The new Janome at my house.......

The day many of you have been asking about finally arrived yesterday. I went to the dealer to get the Janome 5200 machine. It is a fairly new model (which, I guess, means it's not yet proven itself...so that, quite frankly, is a worry for me). I had no option to get my money back for the 4900 machine that had those intermittent problems. The only option offered me was to exchange the 4900 for this 5200 machine. This machine is extremely similar to the 4900 (MINUS that "unique" threading system that is ONLY on the 4900), so it makes me think it was brought out as a replacement for the 4900. However, the 4900 did include a 1/4 inch foot and a walking foot and this one doesn't. That burns me up a bit that I had to give up those 2 feet because THEY made a bad machine. The dealer actually asked me yesterday if I wanted to BUY those 2 feet for this new machine. I DON'T THINK SO!!!!! Like I was going to give HER another dime after the condescending way I'd been treated by her when she was trying to convince me the 4900 machine was fine and it was ME who was causing the problem.....HA...no way!!! I'd sooner pay more for them elsewhere....even online and pay shipping rather than give her the money!!!

Funny thing...and our blogging friend, Kaye, can verify this since she went with me every time to the dealer....the dealer yesterday was SUPER sweet....nicer than she's ever been. I'm guessing after I contacted the Janome CEO with all of your emails and with the knowledge I'd gained from other dealers that the 4900 truly DID have design problems, their customer service was told to DO something to shut me up and keep me from spreading word further online about a Janome product that had caused me a lot of trouble. And part of the "something" they did was to tell this dealer to BACK OFF and stop acting like it was me...because it WAS a sub-par machine with definite problems and we all knew it, and it was time to stop playing games about it. It is irritating, though, to know that if I'd not blogged about it and wrote about it on Facebook and gotten supportive emails from many of you (and emails from others with bad 4900 machines) and took that all to the desk of the Janome CEO, I'd still be batting my head against the wall with this dealer and would still be stuck with that bad machine. True customer service was not shown by anyone UNTIL the Janome CEO was contacted, and that is sad.

Anyway.......below is a photo of the new machine and a block I made for my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler quilt top with it yesterday afternoon. I can't adequately express my gratitude to those of you who sent emails to help me in my quest to get Janome to pay attention to my problem. Your support did a lot to keep my emotions under control while dealing with a very stressful and unfair situation. While we didn't succeed in getting me a refund, I am hoping this 5200 machine is a better design and won't cause problems. (IF it does, I'll let you know and we may have to go to Round 2 with Janome's CEO!!!) Please keep your fingers (and toes??) crossed that this 5200 doesn't become a problem...okay???

OH...happy birthday today to my sometimes-quilting but non-blogging friend, Linda!

Some photos from my outdoor day....

Yesterday after I did some errands (post office, etc.), I went to the quilt shop in Lewes and got backing for my batik star tesselation quilt. It was a gorgeous day...clear blue sky.....beautiful flowers hanging from baskets and climbing on walls along the streets of Lewes.....very calm ocean (but breezy enough to have whitecaps on the bay)....the kind of day that screamed for photos to be taken, so here is a sampling of the (many) photos I took on my very peaceful, relaxing, refreshing outdoor day. I hope you see something below that puts a smile on your face and brings peace to your soul.

First is a photo of the area where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Delaware Bay in Lewes, Delaware. If you look closely, you can see land in the distance. (You might have to click the photo to enlarge it and see it.) That is Cape May, NJ.....7 miles across the water. The day was so incredibly clear......you can't always see Cape May from Lewes. I feel blessed to be retired in such a beautiful location! A day spent enjoying this scenery can really recharge my batteries.

A fun giveaway by Brooke and Greg.....AND.....

Click HERE to go to Brooke's blog and the explanation of a great giveaway she and Greg are having to celebrate their upcoming anniversary. (They will make you work for this one, though......LOL)

And....here is another block from the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler book.....this one is called Card Trick. I've always liked the look of the Card Trick block but never made one until now. If you click to enlarge it, you will see this is not perfect, but I have deemed it to be "good enough". I do a lot of "good enough" things. Do you also do "good enough" things or are you one of those perfectionist types who keeps ripping things out until they are perfect? (I made this block the other day and I don't think I showed it here yet...if I did, sorry for the duplication.....I'll blame it on "old age/poor memory"!!!)

This goes in the mail on Monday......

