I just went out and bought myself a new sewing machine. Mine died in the middle of the Storm at Sea quilt so I’ve been using borrowed machines. But when my friends and I get together to sew then we have share machines and it doesn’t work so well. I’m trying not to spend any unnecessary money right now but I figured this was essential for my mental health.

I ended up getting a very basic Singer at WalMart for $98. My previous machine was a $100 Kenmore that lasted 10 years. I only really need to be able to go forward and backward. I don’t use the thousands of fancy stitches on big machines. Two nice features this machine has that the old one didn’t are an automatic needle threader and an adjustable width to the satin stitches. With that I may finally develop some skill at applique – or maybe just decrease my intense dislike of it.