Sewing, sewing, sewing - all about learning my new machine

Our weather has been hot and humid - unusual for here. But this week it has been lower only 98/99 and starting today the humidity is going away. It really hasn't bothered me as I've been in the sewing room learning my new machine. Have figured out a lot of things. Here it is set up for embroidery. I am doing the rooster pattern. There is a little X on the picture that shows where the needle is and where it is going. This machine has smaller hoops than my old machine. And the presser foot has to be manually raised and lowered. The other machine was automatic. Need to get used to that. 

The finished rooster, needs to be pressed. And I learned after it was finished I should have changed the bobbin tension. Oh well. 

Got into some serious sewing this day. Took over entire room. 

I did take breaks once in a while. Saw this road runner in the back yard. He was watching something. Maybe a lizard. But he lost interest and left. 

Back to sewing again. This time I set the machine up right. Doing the balloon. The squares under the picture are showing me the thread colors and when to change them. 

Took a picture of the machine doing the rooster. Fun to watch the process. 

The finished balloon, not pressed yet either. Did a better job with the tension set right. See the detail on the basket. 

Oh My Goodness I finally lucked into figuring out how to connect my laptop to the sewing machine via WiFi. I have hundred of embroidery patterns on the laptop from when the old machine worked. 

Sent this from the laptop to the machine. So excited...

Yes, every once in a while I left the room, once to check out a sunset. Kind of pretty. 

Back to sewing. Have this quilt almost done, Well the top part. I started to play with some of the decorative stitches I discovered. Used them on the small yellow strips. 

Hard to see but there are hearts on the top one, small flowers on the middle one and bigger flowers on the bottom one. 

Now I'm trying to decide how to quilt it. I saw some stuff on line I might get to help with the quilting. 

Today Sphere.  They are going to show the old movie The Wizard of Oz inside the Sphere. I guess they have added some AI features to it. WOW in row 9 the tickets are $294 each for tomorrow night. People are crazy!!!

Our little house mate the mouse is still around. When I was at my computer I heard strange noises. At first I thought the printer was updating. Then I realized it was coming from my waste basket, Moved the shredder and sure enough there he was looking at me. I went to the kitchen to get a trash bag to empty him into and when I got back he was gone. No idea how he managed to climb up the sides and get out. Haven't seen him since. 

Bill is having a hard time with the prednisone so we need to get it in smaller doses. Have called primary doctor and left message. Also have located another ocular myasthenia gravis doctor. Will call there next week to see if we can get him an appointment. 

Confused.

 I received my new sewing machine on Tuesday, early evening so just unpacked it and set it in sewing table. Of course nothing from the old machine will fit with the new one. This is a sewing and embroidery machine. So should be fun once I figure everything out.  The embroidery attachment is sitting on the table behind it.  Of course I have to buy a new insert for the sewing table so I have a flat surface to sew on.   The old insert doesn't fit.  Called the company and ordered a new one, boy the price for it went up. Will get it in three to four weeks. It goes around the opening in the sewing cabinet and fits right up to the machine so there is a big flat surface to sew on. 

The embroidery unit. Still haven't touched it. 

Started to play with it Wednesday morning. Yep, I still have that same look on my face.  The major difference for me is the presser foot went up and down automatically, this one I have to raise and lower it. That is the major nuisance, cause I just sit there waiting for it to come up. Lots of other difference with threading and bobbins and etc., etc.  It also has a touch screen - well many, many touch screens...and it connects to WiFi. Little by little I'm figuring out a few things. Can finally sew a good 1/4 inch seam. Well most the time. I kept forgetting to write the touch screen setting down. So would have to start all over again. Wrote it down this morning. One needle touch button has 29 different positions for the needle?????

We are heading into monsoon season and might have rain the whole next week. Or might not. But there have been some nice sunrises and sunsets. Sunset two days ago. 

Looking out back towards the Wetlands. Still lots of work going on back there. This machine and another one just as big are parked right behind our house. All of our plants are desert plants, so no matter the heat they bloom all summer long. 

Again The Sphere, I though this one was a little strange, cute but weird. 

In a video this one was amazing. 

Not walking at all, it was 90 by 7:30 this morning. Hopefully next week it will start cooling down a little. One of our neighbors went out early walking in Wetlands and got this photo of the bobcat.

Second person living here that's got a picture of him. I hope he is still around when it cools off enough to walk out there again. 

