Weekend with Gamma

Saturday mornings I usually sleep in a tad, but not this weekend. We were holding a Get Acquainted Class for some of our new Pfaff sewing machine owners. Giving a class like this is always fun because of the lights you see going on. "Oh, I didn't know I could do that!" "I never dreamed I could make a button hole so easily!" "It has an automatic thread cutter?" "Oh, my goodness....it's beautiful!" You hear all sorts of comments just like these. We, at Redwood Sewing Center/Scottie Dog Quilts are overwhelmed at the response of our local sewing/quilting community since we've opened our Pfaff Sewing Machine dealership. And we are glad that they have all been so happy with their machines. One gal had confided last week to a fellow class member that she "hated" her new Pfaff. Couldn't do a thing with it. After Saturday's class she told me she's not going to sew on anything else! She loves it. I wish she'd told me that last month and I could have helped her out before! And so every month we offer get acquainted classes for our new owners.

Sydney calls me Gamma and the Haché household calls me Grammy. I suppose that when we go on our cruise next month all the grandkids will choose one or the other name. This weekend we've had the pleasure of Sydney's company. We ate dinner at her favorite place: HomeTown Buffet. I'm surprised that she first chooses a (somewhat) healthy plate with 1 slice cheese pizza, carrots, hard boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes, grilled white fish and then, of course, comes dessert. You'd think with a vast array of desserts that she'd want several or at the very least have a problem choosing. NOPE! Every time she goes for a cone filled with orange fat free, sugar free frozen yogurt....with lots and lots (and lots and lots!) of sprinkles on top.

We came home and baked a cake. Syd's getting really good at cracking the eggs! Then we watched our friends, Huckleberry Flint, perform on TV! What a treat to see them. We like their "old timey" sound. Some of them grew up with our children and we've been fans for many years now. Then Gamma fell asleep and when I woke up Grandpa had put Sydney to bed. So much for Gamma's bedtime stories!After church today we frosted the cake and Sydney put sprinkles and jimmys on the cake. Is she proud or what?

"What's for lunch, Gamma?" I had an idea. Last week she'd asked me what a pig in a blanket was. I had a can of biscuits from who knows what in the fridge. First we smashed the biscuits and then rolled them on the hot dogs. It takes a lot of concentration.

Then you bake them (and any stray biscuits you have left-over)Next you fix your plate....did you know it's a law that you have to fill up each section of your plate? It is! Truly. And after she said she didn't want any carrots, Grandpa came to the rescue with Cheetos....she and Grandpa have a thing about Cheetos. They are too artificially orange for me! As you can see we have filled up the plate with 5 major food groups....Your bread/grain group, your protein group (hot dogs?), your milk/dairy (string cheese), your vegetable group (I kid you not...when Bill Clinton was president they classified Catsup as a serving of vegies for school lunch programs!) and your "too orange, what could be in a cheeto" group!
She looks pretty happy about the whole thing!

Right now she and Grandpa are outside doing something.....it's cold and misty (not quite raining, but certainly not dry) but they are having a fine time. Later I'm going shopping with daughter Liz and maybe a movie. Good weekend...and for me it ends today as I work all day tomorrow....and since it's a holiday I'll probably be busy.

We've been to "school"

On Tuesday our fabulous Pfaff educator, Vanessa came to town and spent a day and a half training us and our staff on how to demonstrate and sell our sewing machines. She took our motley staff (note that I'm including Liz and I in this group) and taught us so much about our Pfaff sewing machines that I'm surprised our heads did not explode! She taught us a few things about selling too.

Number 1: SMILE.

Geri and Liz demonstrate this. (Be sure to notice that our Quilt Expression models all have this fabulous 9 1/2" neck for quilting!)

Judy and Katie listen attentively to Vanessa's instruction. We learned how to use lots of different feet for our machines, wonderful stitches and lots of extras...how to make cording for example.

Or sew hems on jeans....you'd be so surprised how easily these machines could put new hems in your jeans...easy as pie.Oh and how to do a blind hem (need a skirt or pants hemmed?) in a nano second (or there-abouts...perhaps I exaggerate just a tad).
Here Geri is making a rolled hem.

Look at Liz smile...."Look Ma, I made a buttonhole!" These are the first buttonholes she's ever made. She's ready to tackle a garment now!

We all got a turn on the Grand Quilter. That stitch regulator certainly helps everyone to be a pro at free motion!

Thanks again, Vanessa for coming to Redwood Sewing Center. See you at Quilt Market next week.

I'm so Excited!

We had a fabulous weekend here at Redwood Sewing Center. Our Scottie Dog Mystery Quilting Retreat was a rousing success. The food was wonderful, the quilt pattern (Criss Cross Applesauce) was very well received and we got to sew the entire weekend with amazingly wonderful quilting women!

Today is Monday and somehow the Monday after Retreat can be kind of a "let down" day. But today I am so excited there is absolutely no let down. A friend had her baby boy early this morning (it's not been officially announced so I can't say another word just yet) AND.....ta da! Tomorrow our Pfaff educator is coming to do a special training just for our staff. I can hardly wait. We became dealers in late August and I began to sew on my Pfaff Quilt Expressions 4.0 machine

around the first of September. I was prepared to like my new machine, of course. But little did I know how much! I am so in love with my Pfaff! The dual feed foot on this Pfaff machine is really something....this means that any time you sew, you can have the advantage of a built-in walking foot. Oh, my! This baby keeps your fabrics from slipping, wobbling and more. My stitches are straighter and more even. I push a button and voila! Both my threads are cut. It has presser foot lift I can touch with my knee....or just tap the foot pedal and the presser foot goes up or down.....neat! On my own I learned a lot about this machine....but there is so much more to learn. I don't even know the right questions to ask. I can make button holes two ways....but this machine can make 6 different kinds of button holes. It has a wonderfully large and extended neck making quilting a larger quilt relatively easy. There are embroidery stitches up the wazoo (I always wanted to use that phrase!) and three alphabets. I can't wait until tomorrow afternoon when our Pfaff Educator comes to teach me (and my whole staff) all the tricks, tips and take away any mysteries we might have about our machines.We'll even learn to use the Pfaff Grand Quilter....of course Liz is already a pro at it. I look forward to being able to quilt our store samples right on the sales floor. Did you know that this big baby extends up to 120" (think King sized Quilt!), is complete with the table, poles, etc, has a stitch regulator and is affordable? Our lessons will be 1/2 day on Tuesday and all day Wed....but don't let that deter you if you wanted to come to the store. We'll be glad to help you....the whole staff will be here!

Did I say I was excited? Well, I am!