Second Wind

So what's been happening in Touch And Sew land? .... not a lot to be honest, but I do have plans and news! First I made it to the Malvern quilt show and had a really nice day. Having been not so well for the previous month I ran out of energy after about 2 and a half hours of looking around the stalls and exhibits, but it was fun to see everything .... and I got a really nice craft lamp which will help not only my sewing but other things too ... It has a magnifying glass and I got excited when I could read the text on a fabric print and I wondered if I'd be able to read large print books with it .... however it's only a 2x magnifier and I normally use a x6 to have any chance of reading anything .... my optimism was misplaced, I found the fabric print must have been quite large anyway because I had no luck with a large print library book :( but all the same the excellent lighting will be a big help .... watch out for a review once I get stitching again! On which note, I had an email from Thearica from Pigtales And Quilts announcing that the second Men Quilt Too! competition will happen in October .... for my newer followers, my very first quilt took 3rd place last year .... so this year I want to win! lo .... with new changes to the rules I am forbidden from revealing which quilt I am entering, so I will have to write incognito about my progress, and certainly no photographs until voting has closed. But I know you'll all like what I have planned to work on this year! I'm actually going to follow a real pattern rather than just randomly sewing squares, so it should look like something recognisable if all goes smoothly! To do this I'm going to need a new sewing machine, since I decided to leave my old one in America when I moved back. Having seen the prices of new machines over here I admit I'm horrified! My $150 machine is the equivalent of machines costing over £450 (around $600) and £200 barely gets you much above a beginner machine. Now I don't need extensive features, except I do want the ones that make quilting a pleasure not a arduous chore! ... Luckily my friend Susan in Tennessee found a fantastic machine on Amazon with all the lovley quilty bits my old machine had and more! And it is on sale with $300 off the normal price of $450! .... with a simple voltage converter this could be my dream machine! lol .... it's the Brother CS6000i and even with postage costs it's going to be cheaper than anything above those entry-level machines over here! And something else I'm very excited about .... I may get my very own sewing room! At least while I'm still staying back with the parents .... mum said we might convert one of the spare rooms into a craft room! Now this may have something to do with the fact that she's always knitted and done some sewing, and is keen to learn some quilting with me .... so we will both get a lot of use from a nice craft room! Health wise things are good ... I'm feeling a lot better and ready to get out and do things again! Catching up with friends is top of the agenda! Talking of which, if you are one of my new followers and you notice I've not managed to follow you back yet, do give me a nudge! Sending me an email or leaving a comment with your blog address would be ideal! I've had some lovely comments of late and if I haven't replied to yours then it's been a slip of my mind because I try to reply to most comments! It's been a bit hectic trying to catch up with emails and blogs since I was offline .... my inbox is slowly reducing and I think I'm down to only 30-odd unread messages now! Gosh I've wittered on a bit here! I'll shut up now and let you get back to your sewing!