Sunday, December 4, 2011

Happy Christmas to me...

...EARLY!!
Today, V and I took a trip to Cedar Rapids, 30 miles north, to run some errands.  Our local home store, while they had a particular wood panel (that V uses for backing for bookshelves) in stock, the new shipment was a slightly darker shade and wouldn't match the rest of the wood downstairs.  So, we ventured off to the sister store in CR with a scrap to see if we could do a color match.  Our store was also out of several bath fixtures (towel rods, etc) that we wanted.
Of course, paneling and bathroom stuff acquired, we just had to stop at the Hancock Fabric store nearby.  Our fabric store options here in town are rather limited and I refuse to shop for fabric (or anything else, for that matter) at W**mart.  While we were there, we checked out a sale that I was aware of. And V got my Christmas present early:
I've been doing my research and this model got very good reviews for the price and a couple of people I've talked to who have this machine really, really like it. A bonus is that it comes with an instructional DVD so I can learn how to thread it!  V says I can open it but that kind of seems like cheating.  Christmas is only a few weeks away.  But can I wait that long??  It's sitting there, on the table in my sewing room, just looking at me!
But, I probably won't be doing much sewing tomorrow anyway.  The reason we were anxious to get all the bath bits we wanted is that V finally finished all the drywall work in the upstairs bath.  The primer coat is on and I'll be doing the finish painting tomorrow.  So, then we can install the towel racks and even a TP holder!!  And all this after only two and a half years.  It has been SOOOO, nice  the past few days to be able to shower without having to go to the downstairs bath.  We've got this bad habit of getting projects done to the 'We can live with this' stage and then taking a long time to finish as we work on more pressing things.  I guess that's a problem when you buy a disaster of a house with so many things that need done.  The upstairs bath was gutted and partially finished before we moved in but we were contemplating putting in a different window so V wasn't in a hurry to finish the drywall.  With bare drywall over the shower, we really couldn't use it.  But FINALLY!!!!  WOOT!  Maybe soon I'll have my wish of one room completely finished!! (I'm still waiting on my chair rail in the kitchen so it isn't officially finished)   THAT would also be a fabulous gift!

9 comments:

  1. Just catching up on all your posts, wow what a great present for yourself! I don't even know what I'd do with a serger and I don't want to know since then I'd want one LOL! Love the progress on the smoking jacket, too. Hope your friend that was at the ER is doing okay .

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  2. Happy Christmas to you indeed!!

    AND-- all I could think (being in sort of the same situation as you) was --it's job security!! You'll never run out of things to do at your house. lol

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  3. Yay! I don't know anything about sergers, but I have a regular Janome machine and I love it :)

    You might rationalize the opening-it-early thing if it makes present making more fun for you :)

    We totally do the "we can live with it" thing too, lots of bits of missing trim and stuff, which is now invisible to us, of course!

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  4. Erin- yeah, don't start looking. Once i started looking, I decided I needed one. They do give a really nice, professional finish to seams.
    Annie- I could do with a little LESS job security where the house is concerned LOL!! But, at least we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with the really big projects.
    s- I've been rationalizing it, thinking that it would make the construction of V's present so much easier. But I also know that there will be a huge learning curve that would probably slow me down initially. That, and I don't have thread for it yet. Our local store doesn't carry the brand that was recommended to me so I'll most likely end up ordering it online.
    Judy

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  5. Nice present!!! I don't know how you can stand waiting...and we expect BIG things from that machine. I know what you mean about the "we can live with it" stage. My guest bathroom has been almost finished for four years...

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  6. I'm expecting big things from that machine. And, the waiting, while hard isn't that bad. I know there is going to be a steep learning curve and I'm waiting until my longer holiday break so I have more time to figure it out. I've got 5 days over Christmas and then another long couple of weekends in January where I'm expecting a lot of myself.
    Judy

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  7. Both my sewing machines are Janomes and I simply love them. The only experience I've had with a serger was when I was working for a gal who made sweatshirts and t-shirts into something classier with her additions. I really liked what the serger could do but I never had to learn to thread or figure out problems with it.

    When you think how little time really FINISHING a room takes compared to all the infrastructure and time that takes, I don't know why we don't take the time to just finish it completely! Well, okay, I do know. When the foundation is crumbling or a ceiling is leaking, that has to be handled first. Yep, it's really like putting out fires.

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  8. Mama Pea- I'm sure the instructional DVD will be invaluable when it comes to learning to thread the serger and trouble shoot.
    I'm hoping that now that many of the 'really big' stuff is managed, that we can focus on much of the finish work. There is something satisfying about getting the big stuff done but even more so about finishing it.
    Judy

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  9. Oh wow! you got a Surger sewing machine!! You must be gonna be doing some fancy sewing there Judy!! How nice!! ...debbie

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