Special Delivery

I finally bought it: a new sewing machine!

To be honest, I've had mixed feelings about buying this machine.  On the one hand, I need this machine.  I really enjoy quilting and if I am really going to do it right, I needed to get something that could handle making decent sized quilts (I have been pretty much forced to only make baby or small lap quilts because my previous machine was so small).  This machine was a definite need, and I have been saving for over a year for it, and researching machines pretty much for the last 4 years. (A big reason it's taken me so long to save up for it because I kept buying fabric!!)

On the other hand, I felt really guilty when I bought it.  Because even though I needed a machine like this to make my quilts... I don't need to quilt.  It's my hobby... an expensive hobby, too.  One that I wasn't even sure I should be doing right now since it's so hard to find the time for it these days. Maybe I should wait for all my kids to be in school?  Maybe I should wait until I have a dedicated sewing room?  Heck, maybe I should wait until all my kids are out of the house? (yeah, really thinking long term here!)

I really went back and forth about the purchase, wondering if I should just send it back and give up the dream for a while.  I ended up keeping it.  To be honest I still struggle a little bit in my head, but the truth is that even if I sent it back, the money I have been saving for the machine would just sit in my little bank account, the one I set up in my name for this very thing.  And, I either wouldn't ever spend it, or I would spend it on fabric... which I would make into quilt tops... which I would not be able to quilt on my little machine.  And then I would be frustrated all over again, just like I have been for the last 3+ years.

I am happy with the machine.  It's fast, and great for free-motion quilting which is what I am trying to improve my skills on.  And all I have to do is look online for about 5 minutes at all those really expensive sewing machines (THOUSANDS of dollars!) and tell myself I really didn't spend all that much. ;)  The damage could have been worse!

I have a lot of high hopes for my "quilting future".  I still have not ever made quilts for my own girls (my mom does the baby quilts, plus a "2-years-old" quilt), but I have a goal to make a large (twin-sized?) quilt for them when they turn 8.  I can also hopefully start making quilts on commission, which I haven't really been able to do in the past because I was really limited with what I could make.  So, I'm excited!  Now, if I could only buy some new fabric... guess it's time to start finding more piano students!