Author: Teresa

Quilts, good books and dogs. Plus a cup of tea. Life is good.

Things are starting to fall into place

October 30, 2024

Three weeks ago, I mentioned several things were going on behind the scenes. Today, I agreed to teach Beginning Sewing (3-4 sessions) plus Sewing Machine Maintenance at the Southeast Quilt & Textile Museum for spring and fall semesters in 2025. I have the spring dates already set! Project based classes may be offered during the summer months, depending on interest and instructor availability. We’re also working on details for a potential vintage sewing machine maintenance class.

The other major development is that the school-based R.E.A.D. program I’ve been wanting to do with Sadie since retirement is several steps closer to reality. We’ve met with the local liaison and hashed out several of the details, including the day and time for our weekly visits. Sadie & I are tentatively set to do a meet & greet with the staff at an upcoming teacher workday. The liaison seems to think we’ll get the party started before Thanksgiving. Perhaps since it’s a smaller school district? We’ll see. I’m anticipating a January start date, but earlier will be okay with us.

Making room for the R.E.A.D. program means that I may have to pass on the opportunity to join a Featherweight enthusiast group that meets monthly in Ellijay. Having a standing weekly therapy dog visit also means we’ll have to pass on other cool visit invites we might receive that fall on the same day and time. We’ll see how things sort themselves out. Over the past year, I’ve become much more selective about the therapy dog visits I choose to accept. There are some teams in our group who do visits 4-5 days per week. I’m good with 1-2 visits per week.

In other news, the property appraiser did the site visit today. Based on conversations with the field techs, I think we’ll see corrections amounting to 400 sf upstairs and 550 sf in the basement. This should have a significant impact on our assessment. I’m supposed to return to the BOE in a week or two for their official findings. Currently waiting on a date.

Time to go make some project samples and write my tote bag pattern.

A trying day

October 28, 2024

Today’s enrichment activities at school were a bust. (For those new here, I’m retired, but still teach 3 literacy enrichment classes each week for a local home school consortium)

We learned about ferries as a mode of transport when we travel. I even incorporated some snippets of our recent trip to Cumberland Island and shared the bounty that the NPS ranger had given me to pass out to my students. No dice.

I had to resort to a YouTube read aloud because the book I wanted to share wouldn’t make it here in time. Great story; however, it was read by someone with a very nasally, whiny voice that grated on everyone’s last nerve.

I decided to use my laptop for today’s activities because I wanted to make sure my video clips would play. Sadly, it also meant using my phone as a hotspot as no one authorized to share the wifi password with me was around. The connection was so s-l-o-w.

The ferry boat origami project was well received, but required a little work and thought on their part. The usual suspects threw up their hands when something didn’t go exactly right on the first try or if the activity took more than 5 minutes to complete. That’s typical of today’s students – whether public, private or homeschooled.

Administration is putting out feelers to see who wants to teach again in the spring. I enjoy the camaraderie with the staff and the sense of purpose this part-time job gives me. However, today was akin to herding cats. If they’d asked me today, my answer would have been, “No.”

As a retired teacher friend remarked, this opportunity has been a great way for me to transition into retirement. Once I’ve gotten my “teacher fix” or when it begins to impede my ability to participate in other things I discover I want to do – then I’ll know it’s time to move on. Wise advice.

Photo by Yan Krukau on Pexels.com

Why take a sewing machine maintenance class?

October 26, 2024
  1. Sense of empowerment gained from learning how properly maintain the machine.
  2. A more pleasant sewing experience because the machine is well-maintained.
  3. Confidently troubleshoot and resolve common mishaps as they occur.
  4. Extend the time between professional service appointments.
  5. Save money.

There’s a shortage of qualified sewing machine repair technicians. Long-time sewing machine folks are retiring and no one is waiting in the wings to take offer that service. Customers now must travel farther and pay greater fees to have their machines serviced.

Sewing machine service in my area is $125.00+ for a basic clean, oil and lube. The good sewing machine service shops are backed up and not currently taking any in more machines in for repair and service. Given that 90% of machine issues are related to dust bunnies, improper threading and bad needles, it never hurts to try a few things first before automatically assuming you must take your machine in for repair.

Basic troubleshooting steps:

  1. Unthread and rethread the top thread with the presser foot up. Test sew. Repeat for bobbin.
  2. Check presser foot to make sure it’s the right foot and installed correctly. Tighten screw as needed.
  3. Check to see that needle is inserted correctly. Bent needle? Change the needle.
  4. Clean out the dust bunnies underneath and give it a drop of oil.
  5. Check bobbin winder to make sure it’s not accidentally engaged.

The previous steps should get you up and running again. If not, do a machine reset.

Computerized models: turn off machine, wait 5 minutes and turn back on.
Mechanical machines: turn stitch selector to straight stitch, length 2.5. Make sure tension dial is 3.5-4

Still no resolution? Refer to the back of your sewing machine manual. That’s where you’ll find additional troubleshooting steps and error codes specific to your machine.