We had beautiful fall colors this year, but they only lasted a few days. The trees are either totally bare or the color is definitely past its prime. I did catch the sassafras tree in the back yard while it was spectacular.
I haven't taken many photos lately because my camera died. It was giving me trouble for some time, but I kept babying it and trying to be calm and nice and not say ugly words. That sort of worked until last week, when, on the advice of this very nice "geek" at Best Buy, I tried a new battery. That helped for about 6 shots, then, the next time I tried, no dice. I would push the impossibly tiny "on" button maybe 10 times and when it finally came on and I aimed it at what was to be the subject of my photo, it would shut off. That happened 4 or 5 times, and I finally said, enough (well, I actually said some other stuff, too, but best not to get into that). I'm going back to Best Buy tomorrow to purchase a new camera. I've felt so lost without a camera these last few days--kind of like being without a car.
I made a major purchase a couple of weeks ago and I was going to post a photo, but since that didn't work out, I'll just tell you about it. First, a little background--when I was at the GA Quilt Show back in September, I wandered by the Bernina booth and talked to a nice lady about the new 700 series machines. I had no intention of buying a new sewing machine, I was just killing time. Then, over the next few weeks the universe began turning in such a way that my purchase of a new machine became a given. Money began to fall out of the sky. First, there was the prize money from the GA Quilt Show, then more prize money from the GA Nat'l Fair, and, to top it off, I sold my "Lotus Pond" piece at the fair. All in all, I thought these were omens. So, not wanting to upset the natural order of things, I visited my nearest Bernina dealer and put that baby through its paces.
Needless to say, it was love at first stitch. This machine (the Bernina 710) is a dream. It has 10" of throat space, a dual feed system that's very easy to engage and works with several different feet. It also uses a much larger bobbin and gives me up to 9mm of stitch width capability. And--drum roll--it has a button that you push to cut the top and bottom thread! Do you know how many times I've had to practically crawl under a quilt to cut that bottom thread with the scissors and hope I didn't cut a hole in the quilt at the same time?
I had briefly looked at the 800 series Berninas when they first came out, but I can't see myself paying $10K for a sewing machine--not until I win the lottery, anyway. I opted for the lowest price of the 700 models because I wasn't about to spend an extra $1000 for a BSR foot (stitch regulator) and a quarter-inch foot, which was the only difference between the 710 model and the 750 QE. Then, there's a 780 that includes all the embroidery stuff, but I'm not into embroidery. All in all, the 710 was just a little more than I paid for my 440 QE about 6-7 years ago. And, now I will sell that machine, since I don't have room for it.
By the way, if you're interested in a well-used and well-maintained Bernina 440 QE, I'm offering mine for $1500, which is about half what I paid for it. Send me an e-mail if you want to know more. I also counted and I have about 75 bobbins for the 440 that I can't use on the new machine, so I'd be willing to throw those into the deal.
I'm in the process of making a bed quilt for my youngest grandson. Mitch will be 16 next week, and, while this won't be finished in time for his birthday, maybe it can be done by Christmas. I've got all the piecing done and I'm working on borders. It has 72 New York Beauty blocks that I paper pieced. Mitch picked out some of my ice-dyed fabric (which just happened to be my favorite color combination) and that has determined my palette. I love the way that fabric looks in the quilt and I'm using it for the borders, too. If all goes well tomorrow, maybe I can post some photos.
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