Why I Love Julie

There are countless reasons I love Julie, really. I love that her appetite for the Goodwill is nearly as strong as mine; I love that, like me and the Zood, a cup of Aroma coffee can make her swoon; and what else? her good common sense and her love of things crafty...I could go on and on.

But today, the number one reason I cherish her as a friend, is what she did for me on Canada Day. It was quite simple: she sat with me while I sewed.

For weeks upon weeks my brand new White sewing machine sat on my table all perky and plastic, daring me to try to use it...again. I'd tried...and just when I had successfully threaded the needle (this involved lots of talking out loud in my too-calm-therapy-voice)and was ready to celebrate...something went awry with the bobbin, or the pedal, or the zipper foot dropped off.

It seemed, there was always something.

And yet I so desperately wanted to sew...I wanted to recreate how exciting it was to make something, as I did at The Work Room, that Saturday afternoon in early May.

I was nervous, sitting down in front of the machine, and quite skeptical that I would be able to produce anything...but my nervousness quickly turned to excitement as I sat in front of a machine and made it whir. When I had my foot on the pedal and I pressed it and watched the needle go up and down, I felt as giddy as I did the first time I was behind the wheel of the car.

So much power!

The Work Room is a pretty cool place, as all those knitting/sewing boutiques are, but I didn't care...I stepped on the pedal and went "weeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" I think it's good that at age 41 I can make this sound with abandon.

After all that I came home with a pretty little pillow which I proudly showed off to Zood. "I made this!", I bragged and Zood was very impressed.

I knew that in my new place I didn't want a television. I had all these plans for myself about the pioneering sorts of things I would do in my very first home without a television. Bake pies from scratch, learn to crochet, have a herb garden, read, listen to my podcasts and sew.
On Tuesday, with Julie sitting patiently beside me, guiding me when my bobbin thread balled up or the helping me to rethread the needle I got a taste of my life as a spinster/pioneer and it was so thrilling. And I successfully made a cushion cover. And I'm so proud! Of course I want to make another one...this time I'll try it on my own. I got myself a desk at the Goodwill for $10, so I'll make myself a little sewing nook. My next task, of course, is to sew alone...and I'm up for the challenge. I've also signed up for some lessons in August and I'm hoping that the lessons will help me make a duvet cover.