foot changes.

Not that my ol' girl was letting me down. She still sews well. I’d cleaned and oiled her myself. I took her in for her first service just last year. She got new rubber thang for the bobbin winder and new brushes. Not bad for a 33-year-old sewing machine.

Nevertheless, I felt it was time for a change - an indication of my seriousness about art quilts. Found a used one on Craig's list and brought it home on new year's eve.

I've packed up Bernina. But I'm keeping the ol' gal for classes. I haven't figured out all the bells and whistles on the new machine yet, but am working through the manual and signed up for the yahoo group.

This machine will not change my life or my quilting, but I feel like I have taken my art up another notch. Machisma with a new sewing machine.

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