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Sunday, January 29, 2012

More Birthday Mail-Call!

I’m pretty well embarrassed that it took me til this morning to get through opening the mail.

Mostly I was avoiding the bills that were in there….invoices, contracts, etc --- and knowing that replies couldn’t go out until Monday, I left the pile to sit until I had time to open each and every little thing…but I should have jumped on it sooner!

This has been, hands down, the most fun birthday I’ve ever had! Thank you so much for thinking of me and stuffing my mailbox with such wonderful goodies!

There are too many people to thank. I don’t want this to be a roll call of who sent what ---but the array of cards has cheered my soul!

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My hope is that if you sent something, you will recognize it here amidst its friends! There were some great funny ones, and some hand made beauties, and of course cards with quilt themes…love them all!

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And there were so many blocks that the table top could not contain the array….so I laid them out in the kitchen!

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These blocks will be combined with the other blocks I showed earlier, and yes, I WILL have a 50th birthday quilt! It might take me a long time….kind of like that millenium fabric still hanging around --- do I have the whole decade to make myself a 50th quilt? :cD

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This cracked me up….it’s an “over the hill” doll! LOL!!! She came in a box packed with wonderful scraps of all colors and kinds!

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Another friend knows how to pack a small box well…these strips were rolled and folded and packed ever so tight!

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A friend send a lovely lavender smelling pincushion! Isn’t this adorable? And I love the smell of lavender – the whole BOX it came in smells good now!

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She also included a block with our pictures in it….yep, THIS goes in the 50th quilt too!

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Here’s a sweet teenie tiny hexagon block……might applique this down to a square and include it in the quilt too!

Thank you so much everyone, for making my birthday SEW SPECIAL!

As for the post about my dying Bernie yesterday ---I want to say this. We all love our machines for various reasons. Machines are like cars --- we all drive different ones and what fits one person is not necessarily going to be what another person likes. I tend to get really attached to inanimate objects that are a part of my every day life.

So to me, as crazy as it sounds --being told it was time for a "new" one was like saying....."Sorry your dog died, but you can get a new one". I know it's silly ----but I'm that attached.

And I want to EMPHASIZE that *I* was the sole responsible one for running Bernie into the ground -- it had nothing to do with the skills of the technician. She's fabulous. Sometimes things are either beyond repair, or it becomes a money pit to keep putting funds into a machine that will continue to have problems due to aging circuit boards.

When I was little --- my dad traded in our old Corvair --- for a VOLVO. And I hated that car, and I cried and I cried and I cried…((I may have been about 8 or 9)) because I don’t do “different” very well. Never have. When mom got rid of the old ugly colonial style sofa in favor of a newer more comfortable model --- I cried then too. Familiarity is my comfort zone.

All day yesterday I kept telling myself that no matter how much I loved my Bernina 1080, it was never going to love me back. It was just a machine. But so much of my life has gone into that machine..it’s been my haven, my confidant ---my friend. Even if in reality it was just a machine. And that is why I am having such a hard time letting go.

It isn’t about what I can or can’t afford. It’s the feeling I get when I sew on it. Any new machine is going to feel like a stranger, and it is going to take a long time for me to consider a new machine as a friend.

But reading all the comments helped me to see that I can have an older mechanical machine as my travel machine…I need something I can bang around and take with me. And maybe, just maybe, I can have a machine with bells and whistles at home where I can enjoy them without worrying that taking a fancy machine on the road is going to be a danger to the machine.

I never meant to upset anyone by posting what I did --- machine owners are fiercely loyal to their brands, just as we are our cars, our appliances, or anything else that work well for us.

And maybe --- the fact that I don’t do change well, and am fiercely loyal to my friends --- is why I tend to keep them around my whole life as well. They mean THAT much to me.

20 comments:

  1. I didn't comment on the loss of your machine yesterday, but I do understand. Things tend to be something that I attach to easily. A new machine will come along and work well and in time you will build a relationship, but like any new love, it doesn't replace an old love. The loss of the old love will heal, but it won't disappear, there will always be "old Bernie" stories and there will be some things that she did that no other machine will do the same comfortable way. You will grow comfortable with a new machine and eventually it will get a special name, but "Old Bernie" will still be there in the cobwebs of your mind. Remember her, but respect her well and seek a great new machine so everyone knows that replacement isn't possible, but live goes on.

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  2. I would keep old Bernie as a memento, somehow someplace in my room! :-) she deserves it! ((~.~)) as for your 50th, was it posted to FB--did I respond?? when was it, please!! I will need to know for next year :-)

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  3. OH --forgot--DEFINITELY applique the teeny hexes to a block for the quilt! You have to let us know when you get this done :-)

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  4. A friend of mine recently celebrated her 50th and on her Facebook page, among posts sharing what odd gifts people had sent her for her 50th, also treated us to a stream of 50th-related things: theme songs from TV shows of 50 years ago; the opening ceremonies of the Seattle World's Fair from 50 years ago; popular music from 50 years ago - it was a real blast from the past and highly entertaining (especially for those of us well past 50!).

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  5. aww, love that last bit!

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  6. June (Scotland)11:29 AM EST

    Loved the block with your photo on it! Why not do the same with a picture of your old Bernie and include that in your quilt? Would be a wonderful way to commemorate it.

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  7. Oh no, is Bernie really dead or just being serviced?
    I can't believe it could wear out....I don't know what I would do without my 1030. I have the same Jamone as you but I am having trouble bonding with her. What to do?