This guy has been hanging around our backyard lately. 

So that is it for us. I've taken my calm down break and will now go back to the sewing machine and see if I can figure out the embroidery part. 

Beware of what you say and where you say it.

THEY are listening to everything you say. Be careful. 

Weather continues to be hot and by end of week we might get some rain. Oh goody humidity too. 

It never cools down at night. AC runs 24/7. The rain is supposed to come Friday and Saturday, sure hope we get some. So far this year we've had 67 days over 100 but some of those were over 110. Check out the "feels like temperatures." Who are they kidding? 

The good news is last summer was way hotter than this year so far. 

The other day we discovered we had a new roommate...another mouse. Haven't seen him but noticed some tortillas we left out in their bag had been chewed on and of course there was a nice black present in the bag too. So Bill and I were talking about the mouse while sitting in the room where our computers are (Mine was not on line or being used at that time.) Guess what! Next time I went on line I had several ads about mouse traps and pellets!!!!! Freaking scary. I put out one of the old wooden traps. Baited it with tortilla - which he/it just pulled off and ate. So now it had peanut butter on it. So far no SNAP. Maybe he just likes tortilla or he moved out. I hope. No droppings anywhere I've looked. 

The quilt I just finished took a toll on my old sewing machine. It is about 30/35 years old. I've had it for 24 years and it was used when I bought it. For the last year it has been slowly breaking down. One piece or stitch or action after another either broke or quit working. Now it will only straight stitch - but doesn't even do that right. About every 20th stitch it thinks it has to go backwards for a few stitches. So I went on line to see about repair shops. Found a place I could take it just a bit down the road. Got their phone number and meant to call it them the next day. Well...turns out I haven't called them yet. Instead when I went on line the next day (again scary) there were a bunch of ads from Husqvarna Viking Sewing Machines. 

(My old one is a Husqvarna Viking Designer II Quilting Embroidery machine.) The embroidery part quit working a year ago and the laptop the designs were on also quit working. And the program wouldn't load on to Windows 8. The old laptop had Vista! Anyway I started to look at the ads. OMG the prices ... I knew they had gotten really really expensive, but they are crazy out of this world expensive now. And then I saw a Quilting Embroidery machine that was ON SALE for a whole lot off. Hummm.....read about it and forgot about it. Shut down the computer and did something else.

Went back on computer next morning and first thing I saw was the sewing machine - oh no. I managed to hold off until afternoon, then I broke down and ordered it. My reasoning - it would probably cost over $500 to repair the old one and I still wouldn't be able to use the embroidery program. Makes sense right?! So I should get my new machine tomorrow. It is all high tech and uses wifi. I might be out of my technical level. Bill says he thinks he will learn a whole lot of new cuss words before I figure out everything. Like even turning it on and threading it. Time will tell. 

I already have a new quilt pattern picked out. [Crap I forgot I put a pie crust in the oven for the quiche I'm plan to make. Well it will be crunchy.] Now I have to remember to take the quiche out when it is done.

The Sphere again.

I might be away from the computer for awhile while learning my new machine. 

It is still hot here.

We woke up to the power out this morning. Went out about 5:00. I got up around 6 o'clock and it was already in the 90's. About 11,000 people without power. Energy company was on it right away. Came back on at 7:15, at least for us. The community we live in has a Facebook page I read to see what is goin on here. Several residents were on their way to restaurants. Luckily we had matches so could light one of the stove burners to heat coffee. And learned that if the power goes out the big gates guarding us automatically open and stay open until power comes back on then they close. Haven't heard what the cause was. Glad it is on as we are having another 110 degree day. So far this summer 56 days over 100.

I finished my quilt. There are about 190 three inch squares to make it. It ended up being bigger than I thought it was going to be. I used three inch squares and I think the picture I saw was made with two inch squares. If I were to make it again I'd add a couple of rows to the top with more of the colored tree squares. It looks a little squashed.

I had to get creative to finish the back, didn't have any material that I liked that would cover the whole back. So put a piece in the center. Added the dark green around it. Then added the four leaves from same material scraps. 

My sewing room is all cleaned up for a while. I've found another picture of a quilt I like, but haven't figured out if I have the material I'd want to make it.  Even the carpet has all the threads vacuumed up. Think they filled the bag! I bought the curtain material in Mexico years ago, it has sewing machines and supplies on it. The cubbies are filled with material. Lots and lots of material. Mostly sorted by color.

