ALL THAT WE NEED...

Excuse my poor attempt at editing, LOL, but things are about to change here...big time!!!  While I have been "retired" since 2011 due to illness, Dear Hubby is getting closer, AND CLOSER, to retirement!  He is the main bread-winner in our home and we are trying to plan for each and every outlay of cash once he is retired, with a good emergency fund for the unexpected!  We have tallied up all of the recurring bills for the house, and our living expenses.  But what about our individual spending?  I'm a quilter, and we all know how expensive that can be...if we let it!  I have a great stash of fabrics, but I am sure there are things I still need.

Or do I?  At what point do we have all that we need?  In quilting?  In life?  It's a question I have been pondering a lot these days, as yet ANOTHER storage facility is being erected in our town.  We are a country of confusion.  We seem to have confused the difference between a "want" and a "need"...and I am no less guilty! During the Great Depression, NEEDS were great and people "wanted" nothing more than to have them met.  Now we seem to fill our lives with more and more "stuff" in an effort to find happiness or fulfillment.  In the Great Depression people were "happy" to find their next meal.  How can we have come to get it all so wrong?

So, last week I began to take a GOOD look around my sewing room to see what I really did NEED to purchase while we still had Dear Hubby's work income.  My machine (Ellie) hadn't been sounding "quite right" despite my cleaning her of dust bunnies.  I usually have her serviced every year while we are away on vacation (lessens my separation anxiety, LOL).  However, with J & G's wedding this year I had completely forgotten!  On Saturday we dropped her off to be serviced.  Her knee lift looks SO lonely!  I'm really hoping she is ready to be picked up by Saturday.  While I am in the shop I will pick up another dozen or so bobbins to fit my machine, using a gift card.  Am I the only one who seems to go through them like water?

Joann's was having a sale and Wonder Under was reduced by the bolt.  I'm starting to love applique and use Wonder Under to secure the pieces before edging or embellishing.  I used Paypal funds acquired by purging and selling items in our home to pay for this stock-up.

With Mother's Day coming, Dear Hubby was more than happy to have me buy my gift from him, LOL.  I know the fabric isn't a NEED, but I have been looking at this line and waiting for a sale to buy a layer cake.  Finally, I found a sale that just happened to coincide with Dear Hubby needing a Mother's Day gift for me (even if it is almost 2 months early, LOL).  What can I say?  I'm weak when it comes to oh so pretty fabric!  The needle nanny, on the other hand, was a definite need.  I'm tired of searching for my lost needle!  Having to have a needle surgically removed from my tush is bound to cost more than this nanny!  I consider it insurance, LOL.

I made some progress on my St. Patty's Day topper before my machine left for service.  Every bit of fabric, thread, batting and even the embellishments were from my stash.  My grandson helped me pick them out.  Now to sew them on!  While I will wait until Mother's Day to cut into my new fabric, the needle nanny is being used now!

I've also begun to consider what we NEED to acquire before Dear Hubby retires.  I expect the first couple of months will be the hardest as we learn to adjust and live on less income.  I placed a HUGE order with Amazon Prime and Amazon Prime Pantry.  We are now fully stocked for at least the next four to six months on toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, laundry detergent, Bounce, color catchers, dishwasher tablets, toilet bowl cleaner and a few food items that were cheaper than in the grocery store.  If he hasn't retired as we begin to run low, I will do another stock-up.  Happily with this order I was able to use quite a few coupons on Amazon and pay for about one quarter of this purchase with reward points.  I also entered the Amazon web site through Ebates, so I might earn a small rebate.  Lastly, I linked my e-receipt to Fetch and earned a few points.  Home Run in the frugality game!!

That is about all of the news here at the cottage!  See you soon...

Toodles...