Walking Foot Adventure

Having been frugal, I have to say it did not improve once I took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.... that being said, here is my adventure in trying to find the best deal on a walking foot for "my" sewing machine. (It's actually my Mom's.)

I've gotten along without a walking foot making smaller quilts with no binding but have been told by many that it won't be so hard if I just got a walking foot... so, with the recent quilt I just completed, I really needed one to do the binding.

A certain store carried a "Universal" walking foot that should work on most sewing machines for $14.99. I already knew that others have paid $70-$100 on their walking foot so I was bound and determined NOT to pay that price.

"Universal" foot bought and hmmmmm, the screw that I had was too short and needed about 1/8" longer to catch the threads to hold the foot in place. After calling my Dad, I set out for the hardware store to buy a longer screw.

With original screw and machine in tow, young son and I headed out. With assistance from salesman, I purchased two screws for a whopping .29, thanking the salesman and bragging about how much money he just saved me!!! Having now spent $15.29 for my walking foot, young son and I went out to the car to put it all together to make sure it worked...

Hmmmm, walking foot does not reach sewing plate area - not by a long shot. Hmmmm. Still, bound and determined NOT to pay bucho bucks, we set off to next town over to the Viking Sewing Machine Shop. With touch feely 3 year old hands on thousand dollar machines, I did hope this stop would not take long.

After trying several walking feet, I was told, "NO GO!" They would need to order me one because my machine was just too old. I asked if he had a longer shank for the machine so it would make the walking foot I had longer... No. I asked for any other options... none.

Defeated, I limped back to rig with young son in tow. I barely made it to the car before I burst into tears... even though I had a crisp one hundred dollar bill in my wallet, I did NOT want to spend it on a walking foot.

Young son consoles mommy and begs her not to be sad and that he'll buy me lunch if I stop crying.

We meet up with my mom and I whine and lament to her so she says similar thing as young son... "I'll buy you lunch." So, eat we did!

Phone call from Machine Shop - they can order my a walking foot for $105 and it will take 10 days before it's here. Not what I wanted to hear.

Phone call to Viking Machine Shop in big city 30 miles away... yes, they know what I'm talking about... yes, they know the universal walking foot won't work... yes, they understand I don't want to spend bucko bucks.... yes, they have the walking foot I need in stock -last one in stock, actually... yes, they'll hold it for me on the off chance that someone comes in between phone call and drive to big city.... yes, that will be $99.99 plus tax.

Drive to big city with young son and mother in tow.

Meet Ed the Tech. He showed me how to put it on, told me about which needles I should NEVER use on my machine, and taught me that my "C" foot is also a screwdriver that fits all Viking screws. Hmmm. Good to know! Also learned he lives in a small town near me and gave me his card for any "future needs!"

Moral of the story? Sometimes you just have to suck it up and pay bucko bucks because Swiss things just cost a lot.

Couch Quilt!

Fall Couch Quilt by Country Treasures is complete! I have to say, I am in love!!!
I used an assortment of fabric for this one, mainly Benatrex fabric. Pieces from the "12 Days of Christmas," "Love Is," Tried & True," and one really awesome Batik fabric in gold!

Here is a view of the back, top and binding:

Back quilting detail: the quilting pattern is Chantilly Lace and was done by my cousin in Colorado on his long arm! He used Sulky Autumn thread and it is everything I wanted.

Top detail - isn't it just gorgeous?!?!

Here I am, posing with my new quilt.

Sewing and Quilting!

I know pictures are needed but until I actually move them from the camera to my computer, here is what I have been doing!
~ Making pillow cases! I love it! I can start to finish a case in 30 minutes. There are days I just need to start and finish something and be able to look at it the next day, next week, next month... unlike supper which I never see again (HOPEFULLY!)
~ Quilting! I will have pictures soon of my first larger than twin quilt! It has turned out wonderfully and after the binding is on, I will take and post pictures. Promise.

I have also finished two more tops and am ready to ship them off to my cousin to quilt them in Colorado. Those are more twin size and are for my two younger sons.

