2/14/13

The Plot Thickens

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!

Okay, so here's the story on old Bessie.  Bessie is my sewing machine, whose name really isn't Bessie.  After last night's debacle, Mike looked at it a little longer and was able to get it working again.  The foot pedal was still only capable of two speeds:  fast and faster.  And sewing at those two speeds made me nervous and nervouser, let me tell you.  Nevertheless, I sat down at the machine this morning, determined to finish up my piece for the "It's All About Me" blog hop.


So I finished the top-stitching on the applique that needed finishing.  This involved sewing at the slowest fast speed I could muster using both straight stitch and buttonhole stitch.  It was rather exciting sewing around curves...sort of like taking a curve in your car at 200 mph.  I tried my best, and it turned out okay.  No major crashes, but I kept my seatbelt fastened and my helmet firmly attached.  Then I switched needles and feet and did the free motion quilting, which was a lot easier at the speeds I was capable of traveling.  When I put the regular foot back on to sew on the binding, I realized that all of a sudden, the foot pedal (or whatever it is) was behaving itself.  I could actually slow down to a reasonable pace.  So weird.  Who knows?  But for now, it's working.  

Tomorrow I will be receiving the new foot pedal and I have the tracking number to prove it.  It's supposed to arrive no later than 3:00 p.m.  Only now, we're not at all sure that the foot pedal is the problem.  It could be one of the circuit boards in the machine itself.  Hard to say.  One thing I've learned from Mike, however, is that a problem that fixes itself isn't really gone for good.  I expect we'll be meeting up again at some point in the future.  For now, I'm just happy to have my piece for the blog hop finished.

Wanna peek?


That's all you get.  You'll have to check back here on the 21st (that's a week from today) to see the whole thing.

So this being Valentine's Day, I spent the morning making biscotti for my sweety.  And I'm going to try to resist this since it isn't on my diet.  I can probably eat one and get away with it, but no more.  And besides, they're supposed to be for him.  If I eat one, it's hard to stop.


I was supposed to do a Curves workout today, but I decided not to.  My knee is giving me grief, and I decided to give it a break.  I'm supposed to walk with Sue tomorrow, and I'd rather not miss that.  I'm suspicious that I should be skipping the squat machine at Curves.  I've been careful, but I think it may be causing me knee problems, which I don't need.

Some of you asked about the project Matthew is working on for school.  This is his senior project that he needs to complete to earn his engineering degree, and he's been planning it pretty much from the first day of his engineering program.  He's interested in poi dancing, which is both an art form as well as the name for the equipment used in the dancing.  Those of you reading from New Zealand will no doubt be familiar with poi balls.  The dance originated with the Maori people of New Zealand.  To read more about the dancing and the Maori people, click right here


So Matthew is attempting to build an electronic poi ball that will flash in colors as the dancer swings the ball. Originally, his idea was to have the flashing lights speed up and slow down with the speed of the ball.  I'm not sure how far he's been able to take his idea at this point, but it looks like it's going to work.  He's having fun with it, and he's hoping to end up with something marketable when he's finished.

The only other thing going on around here is that I planted my tomato, dill, and basil seeds last Sunday.


When I looked at them this morning, they looked just like this.  I'm a little surprised that nothing has come up yet, but it could take up to two weeks for the seeds to germinate.  (At least, I'm giving them two weeks before I give up on them.)  For now, I'm keeping them in the house since it's still too cold to put them out in the greenhouse.  They won't move out there until about April.

And that's about it for this Valentine's Day.  I've been having nothing but fun this morning, so I suppose I should go do something less fun.  On the other hand, I could sew some more and see if the machine is still working.  Mysteries abound around here.


16 comments:

Quilting Babcia said...

Ah, mysteries abound, and you didn't even mention Smitty's name. Now THAT is a mystery! Those biscotti sure look wonderful!

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

That biscotti looks yummy! Glad you got your project finished. Hope you figure out what is wrong with the machine (sooner rather than later). Squats would hurt my knees, and I have good knees.

Lynette said...

Haha! Barbara, you had me laughing. Watch those fast curves. :D

quiltzyx said...

Gosh those biscotti look delicious, and I'm not a big fan of hard 'cookies'!
I'm glad unBessie is behaving a bit better today - maybe that's your Valentine's Day gift from her.

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

Don't you hate intermittent problems! They are the worst. Maybe you will find it really is the pedal and your problems will be over.

Samantha said...

Mmmmmm biscotti! If your machine is a Pfaff it is most likely a foot pedal problem. I've had nothing but foot pedal problems since I got mine. :D

Brown Family said...

I would try the new foot control and if the problem remains, send it back if you can.

Teresa in Music City said...

My goodness! Your life is just one amazing adventure after another isn't it LOL!!! I hate machine problems - there's not much worse when you're a quilter. Especially when you have a deadline on something! Looking forward to seeing your Hop project :*)

Dana Gaffney said...

I had visions of when you drive the Corvette while I read your sewing adventures, scary. At first I thought it was a spelling error, Matthew is interested in pole dancing and I thought, well what man isn't? LOL.

kc said...

Ya know...it had 3 different sewing machine repair man baffled for more than a year (not to mention, more than $200!!), but my foot pedal used to make my sewing machine come to a complete and total STOP when it wanted to, regardless of how fast I was sewing or whether I was sewing or embroidering. (now, how it was related to the embroidery module, which would function just fine without the stupid thing attached, is simply beyond me!) But, I'm the one that figured out it was the foot pedal, and after the $7 fix didn't fix it, I replaced it ($110, including shipping), and ya know what - I haven't had a minute's problem since!

The biscotti look yummy (even if Spellcheck says it should be "Scottish" (???)) and so totally not on OUR diet. Yup, you've inspired me to join your struggle. I signed up for Calorie Count yesterday..and figured out that my very favorite new homemade cookie runs around 337 calories per. NO WONDER I can't lose my spare tire! (duh?)

Where's ole Smitsman? And, gotta go with Dana there, I too thought it was pole dancing....so now I'm off to click the link to read all about it!

Kate said...

Intermittent problems are maddening! Hope the new foot pedal fixes it. Maybe there is a kink in the cord that has caused the wires to short that's causing the problem Hope it's not a board.

Lyndsey said...

I like what I see of you It's all about me project. I need to get on with mine or I'll run out of time and that would never do. If Matthew makes a marketable flashing poi I'll invest in them as I love using them. Not up to using fire ones as I still regularly smack myself on the head with them when I lose concentration.

Cath said...

oooooooo! I can't wait to see you blog hop entry! Glad you were able to get it finished.
Cath @ Bits 'n Bobs

LethargicLass said...

I used to do Curves and had a lot of knee trouble on the machine where you are sort of doing the "Suzanne Somers thighmaster". One of the trainers suggested I move my bum to the end of the bench so there wasn't the strain on my knees. It was awkward but it worked. I don't know if you are as short as I am (5'1) but it was my height that wasn't working with how the machine was made...

Rachel said...

Love the sneak peek! Mike, The Trooper, deserves some yummy biscotti! Everyone probably has some advice, but have you tried using a soft knee brace, even when it isn't sore? My brain hurts just looking at the electronics spread out. Grow little ones, GROW! (I have commanded, that should do the trick...LOL)

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad that your foot was working well enough to get your project finished. Hope your new pedal came, and I hope that's all it is. Your son's engineering project sounds great. I hope we'll get to see a film of it in action one of these days. Love the picture of your two men. =)

Herbs almost always sprout, in my experience, so patience will be rewarded. =)