My new friend Elna

There finally came a point to where I became smarter than my Singer sewing machine. Well, sort of. It did a really good job of sewing - if I sewed my entire life, I would probably never be dissatisfied. But it did not do a very good job of quilting. As I learned, most sewing machines don't simply because they're not made for that specific job. So when I began this free motion quilting business (moving the stitches in anything but a straight line) I got a lot of grumpiness from Mr. Singer. One day he popped 3 needles right in a row back at my eyeballs. It was then that I considered an upgrade.

Meet Elna - my upgrade. (Elna is the brand name - I feel a little weird about naming inanimate objects) She was built for quilting. And luckily a quilting machine can also do everything that a regular sewing machine can do so I didn't lose out. And I'm sooooo glad I did. A friend of mine had a new baby boy on New Year's Day and I was able to make a small baby quilt in no time at all. Elna curved and swirled like it was no big deal. Any mistakes that were made in this quilt were purely mine. I can no longer blame my machinery. Darn.

Aren't the little sock monkeys cute?
I have another friend expecting a baby soon and am almost finished with this quilt. Who doesn't love pink? Pink AND green? Pink and green with flowers and polka dots?? If I didn't think Spencer would object I would make one of these adult sized and put it on our bed. My new challenge is do quilt this using circles and curly-q's instead of the wandering/meandering pattern I've been using.

I think I'm addicted. Anyone need a quilt made? I'm offering a one time special with free labor as long as you buy the material so I can support my habit.