O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Well, he's here, actually!

Yesterday (sometime after fighting off the evil tomato worms from you-know-where) I heard the joyful sound of the UPS man ringing the doorbell to announce the arrival of a package.  And since I had been stalkingtracking the progress of my most recent Amazon order, I figured there was a good chance it was for me. I was right! 

On the front porch sat the arrival of my new sewing machine! It was a collaborative gift from a number of family members for my birthday last week. Hooray! Strike off the first goal of the 'ol birthday list! Now I've got to get to work on the 13 yards of fabric waiting to become curtains for our new home.

For those of you who are curious, I chose the Brother CS6000i after a bit of e-window shopping. I liked the additional features, the amount of accessories that already came with it, and the ever-so-helpful reviews by a number of people who seemed to know a lot more about sewing machines than I do. I didn't really need some crazy $1000 machine that could practically make garments for me, but I wanted something a little more versatile than the beginner's model. So here it is! My new toy. I can't wait to get started on some new projects.

Some of the sewing projects I dream of tackling this year include (as I mentioned before) new curtains, my first quilt, pillows for our living room, a bed skirt for the guest room, fun clothing (I love tops refashioned from men's shirts), some storage baskets, and a Christmas tree skirt. You know, in my spare time... ha. But in all seriousness, I am super excited to get this bad boy up and running! 

What new toys have you acquired recently? Any of you big into sewing? Thoughts on fun projects to make? I can't wait to share with you what the Brother and I make together!