Is it spring yet?

Last week I missed my guild meeting due to illness. Yes, it was the same bug that I had the week before. It lasted a good ten days! I was just getting back to normal when....a four day weekend turned into a five day weekend. It doesn't take much snow to shut down the south:

The bamboo in the neighbor's yard looks more like weeping willows!

I wish the bamboo wasn't there. We've had snow/ice in the past where it takes
down the power lines that are behind our house!

See? There isn't much snow! There is a layer of ice underneath it though.

So hubby, son, and I spent four days together. Then hubby slid into work on the fifth day, but school had been cancelled and my son and I stayed home. Thank goodness we never lost power! Everyone is back to work and school today, but tomorrow sounds very iffy again. I would not be surprised if we all ended up together at home again.

For Valentine's Day my husband got me this box of chocolates because, in his words, "The top is quilted!" Gotta love a man who knows his wife's passions. Once the candy evaporated from the box, I took off the cardboard bits and put a hole in the backside of the top.

What a cute little bulletin board I now have in my studio!

I added the border to the calendar quilt BOM from last year:

All I need to do is figure out the backing and I will be trying out this quilt, using Sweetie for the first time! I have to make some more room for the sandwiching process though. My studio is almost cleaned out but not quite there yet.

In the process of cleaning, I am selling off one of the old machines I have:

This is a New Home/Janome 270 Streamliner.

I don't think it was ever used. The bed shines like it was brand new! She sews pretty well too. I just don't need all these machines! I have Sweetie, Annie the Featherweight, my Mom's machine, the Juki still, and my broken Pfaff. I might end up keeping the Juki.
I tried to buy another Pfaff so I could fix mine up. I figured I could blend together two machines and have an almost new machine again. I have used my Pfaff hard and she needs a lot of major fixing. I bought another one on eBay and it came last night. I could have probably stopped opening the box, when I saw how it was packed:

That is pillow-wrap around it. This is not the best way to pack a machine for shipping.

To my dismay, the machine had been severely damaged during shipping. The cover/case was cracked and broken on one corner:

 The hand wheel was in pieces:

 This is the accessory box and that jagged part should not be there either:

I am currently in the return phase of the whole deal. The seller is supposed to refund my money. I will be on the hunt for another Pfaff. Thank goodness I only need my straight stitching machines and the quilting machine right now.

That's all the latest from here! All the snowy weather has allowed me to get more caught up on the hand appliqué projects. Life is pretty good! Sew-on y'all!!!