Sewing Machines and Chainsaws

I was recently talking to a fellow I know and he was in the market for a chainsaw, something to do with cleaning up after a bit of rain and wind. He had spoken with his neighbor about it, and his neighbor was one of those old school New Englanders with a certain kind of practical wisdom.

"What kind of saw would you recommend?" my friend asked.

"Don't matter as long as it is orange." Was the Wise New Englander's response.

My buddy laughed when telling me this story because he thought it was the funniest advice he ever got. "...As long as it is orange." I thought that was the best advice ever for buying a chainsaw.

A couple years ago my Pa got the itch to buy himself a saw (the $80 green Walmart one broke), so we spent the better part of a Saturday driving all over creation to check out different dealers and different brands of chainsaws. All the really nice professional grade saws were orange. So my dad bought an orange saw. I also had an epiphany that day as we were riding around, and because I bet most of you reading this could care less about chainsaws I shall share this bit of wisdom with you.

The chainsaw he decided on was a little over $500. That is $500 that my father will never have to spend again on a chainsaw. How many things that you purchase for more than $500 would you consider disposable? Nothing I would hope, but we have been trained otherwise.

A car is the first thing that came to mind, how many of us buy a car and expect to have it for a lifetime? Some numbers to illustrate my thought: $20,000 price of a new car $12,000 what the car is worth 2 years later when you trade it in, do the math you paid a little over $10 a day, not including gas, insurance, or registration/titling fees, just for the privilege to drive a new car. Why are you trading it in? I bet it still gets you from point A to point B. You would fire your oil man if he recommended that you upgrade your furnace every two years for $4000, now if he put wheels on it and painted a cool color and parked it in your drive way, you might consider it.

Next on the list is electronics. How many of us fork over a few hundred dollars every couple of years for a faster sleeker computer? If you are young enough I bet you might be one of those that pays to upgrade your phone every so often for a "better" model. Who would upgrade their washer and dryer ever two years just because the new model will wash your clothes two minutes faster?

So that was my epiphany.

I tell you all of this and now I have to convince you to buy a sewing machine. Why drop $1200 on a sewing machine when your grand mother's feather weight works just fine? ( This is why I make a terrible salesman). The only good answer I have is: Because you can. If like my father you are a buying a tool than your old sewing machine should be fine as long as it has the functionality you need....I say that and I am reminded of my grand father. He was a master carpenter and contractor back in his day, but never owned a nail gun. "Why the hell would I want one of those, my hammer works fine and those damn nails are expensive..."

I suspect that for most sewing is a hobby and as such by extension the sewing machine is a toy. A useful toy, but a toy non the less. And if you are sewing for fun, you may find that a new machine makes things a little more fun, and expands your hobby with increased functionality. And the nice thing about a $500 sewing machine or chainsaw is that if you take care of it, your grand kids will still have it around in 40 years to play with.

An Old Man Moment

I understand that this blog is supposed to be somehow related to quilting or the fabric arts, so today's post will be a little bit of a stretch. I am going to have to rely on the quilter stereo type. You know the one, white hair matronly old lady that spouts fortune cookie wisdom with a mid-west flavor. I have to take that stereo type one step further, and talk about her husband. The old curmudgeon, you know the one that Clint Eastwood portrayed perfectly in Gran Torino.

So now that I have established the tenuous link to todays post I shall regale you with a trip through my wires (Jeanne, my little sis, will love that last sentence, I used regale in the proper context and the wire trip bit is an obscure reference to a U2 song).

I was out late on Saturday night on my wife's errand for which I earned the reward of a McDonald's milk shake. I almost got a Frosty from Wendy's, but I was driving and my avid anti text/call and driving stance requires me to straw instead of spoon while behind the wheel. So back to the story... I order a milk shake at the drive through and was pleasantly surprised by the cheerful and competent voice coming out of the speaker. I pull up to the first window and pay, and then proceed to the next window because some how a second window makes your food faster.

At the second window I had my grumpy old man moment. The girl hands me a transparent plastic cup with a frilly dome top containing something topped with whip cream and a cherry. I was mad. What happened to the cheap wax coated paper cup with a cheesy plastic cover, and where did they get off putting whip cream and a cherry on it. Highfalutin (yes it was spell checked) McCafe, what happened to McDonald's?