    Happy Birthday and Happy Sewing on whatever machine you use :0)

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  8. I know what you mean about loving sewing machines and cars. I still have the "White" machine my mom got when I was a baby, in the early 60's. I confuse my kids when I refer to it as the "White" because it is a beautiful shade of greenish blue. She got a new Kenmore in a fancy cabinet when I was in High School, so I ended up with it. I made my first wedding dress on it, babies bumper pads and clothes, and when I started Quilting in 1988, it was on that machine. Since then I have had a Kenmore, picked out as a suprise by my now ex husband. That machine just never felt right. Traded it in on an Elna, that is now my oldest daughters. and now I have a Bernina. Oh, and 4 featherweights... I drive a 10 year old car that I love and it has 205,000 miles on it. I know it is time for a new one, but I am so attached to that car it feels like betrayal to trade it in! My Son is turning 16 soon, so I will pass it on to him and try to find a new car to love...

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  9. Change is difficult for most people. I've always said that the hardest part of learning something new is unlearning the way we did it before. It will take a while before you get used to something different, but you will. It isn't necessarily better or worse, just different. You'll adjust.

    And didn't we all tell you that 50 would be great?!?!? Enjoy!

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  10. I get it! I just had to get a new dishwasher and I miss my old one every time I load it, silly but true.

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  11. I still have my violin my GrandFather bought me. And the first guitar I ever bought. (at a Pawn Shop!) Inanimate thing do inspire in me a sometimes magical feeling. I so totally understand about your Bernie.
    And you are right about keeping friends for a lifetime.
    XOXOXO Subee
    p.s. I see my card!!!!

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  12. Anonymous3:13 PM EST

    Go ahead and mourn Bernie's old age and retirement. There is nothing wrong with that! We all have done that with one thing or another. Even after a relative purchased a NEW car for me(mind you, it was a YUGO) when my old camero died (it was so old that even the headliner had fallen out of it), it was several months before I could make myself to part with the camero. I loved that car, and not for how it looked because it didn't look that great (I bought it used and it was beat up then with 150,000 miles on it). It took me across the country and back, managed to start and drive safely on sheets of ice when everyone else's car sat dead in a parking lot after an ice storm, and just took me anywhere I wanted to go, road or no road. I still miss it! I'm sure your feelings for Bernie are similar.
    The gifts you received are lovely! You sure make a difference in all our lives. Happy belated 50th!

    Diane D.

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  13. happy birthday a little late! i sincerely hope that when you get negative feedback you will look back at this birthday and realize how many of your readers support and love you!

    i know what you meant about getting attached to a machine. my first 'good' machine is an old kenmore and i still use it! i have a newer bernina, that was supposed to replace the kenmore, but never really did. and i never bonded with that bernina. it just didn't happen. it wasn't the machine's fault, i just expected it to be the old kenmore, and that was something it was never going to be.

    i think part of my attachment to the kenmore was that i found comfort in sewing, and by default, found comfort in the machine.

    have a good one!

    tammy k. in illinois
    http://www.bunbear.blogspot.com

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  14. Anonymous8:28 AM EST

    OH BONNIE - if a person has a heart, they can understand loving a machine.

    Each machine and it's owner get into patterns. Yes, we become fimilar with it's workings. Using it becomes like second nature. A new machine has different positioning for almost everything. I am a confirmed Viking machine person. A good friend adores her Pffafs, yet another her Berninas. We are STILL friends lolol

    You will bond with your new friend too. Just give yourself time .. it will come. Good luck.

    The idea of taking a mechanical machine on your travels sounds like a terrific idea --- how about your little Featherweight?

    HUGS over your loss (and I mean it)
    JulieinTN

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  15. Sara in Nebraska10:28 AM EST

    Happy Birthday! Enjoy the 50's!
    As for loving a machine, hey, I am right there with you. I have an old Singer my parents gave me for Christmas when I was in HS. I love that machine--it has traveled with me forever and it continues to sew a lovely stitch. Each time I use it, I can still hear my Dad say "you know, your mom gave $25 for that machine," and that I should take care of it. The old Singer goes with me to classes. Then, the first year we were married, I bought a Bernina 830, and I love that machine too; it has made more clothes, curtains, Halloween costumes and quilts than I can count. It is the go-to machine for sewing on bindings because now I have a fancier Bernina. But the two old reliable machines still have special places in my heart.

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  16. Oh my, sounds like your heartfelt, sweet lament post @ your machine got some push back... I absolutely got it. I am reminded of an old saying... Something like the size of our hearts is expressed not by how much we are loved, but how much we love others... I am sure it means loving people, pets & yes even our inanimate companions & helpmates.... Sewing machines & cars. We do spend many, many hours with them through the many seasons of our lives.
    & a belated happy 50th!

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  17. Like my dogs that gone before me, I hope my machines that dies does the same thing. Wait for me in heaven, so I can sew up there in Heaven or down in h--- whichever place I ended up, my favorite machines humming along and my favorites dogs by my side. I hope this helps? Happy Birthday, Bonnie.

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  18. I get it. I hope that you can find a machine that fits YOU. Some people have different machines for different things. Now that I own several machines, I totally understand. Good luck finding just what you want.

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  19. I'm a Gilmore Girls fan... watch the reruns and eventually you'll see the one where Lorelai's car died. It was 'unfixable' and Luke was trying to help her find a new one. Nope, not going to work, they just didn't feel right. They looked at the same make and model year, I think it was even the same color. Nope! They finally ended up using the 'new' old one as parts to fix up the 'old' old one. Yep, I know what you're going through.

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