The Adventures of Crash Course Cathy : Thread Pilot

Shopping Up A Storm

TravelBug1237 — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:22:00 GMT

HH all my fellow ME’ers….I’ve been SHOPPING up a storm!!!!!….

Actually it started right there in Orlando at Ann’s Community Circle the day BEFORE I won the machine last April… and it sort of hasn’t stopped….but I THINK, finally, I am getting really close to having what I need - in bulk - (& actually soooo much more!!!!!) to seriously “ get started.” I now need to STAY PUT for awhile & ME up a storm!!!
(For those who didn’t read my last blog, I was attending summer school in more than one place and didn’t sew a stitch….or blog a word.)

Since my last ‘book/blog’ was extra extra long and wordy…I’m giving you a break. Today’s blog is mostly pictures. (Well that might not turn out to be possible, but I will at least try!!)

Some of the items you can get @ Ann the Gran’s store (ex. The BadgeMaster stabilizer that I wrote about has been added to Ann’s store.) It is a wonderful product for doing ‘lace.” Ann carries the Thread Pilot too and some great scissors. I just got in the mail the Gingher 6” Applique Scissors Knife Edge that one of you suggested as s favorite. I just used them to cut the thread making the cherry design on my PE700 to top our canned cherries made earlier today. (And total oops….I made matching a matching red thread bobbin because of my ‘lace’ in my head lesson I guess…and did NOT remember to use BOBBIN thread. Will one of you experts tell me WHY I am suppose to NOT use the same thread????

I’ve purchased several items from Wendy (my instructor) @ the SewingRoom & the Mill End store both in Beaverton, Oregon and NW Quilts in Sherwood..my old stompin’ grounds…. and some additonal big items from ‘on-line’ stores.

All you ‘newbies” like me (& golden oldies for that matter) know what I am talking about as far as ‘setting up” & starting a ‘new hobby.” - WHERE DOES one begin/ WHAT should I buy!!??? What are the basics??? (The same thing happened with water colors this last grad class…but that’s another story!)

I REALLY really appreciated everyone letting me know what your favorite gadgets were too !!! It helped a lot!!! Ann’s store has some of these items I have pictures of today. Also, if you are reading this for the 1st time - since I “won my machine” - I did not get ‘free lessons’ that usually come with a purchase. I think that it is super important especially if you are completely new at it. Just find a good teacher. You CAN find knowledgeable people to help you. For some ,sitting down with the manual is just fine. For me, I am all for a WARM body helping me & preferably right beside me.….(It helps reduce my frustration.) I did buy a phone and phone head set for ‘long distance learning!” Pat I will be calling you and any others who’d be willing to share your knowledge.

Those of you who are in the market for an embroidery machine, I think it’s super important to meet owners/instructors and shop around for a store you like. It can be a great experience or just the opposite.

My friend Kitty who is a total die hard quilter enthusiast …gave me a piece of wonderful advice which I somehow ignored initially….but OH so how true it was…She said, “Cathy, go around to different shops and see how they treat you. Get a ‘feel’ for the place.” She goes where she feels ‘part of the family.”

Well I was originally ‘locked into thinking BROTHER machine only” and had tunnel vision period. I somehow had my thinking set that I also had to go to the closest Brother dealership too. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the close local Brother wanted to charge $75 per hour for lessons. It seemed really high. (As a professional teacher with a gazillion years of college credits and 28 years of experience, I NEVER made that an hour.) So, to be honest, I felt that quote was WAY way over priced.)….

When you consider I was a brand new newbie and would be buying hundreds of dollars worth of items in the future….(which I have since done but not from them.) it was short sighted in my opinion. Anyway, I now order items from other Brother dealerships in Portland, Oregon City and even Missouri!!!

Oh, another biggie that might be helpful to you….. I was also very shocked to find out the difference in prices that different dealerships charge for the very SAME machines!!!! (It may hold true for other brands too..I don’t know.) For example, the top of the line Brother model was $6,000 just down the road (@ that $75 an hr place) - which I ended up not getting right before I left for Orlando because of a glitch to finance it for 90 days – ( which turned out to be a GREAT blessing as I won Ann’s machine etc.) …Anyway, it turns out that if I DID want to get that same machine… I can get it for under $4,000 from Mike in a Michigan’s Brother dealership!!!! Holy cow…..so NEWBIES….shop around…& don’t let someone pressure you into a fast buy or assume all stores charge the same amount. They don’t!!!! I initially went in for a PE700 demonstration just prior to leaving for Orlando…and ended up ALMOST ended up paying $6,000!!! for their top model.

I had assumed ‘same model machines’ would be about the same price, but they’re not!!! (A $2,000 difference….are you kidding me!!!???) There is a brand new Brother machine coming out in a couple of months ….not sure what it will do and what ‘bells and whistles’ it will have!!! I’m sure just great & I will love hearing about it from any of you who do end up getting one!!!