I now understand why old men get grumpy. Sure I got another 30 years to get my senior citizen discount, and it is doubtful I will ever see my social security, but between the quilting and aversion to change I make an awesome old person.

I Made it to the Big Time

A few of the fans of my email campaigns have urged me to start a blog, and with Becky not having the time nor gumption to be the voice of the Four Pines Quilting blog I have been promoted to Blogger.

Blogging is a lot of pressure, writing e-mails was easy, people actually signed up for it and it was beamed to their inbox so I had a willing captive audience. My competition was cheap Cialis, Russian mail order brides, or the occasional loto winner from Nigeria. My target audience was mostly mature women of distinguished taste, so Russian Brides did not worry me. The cheap Cialis might be more appealing than my rambling, but I don't think it is covered by insurance if you buy it on line and it was more for the husband than my intended victim. The loto winner had me concerned, but I have been assured that the money is being sent to me, so if that is in anyone else's inbox they should disregard it and read my e-mail instead.

Now Blogging on the other hand is a huge responsibility, my competition is much bigger, and I have to some how entice people to read my ramblings with my wit and charm, because I can't attach a 20% off coupon to a blog post to trick you into reading it. Not only that, I have to be sure to fact check and maintain an air of seriousness just in case one of my post ends up being a reference for the news story dujour(I think that is french for "the day", not positive though my Memere really only taught me how to swear with a Canadian accent) .

So if you read the blog for Becky's prose and weekly accounts of the comings and goings of Four Pines Quilting, I apologize now. My lavish hyperbole and lack of punctuation mastery will certainly have a different taste to it.(That last sentence was awesome, "lavish hyperbole" how often do you get to read word combinations like that and who cares if makes no sense) Please comment and stuff so I have some material to work with, if you leave me wandering around in my own mind for ideas you get stuff like taun tauns and home schooled sasquatches.

-Brent

Back to school! Hope everyone is safe and dry. What a weekend that was. The brook behind our house got very high but did not go over the bank. Beautiful outside today.

So tomorrow is the first day of school. I always get excited about meeting the students and getting back on a schedule. We have some great things scheduled at Four Pines Quilting too.

Don't forget to get your Shop in the Hop Card in for the drawing this week.

Beginning quilt classes start in September on Thursdays.

Mark you calendars for the Quilting Celebration to be held on September 24th. We have got an exciting trunk show in the works. Mike will be here to share the latest and greatest fabrics available. We will be having demos and prizes. Don't forget the coupon book in your goodie bag. I am getting excited just thinking about the fun we are going to have.

Lots of new fabric and kits are in. Had a great time at Girl's Night Out on Friday. The game was the best. We will definitely be playing it again. Everyone got something done. It is always fun to get together to eat, sew and laugh.

See you soon.

Hope your summer is going well--are you getting everything done you wanted too? Not me... I have been doing a lot of reading not sewing.
The Gabrielle Angel Panel is in with coordinating fabric. She is beautiful and elegant. Brent and I are working on a project for her.

Quilting tip of the day: Use zip lock bags to organize your cut block pieces. Then put each block in a larger bag.

Civil War quilt on Saturday, August 13th. Don't forget to bring in your shop in the hop card for the drawing to be held on August 30th. It does not need to be completely stamped to be eligible for the drawings. See you soon. Becky~

Wow what a great week. The weather is beautiful, I get to spend all this time with Bernie and I get to see everyone. Hope that everyone is doing well. Having fun with Brent?!?!?!?! I know that some great classes are lined up this week. Be sure to check the calendar.

Remember the quilts? The recipients were very pleased. Notice their smiling faces!

Miss the sewing (not really I got to put borders on a quilt and make some skirts) but I definitely miss all of you! See you all soon. Becky~

Happy 4th of July!
I love fireworks. Always have. It is my favorite part of July 4th. Listening to the oohs and ahhs as they explode in brilliant color overhead.

The Hop into the Shop is over. Thanks to those of you who participated. I know you never got a word of the day from the blog but I also know that Brent stamped anyone who asked. So..go and see Brent he will take care of you.

I want everyone to know that when we asked for 5 things you like about Four Pines Quilting his name came up quite often. I have to admit that he is one of my favorite things about the store too. He was such a great help to me--we actually got TEN quilts ready for me to take on vacation. I will take some pictures and post them next week when I pass them out. I could not have done it without him.

Happy quilting, sewing, enjoying the sun, swimming or whatever you decide to do this week.