Notes from the 'Chop

i’ve been following along with jenni’s monthly updates on completing a list of 101 goals to complete in 1001 days, which has finally motivated me to begin my own.

yesterday i kicked off my own 101 in 1001 list by having lunch at the melting pot with my sister — #12: Visit 20 new-to-me restaurants in the Twin Cities.

the motivation behind going for lunch was actually because jason had purchased one of those online coupon things and it was going to expire before he could find time to use it. so… thanks, sweetie!

though we didn’t anticipate it being a two hour visit, it was a fun lunch! the booths are wide and tall, so it felt very much like we were dining privately. the food was all delicious, too!

i currently have 61 items on my list that should have 101 items. i’ve been trying to brainstorm, but i’m sure more ideas of things to get done will come along. do you have any suggestions? i think i could probably add some goals related to my professional life, fill out of the list of goals for home, and add some more twin city to do’s easily enough. what am i missing?

Brenda from The A to B of Cooking came over the other night, when I had no idea what to make for dinner. She proposed trading her cooking for my photography… um, yeah, of course I’ll take that trade!

Lucky for her, it’s pretty rare that I feel like making dinner — but I’m always up for taking photos.

I’m looking forward to your next visit, B! Yum!!

tonight i spent some time with my antique sewing machine that jason and i inherited from our home’s previous owner. it is a wards signature sewing machine, model UHT J277E. do you happen to have a manual i could look at?

it’s been a while since i’ve looked at a sewing machine, so i decided that if i could do some test sewing tonight, that would be cool. i don’t want to use the machine to finish the pillow covers i’ve been working on until i have a good grasp on how to use it.

i had a couple challenges during my exploration tonight. first, i couldn’t figure out how to run the machine! where is the foot pedal?! i searched through the drawers again (which i’ve previously looked through and cleaned up a bit) but didn’t find anything. i was almost ready to give up. almost.

it turns out that this machine doesn’t have a foot pedal, but it does have a knee pedal! on the inside under the table foldout is the pedal. so cool! i don’t know why this excites me, but i just think its so unique. it makes the machine that much more weird and awesome to have!

i mean, the thing is already avocado green. can you buy sewing machines in this color anymore?

my next challenge was figuring out how to insert a new needle. i probably spent a half hour trying to find the right screwdriver and messing with various bits to try to figure it, when i thought i’d give up for the evening and share my photos instead. (much less frustrating.)

the only useful information i’ve found online is from jim and elizabeth and i think i see a clue for installing my needle in their photos, so hopefully i have some more success during my next attempt.

in the drawers, my favorite things are the ridiculous number of bobbins (most of them already filled with thread), the magnifying glass, and the vintage wooden thread spools. there is also a special wards signature case filled with different feet for the machine and a bunch of other little parts that i am clueless about. (again: anyone have a manual?)

i am too lazy to look this up on google at the moment: what is “stretch stitch sewing”? i don’t think i’ll need to do this for quilting. i think.

i smiled so hard when i found what was cast into the bottom of the machine. happy!

i was an embroidery fool over the weekend, but i finished that bit of my current project last night. i am making pillow covers for the sofa in our living room. it seems like a simple project, but we need new pillow covers and i thought this would be a good, small project to test out my sewing machine — which i’m planning to use for the first time tonight!

in somewhat related news, i joined in on the pinterest fun, though i haven’t yet added a lot to my craft room idea board.

this is my crafting room currently. very unsatisfying. i have my eye on a certain table and an expedit shelf from ikea — both in white. i also want to paint the walls white. this is a basement room with a north-facing window, so it needs as much help finding light as it can get. i think having white walls and white furniture will help everything look clean while helping my beautiful yarns, fabrics, and other miscellaneous decor really stand out.

speaking of, i have a really lovely little fabric collection for my first quilt (or two)!

these arrived in the mail very quickly from sew modern. i read about the shop on film in the fridge last wednesday, placed an order that evening, and the package arrived on saturday. such delicious fabrics!

i got these from jo-ann fabrics on saturday. my friend, bertine, informed me about their iphone app that has coupons — so i got 40% off that cut of navy fabric!

have i mentioned that my friends, bertine and zach, got married recently?

jason and i were taking photos with my iphone all night, because the novelty hadn’t quite worn off yet (i had only had it for three days then). trying out the disposable hipstamatic and vintage camera apps, and being impressed by the quality of the default camera app in general.

maybe i should have tried the flash, too? oh, well.

found this cute dress for a very decent price at primp in the shops at west end in st. louis park. have owned the shoes since forever (from delia*s — and it’s been quite some time since it’s been okay for me to buy from delia*s). i felt vintage-cute all night. can’t wait to see the photos that melissa took while we were dancing!