The View

Whew! I just realized how long it has been since I last posted anything. This has been a hard few weeks dealing with a very weak and ill mother-in-law with little time left for anything else. One thing that is a comfort to us when we have to deal with life's unpleasant happenings is the view from our window. We drink our coffee every morning looking out at this beautiful bit of our environment and read our meditations and somehow find some kind of center to maintain our balance in this world. I was so disappointed that I didn't get to see the fall color this year; however, even I--a mountain girl--had to admit that that golden hue of the marsh grass looks pretty darn good. As we were sitting and looking out this morning, fish were literally jumping all over the place! And they were BIG! We were discussing the various ways we could cook them if only we had a fishing license (not really). I saw my neighbor shortly afterwards and he said he caught 16 fish in about 15 minutes. The only thing was . . .they were mullet, not the bass I had been envisioning. Oh well--he threw them back into the drink, but we all had a little excitement.

I had brought my Swamp Hibiscus quilt back to Charleston with me to work on while I was here and when it came time to do the blanket stitiching around my applique, I was in trouble. I had used my Bernina up in the mountains to do much of it and neither of the machines I have here in Charleston have a blanket stitch that even comes close to the quality of the Bernina one (at least in my opinion). One of the machines is quite expensive but it just didn't measure up.

So . . .I asked my daughter-in-law (to whom I had given my Bernina 200) if I could borrow it long enough to do the stitching. She, of course, said yes and I trotted home with it. I started sewing and was just about overwhelmed with how much I missed that machine (I gave it away because I wasn't getting good service from the dealer). Since we have a good dealer in Hendersonville, my sweet husband said that I must get another one like the 200 (I don't know the model number now). Although I thought it was pretty great of him to say that, I really thought it came under the category of trying to make yourself feel better when you're under family stress and I felt I had him at a disadvantage (would that be WRONG? I would have to say probably.)

Anyway, when I told my daughter-in-law just how much I had enjoyed using my old friend and that I hoped to get another one sometime, she immediately told me to keep it, that she really didn't have the time to use it (she's going to college). I was really overwhelmed by her kindness and wanted to do something for her. I have packed up my other top-of-the-line machine and it will be hers when she is ready for it. But I also wanted to do something immediate and offered to quilt one of her unfinished projects. This is the one she chose--a project from a Myrtle Beach Quilt Party weekend. I really enjoyed doing it because it was something where I could sit down at my Juki and go almost into automatic and listen to books on tape. I was pleased with how it turned out and I think she was, too.

And so, I have had a wonderful reunion with my Bernina 200. I know that other machine owners could say just as many wonderful things about their own particular brand of machines--it's just a matter about what suits our own needs and ease of operation. I like the heft of the Bernina presser feet and I like the way certain stitches stitch and I like some of the features that are unique to the Bernina and I am used to. And, I am almost finished with my Swamp Hibscus quilt top and will post it soon.