I'm on the road again for work and haven't had the time to make too much recently. Not only that, but my trusty Kenmore had to be taken to the hospital - literally! - the repair shop is called The Sewing Machine Hospital. I've had it for close to twenty-five years, and it's held up remarkably well for never having been cleaned thoroughly or been maintained properly. It just kept working, year after year, so I never took it in. But recently it had been skipping and jamming the bobbin thread. My husband took it apart and oiled and cleaned it all. It was much better after that, but we could tell there was something going on in the bobbin area that needed fixing. The guy at the shop really knows what he's doing and I'm happy it's getting well taken care of. I keep thinking of it, all hooked up to its oil IVs, getting fed crap mushy food, and getting the occasional morphine hit when the guy tweaks too hard on its bobbin. Get well soon little guy!

I did take the chance to take a peak at new machines while I was in the shop - oh my god, you need an engineering degree for some of them! As long as the sewing machine doc can give my Kenmore some longevity, I'll stick with that one for a while longer. It is has all the stitches I need, and I know it so well. I don't need anything too fancy for now. Maybe later on, I will think about the possibility of getting a serger which will give me more professional seams more quickly.

In the meantime, I'm using my older Singer. It only does one stitch. But you know what they say - how you should pick one thing and do it really well? This old man does straight stitch really well! My sister gave me this machine a few years ago and I not only love using it, but also just looking at it :) My sister has a bit of an old sewing machine addiction and she definitely knows her stuff! This little guy continues to be a workhorse even after 65 years.

I recently tried my hand at making a stuffie toy. I don't think I've made one since I was about 12 years old. Ironically, the robot I made also looks exactly like something a 12 year old would make. It's definitely not my most sophisticated design, but it's a start. I used a piece of patchwork material I had made for the start of a quilt that never got finished. I like his eyes, but can't think why I gave him odd flipper mermaid (merman?) legs. I made two robots, the other one had fairly standard legs, and he got adopted by a little toddler friend of mine. I'm glad one of the robots is getting some love. I'm also wondering why I made his head so small. What do you think? Does the robot have potential?