HI SARA, I'M SHERRY. I JUST READ YOUR BLOG & THOUGHT I'D REPLY...NOT SURE WHAT TYPE OF SEWING MACHINE YOU REC'D FOR YOUR BD, BUT CONGRATS! I HAVE BEEN SEWING FOR 35+YEARS & YET I'M STILL LEARNING EVERYDAY. I'VE UPGRADED TO A DESIGNER SE. THE SHOP THAT I GOT MY MACHINE FROM HAS VARIOUS CLASSES. EVEN IF I THINK I CAN CREATE THE ITEM AT HOME BY MYSELF, I'VE LEARNED THAT BY GOING TO THE CLASSES, NOT ONLY SO I HAVE A FINISHED PROJECT, I'VE MET OTHERS IN CLASS AS FRIENDS & POSSIBLY FUTURE TEACHERS TO ME. I ALSO LEARN DIFFERENT WAYS TO DO THINGS THAT ARE BETTER & FASTER, ETC THAN WHAT I HAVE DONE FOR YEARS. ITS ALSO A LESSON W/ MY MACHINE-ITS CAPABILITES, ETC. AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, IT GIVES ME TIME FOR "ME" AWAY FROM "US" OR "OUR" FAMILY. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND TAKING CLASSES. SINCE YOUR POST WAS IN FEB 2008 I FIGURE YOU'VE STARTED THAT 1ST PROJECT....JUST KEEP IN MIND THAT SOME PROJECTS TAKE MORE TIME THAN OTHERS & ITS OKAY TO HAVE "UFO'S"---UNFINISHED OBJECTS---SOMETIMES FOR YEARS!!!LOL! IF I CAN HELP, LET ME KNOW....SHERRY