(Oh any visitors to Ann’s site… you might be very pleased (& surprised) at the price of the PE700 @ Ann’s store compared to ANY on-line Brother store etc that I found that carrying the same model.) I am getting a bit more educated in machine embroidery…and FOR ME, I STILL love the idea of having a ‘dedicated embroidery machine.” I DO now see the reason to have a sewing machine, but having the PE700 is FUN!!!!

Another idea is to buy a good used machine if you are starting out. My sweet Wendy at Pfaff is willing to sell me a great floor model at a really great price too on one of her favorite machines….(which still may happen down the road) but for now I am trying to just learn my Brother. But my point here is….Don’t be afraid to shop around.
Find people who are nice and supportive & that you make a connection with!!!

I LOVE to shop and will continue to do so, but now I also really look at how I am treated- be it for a $5 purchase or $500 & perhaps $5,000 or more down the road….Ok…enough….off that soapbox….

My biggest new purchase……TA- DA…..is my new ‘other Brother SE270 ” machine. It is almost a twin to my PE700, but it is the DISNEY model YEAH…DOUBLE YEAH!!!!! ( Well actually the newest and somewhat more expensive purchase was the Dell laptop - so that I can EVENTUALLY download what I bought in Orlando (Alphabet Express and its buddy…but I’ll write about that in another month or 3 . Maybe a whole blog could be dedicated to just that. I have YET to download one purchased design…etc….SIGH….talk about putting the cart before the horse….gee…how about a warehouse of carts before the horse!

My new Brother is also is a “sewing machine”. With a gazillion grand kids you can see the ‘WHY’ of a Disney machine….(what an excuse that is…. because … …I TOTALLY LOVE Disney myself!!) (Just yesterday we had 6 grandchildren picking fresh raspberries in our yard and one had a Disney shirt on….I asked them all…How many of you like Mickey Mouse?….They ALL did!!!….My point exactly. (I actually met Walt Disney accidentally when I was 5 or 6 right there at Disneyland.) He was as sweet and kind (and offered me a bite of his chicken leg) as you saw him on TV. I have been hooked ever since. I have a darling Mickey Mouse watch I wear a LOT and I have visited Tokyo Disney & the ones in Florida and California…Anyway….back to embroidery…

Since E has been helping me since day one and he ENJOYS MEing too…We now have side by side machines!!!! Yes!!!! and we can use the SAME hoops & bobbins!!!!!!! - and for now I really need “SAME!!!! “ (Once I get the basics down, I am open to a more expensive machine….but for now I am ONE very happy camper & have more than enough stuff to keep me busy.

My next largest purchase was a steam press iron under $250. I read Ann’s site and several others on the internet & decided I wanted a large (even though it takes up space) steam presser so I can iron several blocks of material quickly. (I bought one entire bolt of black Kona cotton so I can FINALLY stitch out each ‘ built in sample’ now for both Brother machines.) Yeah!!!! I also bought a bolt of black stabilizer to go with it, so I should be set for quite awhile. I will let you know how the iron works etc in a later post.

All I can say again is that FOR ME…I really just wanted 1 type of material (oops fabric), 1 machine, 1 stabilizer, 1 needle & thread brand ( loved Madeira colors) 1 hoop, 1 design company, “1 everything” …. so that I could minimize the variables & that I had a really good chance of ‘mastering’ the basics while trying to learn to even thread a machine. I SO wanted to keep it simple…I did not.

I ended up NOT going that route….but now I am going back to go back to GROUND ZERO and will start FROM the beginning and approach it as if I had JUST started, only this time E will be beside me and we will stitch together with our 2 new basic Brother machines. I can hardly wait.

E is away clamming in Alaska, but once he’s back we will take those machines down to the ALMOST completed new art studio and stitch away, stitch away, stitch away….(Can’t you just hear Enya singing that instead of Sail Away which is just about my theme song…I want it played as my casket is leaving the church.)

OK ME’ers I promise – I’ll do more projects (for beginners.) I will do a few more new-for-me projects and will write those up for you too. In the meantime, the other ladies are blogging up a storm with such GREAT projects, helps, photos and ideas!!! They are the experts and can help you a lot!!!! For now I’m here just journaling my baby steps, my shopping sprees, etc & walks down memory lane. I really don’t know if I am helping you much, but perhaps I can save you some $ from my experiences.

This is a good time too to thank those of you for taking the time to write me! I really appreciate it!

Have a really GREAT August everyone!!!!

Hugs,
Chatty Cathy in Hillsboro

GETTING ORGANIZED...or one can at least hope!

TravelBug1237 — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:02:00 GMT

HH ME’ers!!!, (Hello Hello, Machine Embroiderers)

Just back from a glorious trip to the beach. Yeah!!!!
While there, I came to the conclusion that before I take another embroidery class in order to blog about it,I needed to …… Whoa! …… Stop!......... & GET ORGANIZED!!!

I needed to:

1.    WRITE DOWN what I already have.

2.    FIND A PLACE to put it.

3.    ASK for your input.

4.    INVITE you to ‘share my beach home” (see photo) for a visit (1-1 tutoring on machine embroidery, the Brother PE-700 machine itself, computers, or…… ???? ( LMT’s….(licensed massage therapists are you there??? )

5.    Purchase items ( shop – yeah ) if necessary to help me get organized for my new passion.

6.    GET HELP with what I’m not getting done myself or getting frustrated over.

The solution looked simple on paper, ……but it would involve more time, $ and energy. So I then realized I needed to regroup, analyze the situation, & then ….. ta dah….PRIORITIZE….!!!!

