Tag: life

Good things come to those who wait

January 31, 2026

My new sewing machine WITH a stitch regulator is due to arrive mid-week. Cue the happy dance music!

This time last year, my sewing machine dealer strongly advised that I move on picking up a new machine before price increases due to tariffs went into effect. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a possibility as I’d needed to buy a replacement vehicle at the time. Over the next several months, I watched prices keep increasing with lackluster sales promotions. Dealers became even more selective on which machines they’d accept on a trade-in – if they even accepted trade-ins. I kept saving money and waited to see if a used machine came on the market or if prices return to reality. Neither happened.

I practiced FMQ on my Janome 8900. (I’ve gotten pretty good at variations of a loopy meander plus a boxy meander). I took a longarm quilting fundamentals class at a local quilt shop. This helped me realize 3 things: (1) I prefer to FMQ sitting down, (2) a stitch regulator is a game changer for me and (3) I’d still continue to send larger items out to a longarm quilter. Scheduling time to use the longarm has been a hassle due to limited availability of time slots. We’re limited to hand guided only – no computerized E2E for folks who rent time on the machines.

So when a substack article writer mentioned how his dad had negotiated a great deal on the sister version of my machine of choice, I reached out. An Elna 782 with the ASR for the same price my local Janome dealer was selling the 9480 without the ASR in December 2024. DEAL! They are the exact same machine – just a different color scheme and badging on the outside.

I’m supporting a family-owned business and got what I wanted at a really fair price.

I‘m good.

I’ll post pics once Ellie arrives, gets unboxed and set-up.

A new school year begins…

August 4, 2025

The 2025-26 school year kicked off in a number of metro Atlanta school districts today. I enjoyed scrolling through the first day of school pictures on FB while drinking my morning tea. For the first time in two decades, I no longer have a niece in school. The youngest graduated in May and she’s moving into the dorms at Georgia Tech next Sunday.

Personally, the month of August will be spent learning more about Adobe Illustrator and EQ8, experimenting with some sewing techniques and renting time on the longarm machine at Tiny Stitches. Yes, you can say I’m big supporter of lifetime learning!

Using bits from my scrap bin to try a braid block pattern and binding with my new left bi-level foot.
One quarter of my Giant Dahlia quilt is complete – 7/26 ECQG class with Michelle Yeo from Australia

September brings a return to teaching classes and private lessons. Two fall classes are scheduled with the SQTM and I may teach a Saturday morning members-only machine maintenance workshop with my guild. I’ll also be partnering with a couple of local shops to host free Block Party workshops during school breaks so kids can come work on blocks to enter into next year’s quilt show. Preparations for the June 2026 show begin to ramp up with required monthly meetings of the entire Show Committee.

A return to school also means an uptick in therapy dog visit invites. Sadie is definitely ready to get back to work. We took six weeks off this summer from therapy dog activities. It was much needed. The public library READ visits are already scheduled, as are the usual visits with Georgia Tech. I’m waiting on the local elementary school where we did a weekly READ last year. It’s still in limbo. I’ll be bummed if it doesn’t continue; however, that’s outside my control. My friends to the north have plenty of visit opportunities available within my 30 minute drive window. That’s a good things.

Fair warning to those not familiar with ATL and back-to-school traffic. School is in session and traffic definitely heavier, but the real scary show comes after Labor Day. If you commute long distances to work, use the restroom before you leave. Bring a snack, a drink and some patience. You’ll need all three if you get stuck in bad traffic. Oh, you might also look into a Peach Pass, if applicable to your commute.

Good communication is key

February 20, 2025

Right now, I’m a little miffed, but I’m seeking first to understand instead of automatically blasting the company on social media like so many seem to do nowadays.

We hired a local handyman service to complete some odd jobs around the house. The service has mostly good reviews and is backed by a local consumer watchdog group, so I felt comfortable having them do the job. Work was completed on Monday and I received the bill this afternoon.

I have zero issues with the handyman or quality of his work. The handyman was punctual, personable and did good work. The office manager initially estimated 5 hours of work time. She communicated that this estimate included time to secure materials needed to complete the job and that we would be billed cost + 20% for said materials needed to complete the work. Okay, fine. We have 3 hardware stores within 10 minutes of our house. I already had the garbage disposal, power cord and any screws needed to relocate some door guards in the garage.

The loose tile project became more involved once the handyman discovered the cause of the loose tiles on the curb of the shower. We had a similar experience in our first house, so I knew it could result in 2-3 extra hours of work to fix. The handyman had completed the garbage disposal installation in less than an hour, so I mentally adjusted our estimate for about 6-7 hours of billed labor plus about $125 for supplies.

The final bill was for 8 hours of handyman labor (which included 2.5 hours of shopping time because I tracked the time away from the job) plus materials – which leftover materials the handyman took with him.

Any other contractor has left surplus materials that we’ve paid for when the job was completed. Painters leave paint. Tile folks leave extra tiles, grout, sealer and caulk. Porch repair folks leave extra lumber and screws. Is it different with handyman services?

I’ve asked about being charged for so much shopping time (especially the 2nd trip) and to see itemized receipts for the materials purchased as my recollection of what was purchased doesn’t even come close to what we were billed (even with the 20% markup). We’ll see how the office manager responds.

Don’t worry, the bill will get paid as the work was done.

The question is: will we hire them again in the future? Adjust the bill to what I think is fair? Yes. Explain why the bill stands as is so that I don’t feel like I’ve been taken advantage of? Maybe.

UPDATE: The office manager explained their policies and reviewed the materials purchased to complete our job. An adjustment was made for both time billed and materials charged, which I consider a satisfactory resolution to the matter. I paid the revised bill upon receipt. So yes, I would hire them again.