The New Member of the Family

No, I don't have any good news about the adoption.  We are still waiting.

But I did get a new sewing machine that has made my life sooooo nice in the meantime!  With the help of Christmas and birthday gifts from my family, I purchased a Juki TL2000Qi.  It looks really basic - no computer screen, no list of 200 different kinds of stitches, not even a buttonhole option - but it is exactly what I need.  This machine is designed to stitch a really good straight stitch and free-motion smoothly and it does both just fine with plenty of space for quilts to move around.  I can also put my heel down on the pedal and cut my thread and it comes with a knee lever (see that thing hanging down in front?) that lifts the foot up and down.  Hands free!  Oh, I could go 1500 stitches a minute if I wanted to.

I think that is pretty cool. 

I am a dork like that.  :)

So I have been doing some playing around on it, piecing a new quilt, and doing the quilting on this penny patch quilt that I made before Christmas.  It is meant for the couch, so I have been happily experimenting on it, not minding if some of the circles are a little wonky and the stitch length isn't even.  Just getting used to the new machine and making something for us in the process.

The back is a creamy colored flannel and you can really see the pattern!  I finished it up a couple of days ago and picked up the binding fabric.  Hopefully I'll have a finished quilt for you to see after a couple of evenings of attaching the binding.  It goes a lot slower if I am watching something really interesting on tv...or if there is popcorn involved.  :)

And for all of you grandparent types reading this, here is one of the dozen goofy faces that have been going on here recently.  :)