I am seeing the local post office workers a lot right now.......went yesterday to mail a box to Barb in American Samoa. Tomorrow I'll go mail an envelope to Laurie with the block pictured here in it as well as a little bit of $$ to help with the project she is doing. I know many of you are also participating....and that is great!!!

While at the post office tomorrow, I am also mailing a package of travel brochures from this area to my good buddy, Sara, who might come here on a vacation and then I can meet her in person....YAY!!! I'm also sending some sock yarn as she has kindly offered to knit this inept knitter a pair of socks!!! (Thanks, Sara!!!) And....I will mail a third thing tomorrow......giving up my small stash of "crazy quilt" supplies to Sandi....because she (or one of her friends) will make good use of them. I have had to be honest and admit that crazy quilt blocks are NOT my "thing"!!!

A message to all from Barb in American Samoa.....

I have just managed to have a conversation with Barb via Facebook. She is overwhelmed by how many of her blogging friends (that means YOU) have been concerned and offered to send help in whatever way is needed. Right now, they are looking for pillowcases and also kids' clothing. Barb said to use flat rate envelopes and boxes that are at the post office....they get to her the fastest. Right now, the post office is a mess but is being cleaned up and should be back in operation soon. She was going today to help with relief work in the village of Leone, which is very hard hit.....children were washed out to sea there...homes were destroyed, etc. I have Barb's address and if you wish to mail something, she has asked me to pass it along to you. (I had misplaced my address list but she gave it to me again in our conversation.) SO...if you leave a comment here asking for her address, I will get back to you with the address (as long as there is a way for me to contact you). Barb says emails are very slow....right now.....so she can't really answer them. She does want you to know that she and her husband are fine and they suffered no loss at all at their home, for which she feels very fortunate, of course. She is thankful that we are all concerned and want to help. To show you what a great lady SHE is, I mentioned Terry's situation here and she wants to send a block, too...and got Laurie's address from me. In the midst of all that devastation surrounding Barb, she is still going to be part of this effort for Terry and her family. Now THAT is a truly wonderful woman....don't you agree?

Met a new blogger.....and she's having a giveaway!

I "met" a new blogger yesterday and she is having a giveaway on her blog. Click HERE to find her blog (and enter her giveaway). She is really looking to increase the number of followers she has, so I hope you'll sign up to read her posts!

Quick update on my daughter's health situation as I've had several emails asking about her. The final pathology report on the breast lump is back and it is NEGATIVE. Thank you for all the prayers and support. Her knee isn't doing as good as they'd hoped and recovery is going to take longer than expected. It's frustrating as she has exceeded all her sick days and now had to go on disability (which is just 60% of her paycheck). Hopefully, she'll get back to work next week.

Here is a photo of two really pretty fat quarters I got from my good blogging friend, Sandi. (Click HERE for her blog.) She is a really talented person and shares a lot of her patterns on her blog and in her Yahoo groups (which you can access from her blog). There is only one problem with these fat quarters she sent me....they are SO pretty that I don't want to cut into them!!! Click on the photo to enlarge it and you can see just how gorgeous they are. Just ignore that the photo is sideways, okay? Sometimes Blogger does that and usually I can fix it, but right now I'm pressed for time. I am hoping today to decide on a block for the "care quilt" for Terry and get the block made and into the mail, too.

A giveaway win for me......

Before I show my giveaway win, I want to thank all of you who have emailed and/or gone to Laurie's blog to see how you can help with the project she is putting together so our blogging friend, Terry, knows we are all thinking of her and her family right now. Also.....a sigh of relief that Barb (our blogging friend in American Samoa) is getting some messages out on Facebook AND has managed to do a blog posting since the earthquake and tsunami. We are all feeling lucky that she isn't hurt....even while at the same time we are very saddened at the tremendous devastation and loss of life so nearby to her home.

It seems almost wrong to post about something happy like a giveaway with all of this "stuff" going on around us, but I do want to acknowledge Cora's blog and her birthday and the giveaway she had, which I was lucky enough to win. Below are the prizes......and they are ones I love.....pretty floral panels (I'm thinking throw pillows) and also some great Kaffe Fassett charm squares. Thank you, Cora...and Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday today, too, to Gene Black....a great blogging buddy and friend. And...one more thing....how did it get to be October already???? Weren't we all just looking forward to summer...and now it's come and gone and it's OCTOBER already??? Geesh....that means the holidays are fast approaching, doesn't it????