Years ago I made the hanging. Got the idea from a small painting we bought in Mazatlan. It was fun doing. All material.

The things on  the walls behind the ladies are full of thread, for quilting and embroidery. I did the ladies a few years ago. Had the patterns for years before I figured out how to do them easily and fun. 

Our son came across this picture in his stuff. It is a picture of Sirimarco's of Beverly Hills our jewelry store on Rodeo Drive. Had it in the mid 1970's to 1978. A long time ago. 

Been cooking lately. Made chicken taquitos the other night, and brownies and thinking about making candied peanuts. Last night I made paella for dinner. One of Bills favorites. Tonight I think we'll have chicken quesadillas. Have all the things we need and easy. 

They are still working behind us and in The Wetlands laying new sewer line. Same guy is still standing on the bike/hiking walk every day with his sign. 

Your dose of The Sphere. Some of the videos of it on line are amazing. 

Bill no longer has his curls, we cut each other hair with the clippers yesterday. More like heads shaved. So much cooler. His eyes are bothering him today. Making him dizzy. 

Bill's Kingdom

Well we are back into hot weather and wind. Will be between 106 cool to 111 high all week. Ugh. And we are getting a lot of smoke from the fires in California. Can't even see the mountains behind us.  Have the air purifier running all the time.  Have got this far on my latest quilt.  I now have the batting and backing on it. This is just the front. It is bigger than I thought it would be. Oh well. 

Bill has been letting his hair grow, it is full of curls. If mine had curls I'd let it grow. Mine is straight as a stick and thread thin. 

Since Bill has been having the problems with his eyes and we aren't traveling or going much of any where he has set up his space around his computer. Some days he calls it his Kingdom some days his Jail depending on his mood. He really misses traveling and being able to work on hobbies. The sight in his left eye is just peripheral vision due to untreated macular degeneration. His right eye is stabilized so he can see, but not close sume what better for distance. Prednisone is keeping his eyelid open for now. He can only take a low dose or it upsets his stomach. With the help of glasses he can read his e-reader with the letters on it magnified too.  He gets shots in it every 12 weeks. We are looking into a Low Vision clinic but his eye doctor has to refer him. 

So little by little he has set up the area around his computer to be as comfortable and functional as possible. A panoramic view of the area. He made some changes after I took this picture. 

He has a very large screen for his computer. In fact it is a Roku TV that he uses for computer screen and to watch Dish TV.  Watching TV in the living room makes him dizzy as he can not see it as clearly as the one on his desk. On the left side of the screen/monitor he has a few pairs of glasses to help with his close vision. In the middle is his clock and date and thermometer. On the right he has his magnifying glass for when he is on the computer. His keyboard is yellow with black letters, easier to see. He also had a light strip above it. Under the clock he has made small shelving to hold the dish and roku remotes. Also a small flashlight.

 Under  the drawer is the computer PC and a thermos. 

After I took this picture he moved his snacks, he also has a " bread box" 

To his immediate right he has shelving - mainly to hold his snacks. All the containers have labels as he can't see well enough to distinguish the contents in the jars. The flower decorations he got when he made the boxes a few months back. He painted them. The pictures are his mother, father and our kids. 

The red box is a mini refrigerator for his soda. 
In the closet he has a microwave.  On the right hand side of this picture is a charging station for the drones, his phone and nook. He also has the table with a bright light above it so he can work on smaller items when his eye is behaving. 

He also has a thermos for his coffee and a thing that will keep his cup of coffee hot. It is on his desk. I'm sure I missed a few things. And for the first time in a long time he is feeling really good and would be more active if he could see and it wasn't so hot out. And if I would be willing to drive somewhere. 

The county is putting in new sewer pipe behind us in the Wetlands. Will take about 2 months. They put the rocks down to keep down the dust and to clean the dirt off the tires on the trucks that go in and out all day, The rocks end right behind our house.

This poor guy will be out there the whole project with a sign that says SLOW/STOP. He is at the bike/walking path. Because they will be putting in new sewer out in the Wetlands park too. And trucks are crossing the bike path. Feel for him, it is going to be 110 this week. 

So far they have been pretty quiet. But most of the actual digging will be starting about three houses down from us and in the park. 

I'm starting to QUILT the quilt. Wish I hadn't. forgot how much energy it took to move all that material around.  Doing it slowly.

Made some brownies yesterday, but other than that no cooking, too hot.