The Sewing Mom

Myspace Hello Comments

We have family visiting from out of town, so I haven’t spent too much time on the computer this weekend. But, I have to tell you that I was at Joann’s fabric store today and checked out some new sewing machines.

Now, I really don’t need a new sewing machine, mine is only about 6 years old. But, I can’t help myself when I see the new machines, I start to drool. I really drool whenever they’re not busy in the Viking/Husqvarna shop inside of Joanns and I can get them to show me the latest machine on the market. Today it was the “Ruby”, a heavily enhanced embroidery/sewing machine that does anything you might imagine and has over 1000 different stitches to choose from! I am always tempted, but I’m not sure yet what type of machine I want. You see, I all ready have a sewing machine that also does embroidery, the down side is that my embroidery software was lost in our last relocation and I have yet to find it. Then, my computer crashed and I lost what was loaded on my computer, so I really haven’t been able to use my embroidery for the last year or so. I do all of my sewing on that machine though and it works very well, except when I want to do any machine quilting. I’ve never been very fond of the way it quilts. It’s tough to get the tension right and the sewing bed itself isn’t that big so it can be difficult to maneuver the layers of the quilt through the machine.

So, the truth is, while I would love to have a fancy new machine, I’m also not ready (and not sure if I ever will be) to spend $6000 on this one that I saw today!

I have had a lot of people ask me what kind of sewing machine I use, so I thought I would post a photo of my machine. It is a Viking Platinum 955E and it’s about 2 years old. It is a sewing and embroidery machine, although, I haven’t been doing much embroidery lately. I bought the machine new and have sewn more since getting it than I’d sewn in my entire life. It is due for a cleaning, but I can’t seem to part with it long enough for it to be cleaned!

What type of machine do you sew on?

I am going absolutely nuts with all the email notices I’m receiving from the Viking Sewing Galleries in the area. You see, in July, Viking brought out its latest and greatest addition to their embroidery sewing machine line up. This new machine is way more machine than I’m interested in and it’s priced way above anything I could ever afford, unless I won the lottery. The problem is that there are people out there who are trading in their current embroidery sewing machines for this new one and then Viking is turning around and selling the used machines. These trade ins include the Designer SE model that I’ve been drooling over for almost 2 years.

I am really trying to not spend money right now, what with softball sign ups and back to school supplies and all. I even managed to stay out of the quilt shop for almost 2 full months because I know I can’t resist the fabrics when I’m in there. I keep getting these emails though and they stare at me from my computer screen, tempting me, calling to me. Truly, even buying the machine of my dreams used I’d probably have to take advantage of the Trade your Gold for fast cash offer by requesting the free gold exchange kit and sending in my jewelry.

I know that Christmas is right around the corner, so this is certainly not the time to go out splurging on myself. I just wish they’d stop sending me those tempting offers!  I am just hoping that this same time next year, I’ll be able to to take advantage of one of these deals and get my dream machine.

I stopped in at the Viking Sewing Gallery the other day. I had sort of been avoiding the store because I just knew that if I saw the latest addition to its sewing/embroidery machine line up that I would be wanting one. The new Designer Diamond was introduced only a few short weeks ago and I have to say, it’s the biggest, non-professional machine I’ve seen.

For anyone that is interested in embroidery on pillows, bedding, or large items, this is definitely the machine for you. It accommodates the largest embroidery hoop out there. It truly is an amazing machine. But, for the selling price of over $8,000, it won’t be on my wish list. I found it to be too large, a bit overwhelming. I do use my machine to embroider, but I don’t find a need for anything as big as the Designer Diamond.

Instead, I will continue to pine for the Designer SE. These two machines have almost identical features, remember, the SE came out not too long before the Diamond. Yes, there are differences, but for me, the SE would be all I would ever need. I am looking into used machines, but I don’t know if anything will happen anytime soon. People are trading in their SE’s to get the new Diamond and I will keep my eye out on what is out there. I have owned my Platinum for almost 2 years now, so the trade in value isn’t too high. I might do better to sell it on my own, but that can also be a hassle. First, I’m going to get it in for a good cleaning and then I will think about it.

A few months ago, I became a member of SocialSpark.com as another way to monetize my site. Of course, SocialSpark is more than a way to earn money, it’s a social community where I’ve made a number of friends, found bloggers with similar crafting interests and been introduced to new advertisers.

SocialSpark has had some very interesting opportunities, some of which I’ve posted on this blog. This is my personal blog and I want all of my posts, even those that I’m paid for, to reflect my interests. I’d love to see more crafting companies like Joann’s or Michael’s sponsor blogs like mine. Trust me, I spend enough at their stores, I sponsor them! Other companies I’d love to have sponsor me would include Viking sewing machines. I’ve spoken about them often on this blog and the sewing/embroidery machine I drool over on a regular basis is made by them.

Of course, I do other things besides sewing and would enjoy being sponsored by food product companies and, in particular, I can’t live without my Green Mountain Coffee. I’ve been a coffee club member with them for about 7 years and would feel honored to have them sponsor this blog.

Besides eating, I maintain our home and use cleaning products, do laundry, pool maintenance, and yard work. Let’s see, I believe Lysol is my most frequently used cleaning product, Tide and Downey are my laundry products of choice and we use a ton of Sears lawn products to keep our yard and shrubs under control as well as patio furnishings. Any and all of these companies would be welcomed as sponsors on this blog. Leslie’s Pool Supplies is a large supplier of all of our pool chemicals and equipment, they would also be welcomed here.

I could go on and on listing companies that I feel would be a great fit for sponsorships on this blog. I can’t forget about my family and shopping for them. We do a lot of business at Target, Home Depot and Lowe’s, all of which would be awesome sponsors.

So, if any of these companies are reading this blog, pay attention. Please consider advertising through SocialSpark.com, whether you go with a written post to create buzz or a review of a product, or a day to day sponsorship, I would be thrilled to have you sponsor my blog!