Come Stitch With Me

At the Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum in Carrollton:
Fall 2024
Sewing Machine Maintenance: Saturday, October 26th from 2:00-3:30 p.m. Cost: $40 + kit fee
Meet Your Sewing Machine (private lesson only)
Tentative: Finished Edge Applique (Lori Holt Method)

Spring 2025
Meet Your Sewing Machine (private lesson only)
Beginning Sewing for Teens & Adults (series of classes)
How to Read a Commercial Sewing Pattern

The SQTM fall schedule is being finalized and will be published shortly.

In my Smyrna Studio:
Did your sewing teacher press the pause button on Friday sewing classes for your homeschool group? Or you discovered the sewing class is not offered at the 6-12 homeschool co-op this fall? If you can switch to Thursdays, I have some daytime availability. Let’s talk! If not, I’ll gladly refer you to another teacher – especially if garment sewing or cosplay is your focus.

Are you aware the EPA’s new HVAC refrigerant rules go into effect January 1, 2025? Prices on new HVAC systems are expected to rise by 30% as a result of complying with the new rule. The biggest gotcha is consumers will not be able to replace existing equipment with like equipment as they have in the past. You will be required to replace (or upgrade, if possible) your entire HVAC system to meet the new standard. Ouch!

As I mentioned in the previous post, our main level HVAC stopped blowing air. Turns out, the system froze up due to a refrigerant leak, plus the technician found a big pile of oil all over the outdoor condenser unit. Not good. Our coil is toast. He estimated we’d lost half the refrigerant in our unit. No cheap or easy fixes here. Our HVAC system is 11 years old. It makes more sense for us to replace the entire a/c half of the system (coil and condenser unit) rather than make any repairs.

We’ll be driving our vehicles a while longer since we decided to be proactive and replace the a/c components in our other system, as well (also 11 years old).

Main takeaway: If your system is 7+ years old and you’ve thought about replacing or upgrading your HVAC system, you might want to do it before the end of 2024.

Over the past few days, it seems as if my body has done nothing but exhale. The holding pattern of the past two years is behind us. Getting to and over the “official” retirement finish line for me is finally over. In spite of some major bumps, things did work out as they were supposed to in the end.

What’s next? Honestly, it’ll probably look very similar to what we’ve been doing the past two years – volunteer work, hobbies and travel. Now that we no longer have to fork over so much for health insurance each month, our travel will definitely increase. In fact, I booked our anniversary trip to Cumberland Island (St. Mary’s GA) this morning. Visiting Cumberland Island has long been on my bucket list.

Will we make the drive in a new set of wheels? Don’t know. One of our a/c units decided to stop working this morning. It’s currently a balmy 79 degrees on my main level. Outside temps are near 100 degrees. The inside is tolerable with 3 floor fans running at high speed. We’re maintenance contract customers, so we’re “supposed” to receive same day priority service. What they don’t tell you is you aren’t considered #1 priority unless you only have one a/c unit for the entire house. We have more than one, so the service technician is due tomorrow after 3 p.m. Hope they can get it fixed. If not, we might be spending Labor Day weekend elsewhere.

Meanwhile, I’ll head back to my cool sewing space and work on some fall placemats using the Mini Yellow Brick Road pattern I picked up at QuiltCon and fat quarters from my trip to Missouri Star with my sister-in-law. The idea comes from one of the out-of-area quilt shops I like to follow on IG or FB. I’m trying to refresh my fall decor. A nearby shop is advertising a seasonal pumpkin or holiday tree Brightly mini-quilt workshop as part of its holiday maker series. I picked up the pattern at my retreat in Idaho earlier this year. Their spring variation was SO cute. So are pictures of the local shop’s samples. Sure, I can make my own at home, but it might be fun to finally take a class at this particular shop. See image of quilt pattern below.

Stay cool and keep on quilting. Fall’s just around the corner!