Teaching old (feed) dogs

I have been taking a sewing class offered with my new machine.  At first I thought that, after many years of sewing, I really didn't need a 'How to hem, seam, tuck and pleat' refresher course.  

Then I brought my machine home and turned it on.  

My old machine does not beep, send messages (There is no thread in the needle.) or remember me each time I turn it on.  (This machine has a bigger - and better - memory than me!)  My old machine has does a fantastic job turning out Halloween costumes, baby quilts, aprons, etc. but the new generation machines - well they do everything but burp the baby and fix dinner!

It has been fun to meet other 'middle-aged' women who, after sewing faithfully for years on a basic machine, have treated themselves to an upgrade.  We are beyond pretending that we are 'saving money' by sewing quilts using $9 a yard fabric.  One woman said that when her husband saw the price tag on her new machine he commented that, for that price, you should be able to drive the thing!  Mr. W. calculated that the costing of hemming his pants worked out to about $XXX,XXX,XXX.00 a leg (I'll let you use your imagination!).


Instead, we are sewing just for the pure joy of creating.  We find delight in stitching love in to each creation and blessing others with our God given talent.  Our personalities and tastes are represented in the patterns we choose and the fabrics we create with.  We have shared knowledge and the delight of learning new things as we work on our samples and glue them on our handout pages.  (Now if we only had time to color the pictures . . . )


My return to the classroom has blessed me with new friends and a reminder that you really can teach an old (feed) dog a few new tricks and have fun doing it.  

And guess what, Show and Tell is still my favorite part of the day!