1st thing done -
MOVE the guest BED OUT of the guest room/office to make more room.!!!! (There’s still room for more gadgets !!! & I would LOVE your input on that topic in the forum.

2nd- went shopping…this time with a specific plan & purpose, but forgot the measurements ..oops)

New Furniture

I bought a special craft table that ‘hides doodads galore’, a folding cutting table and a SIMPLE sewing table for my Brother PE-700 that would hold a few important items. I also got to find a place for my DARLING unexpected Orlando furniture purchase (see photo). It’s 1 of a kind & it always makes me smile.!

Junior Senior?

Aarrgh….I also bit the bullet and bought a laptop PC so I can eventually do machine embroidery like most everyone out there does. (……..by downloading the designs over the internet!!!!). Personally I DON’T like the little cards that can get lost. That’s me, but that’s how I feel at least for now. Speaking of losing things…(I wear my reading glasses on my head, have my keys around my neck on a lanyard and I’ve switched to a fanny pack for Pete Sakes…just so I can get home with what I started out with!) I am just a JUNIOR ‘Senior Citizen’…I am not even a ‘full fledged discount on my meals’ senior yet…and lo & behold I have had to resort to drastic measures already. What happens when I get REALLY old ????!!!! Please fill me in!!!

Organizing Designs

OK back to computers….not my favorite subject,….. I know there was one fellow at Community Circle who took time to try & explain how it (downloading) could be done with modifications to my new Apple, but the reality is…the Apple store here isn’t geared for that and I am a duck out of water for the time being with everything else I’m trying to learn. So, my ME teacher helped me order a laptop for downloading all those BEAUTIFUL designs out there!!! But it is going to be VERY important that I ‘organize them’ into something…& thank goodness I had purchased the Catalog Xpress & Alphabet Express in Orlando. (So that ‘cart before the horse’ purchase turned out ok!!!)

Calling All Newbies!

I have yet to down load 1 thing. Sigh…I am SUCH a beginner…but that’s OK. It’s where I am for now. I read of course, the ‘advanced’ bloggers and admire them & all those who really know their stuff…and my goodness, so many of the readers have so much experience too!!! What a wealth of information and experience there is on AnntheGran. Once in awhile I read something from someone NEW like myself. The website is for ALL ME’ers!!!! No question is TOO basic!!! The advanced people are SO willing to help us Newbies. Now remember folks, my blog is specifically written to make sure beginners like me, can learn from others, enjoy OUR journey starting out & maybe avoid some mistakes.

Software Experiences?

I ‘d LOVE to hear from those of you who have either of those 2 products (Catalog & Alphabet Express - product reviews here)….How has it worked for you? How DOES it even work???? TIPS PLEASE etc etc or better yet…show me at the beach!!! (If I had a wiggling carrot icon that I could put in about now I would! Just picture a cute seagull dangling that carrot swaying in the ocean breeze!!!)

I can't wait to start on Ann’s lace hearts because I NOW know how to make lace!!! Yeah!!!!! Speaking of which….HOW MANY OF YOU TRIED LACE for the 1st time??? Is there even ONE of you out there who did???? I haven’t heard from you!!!!!!…..Some said they were going to try….Did you???? Hmm?

I also bought a new phone and a new ‘head set’ so that my hands can be totally free when I am getting instructions over the phone.( eventually) (It isn’t set up yet..but soon I hope.) Feel free to send me your phone numbers in the meantime though!!! (Did I mention that I am spending ALL of my retirement checks for the moment!!!! )

Two Simple Questions

Now as always, I have a gazillion questions but will narrow them down to 2….Don’t Faint!!!

1.    Please share your MUST HAVE gadgets or items you wouldn’t want to live without). ( w/price and why you love them so much - if you have the extra time for details)
      So far at the forum we have a short but great list & it is really helping me prioritize. (Thread Pilot, Havel scissors, the tote from Ann’s store, tweezers, magnifying glass, & paint brush). You can give me your ideas by clicking here.

2.    Space Design ideas….When you SIT DOWN to machine embroider….WHAT do you REALLY need and WHERE do you put it?????? Judy in Florida shared a picture of a wall unit that I’d LOVE to incorporate!!!!!! You can answer that one by clicking here.

So, thanks ME’rs who have already contributed to the ‘gadgets forum & have supported me along my way here as a NEWBIE! I love your thoughts- be they long or short. I really do love them!!!

Have a great June everyone!!!….I hope you’ll send us photos & give me hints & ideas etc….!!!!

Hugs,

Cathy in Oregon….who just shared her rose garden with a deer this morning.

P.S. (I’m sending this in a bit early because I have a grad class for a week coming up fairly soon and it will be time intensive.) I’ll still check on my blog and the forums. HAPPY EMBROIDERING!!!!