What's next on the sewing table? quilts, hair wraps and coffee cozy cuffs are up and coming... as well as possibly some pot holders.

Thanks to Toy Story 3, I have hours of unlimited time to sit at the machine as Jav can't watch it enough... he needs it for his birthday, for sure because my free weekly codes from Redbox don't come often enough!!!

Super Bowl Food

For me, Super Bowl is all about the food. It's the ONE game of the year that I care anything about and like many, I really care about the commercials. I like to see how offended I can become from the over-sexual themes marketing our young (and older?) men today...


Sorry about the side-rant. We were talking about food. Super Bowl food.


What will I make this year??? Here's my planning plate:

~ Shrimp Ceviche and red corn chips (as much organic I can but I don't let that stop me with super bowl food.) It's all about fat and grease and yummy goodness...
For this dish, I basically make picco de gallo (or buy from local Mexican store to save time) and add shrimp, lime, salt and Tapatio.

Then I sit alone, close my eyes and imagine heaven being similar to that feeling I have when eating ceviche.

~ Pulled Pork I use The Pioneer Woman's recipe. Serve with warm tortillas. We live this out on the counter all afternoon and just feast on it.

~ Brie and hot jalapeno jelly delicious.

~ Chili Con Queso, again from the Pioneer Woman. To. Die. For.

As for dessert, well, I've usually had my fill of fat by that time but I'll let my Mom serve up some ice cream for those peeps who need something sweet and cool to top it all off.

Yep, I think that's why I'm making. Oh, I almost forgot:
Little Smokies Cooked in BBQ Sauce in the crock pot. That is for my son, Reg.

And I always make WAY too much so we eat this fat laden food for a week and gain 10 lbs. Sigh.

Family Vacay

Since I forgot the cable to load pictures from the camera...there won't be any pix on it. Sorry.

We decided at Christmas to take a mini vacay to see my brother who lives in Hailey. This is a long weekend, celebrating MLK Day so we will remember while sledding!

On Sunday after church, we ate a yummy chili meal my Mom had made and hit the road for Hailey! Rain and fog greeted us for the the majority of the drive and warm weather made the roads non-icy.

We arrived at supper time and my brother met us at the Inn before taking us to a fantastic Mexican joint... Lago Azul. RAVE reviews from this family! The portions were generous enough most of us shared an entree. It's a small 10 table joint that has delicious authentic Mexican food. I ordered pollo con crema and shared with my mom, The girls got the same and shared. PLENTY of food. My Dad got chili colorado and the flavor was perfect, meat was tender - yum! DH got lengua en cevollada which he really enjoyed. My bro got caldo de rez and after he'd eaten all the good stuff, the little boys drank the broth! When it was time to pay, I was ready for a pretty good size check since each entree was $10... not really figuring in my head, just going by the amout of food on the table. Total bill - $55 for 9 people and more food than we could eat. Will we go back? YES! My bro eats here about once a week and I can see why!

Fun evening of hot tubbing for the kids, visiting for us old folks and then bro went home, little ones went to bed and DH, the girls and I played Banagrams and Uno til midnight! FUN!

Today will consist of getting dressed, eating and SLEDDING! We stopped and picked up a couple more sleds on the way out of town and we're in for a fun filled of BLUE skies and WHITE snow covered mountains to sled down.

The goal? To have utterly ehausted children for ride home this evening and nothing but fun memories planted in their minds for years to come.

Vote for the Boise Limited Rail Road!

The Boise Limited!



Starting in Salt Lake City, the segment travels north to Ogden and Brigham City then north to Pocatello, Idaho, then west to American Falls, Shoshone and Mountain Home, concluding at Boise.

One of Union Pacific's steam engines will travel the route segment with the most votes!

Winter 2010

We've had a good winter so far! Enjoy the pictures...

DH & I in McCall sharing some alone time.

Sky at her Christmas concert in December.

Mel & I

Mel

Granddad and the boys enjoying hot cocoa