Saturday was a little wild around here. It started out well. I was at the sewing machine ASAP. I’ve been trying to get up earlier than usual every morning and getting a few stitches in.
Kalissa called me and said their family would be coming over in the afternoon and she was willing to shoot a video if I had one ready so ready or not, I shot a “Sew with Jo” video.
After that is was a grocery run…after that Kalissa’s family came over. The main reason they were coming over was that Craig was going to fix my quilting machine.
Remember that a wire near the tension disk on my longarm broke? I found it lying on the quilt while I was working on it. UGH.
That was back before Thanksgiving. Craig and I have been having the WORST time trying to fix it.
See these two screws??The ones on the underside here?
They had to come off before we could get to what needed fixing and THE SCREWS WERE STRIPPED. We had tried everything to get them loose. No luck.
The metal is really soft and the screws were very tight. It was so easy to strip them. I had called into the company twice asking for help. They gave suggestions, we tried them and finally, it came down to Craig needing to use a Dremel and grinding out a slot so he could use a flat head screwdriver to get them out. Originally a Phillips screwdriver was needed. What a trying time!
The good news…it is fixed. I don’t have to pay a huge repair bill for a service man to come.
So, for a treat, I made Craig’s favorite dessert. We call this fruit brownie pizza. It’s a real favorite here. It’s brownies with a layer of cream cheese then topped with fruit. Whenever I take these anywhere I always get asked for the recipe.
Sometimes I drizzle chocolate over the top…sometimes not. Kalissa loves them too.
Then Karl, who was out doing errands, called and asked if we wanted him to bring home pizza. We looked at the clock and decided yes, we did.
About then I realized that while I was helping Craig with the quilting machine, I forgot to take any pictures. I said something to Kalissa and she said, “No worries Mom, Craig and I will go stage some photos”. I was okay with that.
We ate the pizza and then the Friedman’s packed up to go home. I sat down at the computer and started loading photos to write a blog post of the day’s events. I had a huge laugh when I checked out the photos they took.
I think you’ll get a laugh out of them too… Here are the photos they took.
I was expecting Craig with the Dremel or a screwdriver working on those screws. NOPE!
That’s Craig!! He’s helpful and super funny too. I have so much fun with him!!
Yes, the photos are totally staged. He didn’t need the drills at all…just the Dremel and a couple of screwdrivers.
So… I’m a happy girl. My machine should work okay. I do need to load a quilt and get the tension set right but at least the piece is in place so I can try. I have a Christmas quilt to make for one of the childcare kiddos yet. One of the mom’s ordered stuff and asked me to make it. It is a cheater cloth quilt so it’s do-able but I really want to load a charity quilt in the machine first and make sure the machine is running right. So, that’s my plan for this week…Hopefully, by next week I’ll be showing you a finished quilt. We’ll see. Fingers crossed and after that, I have to do that wedding quilt!!
P.S. I know someone will ask so here’s the recipe for the fruit brownie pizza. If you don’t have a dessert planned for Christmas, this would be perfect.
One 9 x 13 pan of brownies baked and cooled.
1~ 8 oz cream cheese softened
1/3 cup sugar
fruit of your choice-I have strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, and pineapple
1/4 cup chopped pecans (I skip these most of the time)
1 square semisweet chocolate
1 tablespoon BUTTER-no margarine
After your brownies have cooled, mix cream cheese and sugar. Spread on brownies. Put the cut-up fruit and nuts over the cream cheese. Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave. Drizzle over bars. Keep refrigerated.
These are a favorite where ever I take them. I have a homemade recipe for the brownies but you can use any box mix as well. Here’s my recipe for the brownies…
2 sticks of softened margarine or butter
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cocoa
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
Mix together and bake at 350 for 22 minutes. Even if they don’t look done, take them out at 22 minutes if you pre-heated the oven properly.
If you plan to take them to a get-together or event, have a piece before you go because there won’t be any left when you come home!!
I hope you all got a good laugh from Craig. I sure did!!
Brownies look wonderful! Jo, you are so fortunate with your family helpers! They are wonderful! Were not the kiddos with them!? I’ll wait patiently to see the quilts you finish next week (or this week).
Isn’t the broken piece of wire part of your check spring? Looks like it anyway. I’ve easily changed the spring on my Gammill with only removing the tension apparatus. Didn’t need to remove any screws to take off a cover first. At least once I figured out that the cheap hex tools that came with the machine didn’t fit where they were supposed to. LOL Now my hubby’s much more expensive set reside in a tool drawer in my quilting room. Glad you got it fixed. It’s so annoying when something that should be easy turns out to be a major pain. Don’t even ask me about changing a bulb in my car’s headlight!
Lucky you, to have a handy and funny son in law! I think you need to edit the brownie recipe, to correct the amount of cocoa. Merry Christmas!
Quite the actor! Nice he could fix it. Brownie fruit pie sounds yummy!
I burst out laughing when I saw those Craig photos. What a hoot that man is (and such a helpful guy to have around!!)
I don’t know what a Dremel is? Could you explain? Thanks
Lol, Craig is a two fisted driller! I love the staged pictures, what a fun surprise for when you loaded them on the blog. I’m planning to make your brownies for New Years Eve here with the 2 of us.
Craig is indeed a gem you are very lucky to have him around and so willing to give you a hand with things. He is amazing indeed.
I don’t know which photo was best. Craig’s acting or the brownies☺️. Thanks for showing we hat you were telling us about. We all do need a handy man around once in awhile
I do love seeing your family “in action”. :-)
Thanks for the recipe – it looks yummy!
You are very blessed to have someone like Craig and Karl – such handy men! Especially for your quilting machine. I think most of us would have a repair man come out and spend loads of $ to get it fixed. Way to go Craig!
Its nice to have handymen in your family! We have to hire everything out. A longarm is not in my future!
Love hearing about your loving family! I wish I had all of you here with me. I cook too. LOL! I am having a hard time figuring out the tension of the top thread on my longarm at the moment and I just gave up. I have two baby quilts to get quilted before tomorrow. I have all kinds of cooking to do too. Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I’m so sorry you had problems getting your machine fixed. I didn’t know I had a broken check spring until you showed the picture of yours. I have a Millie newer than yours. I ordered the parts and they came in a couple days. I was able to replace my in about 10 minutes. I just had one screw to take out. Thank you again for the picture. I didn’t have to change my tension much with the new spring it. Hopefully you won’t either.
The older models had a plate that had to be removed that the screws to that plate were stripped. It just took a few minutes to fix once that plate was gone. Mine is an 08 I think.
how did i miss this story ??? it was at the bottom of the page with the Jasper story and i just randomly clicked on it. great for a much needed chuckle at our home.