Have you ever been in the position where you’re thinking about something and suddenly a truth hits you so hard about something you weren’t even thinking about, that it nearly knocks you off your feet? A true epiphany that suddenly opens your eyes to something that you should have seen all along, but that you never really seriously considered until that specific point? Well, it happened to me last night, two of them, and they are harsh realities that either really are epiphanies I’ve never considered, or I’ve been really, really good at ignoring them before now. I’m not sure which it is, but these two epiphanies rocked my sewing and quilting world. As the kids sometimes say, I am shook.

So, at this point, you’re probably asking yourself what sort of sewing/quilting epiphany could I be having that has me this freaked out. Well, the first one, and I guess it’s been somewhat obvious to others, but not really to me, is that I have too many sewing machines. And too many different brands of sewing machines. Just. Too. Many. I know that deep down, I may have felt like it was getting out of control, so that isn’t really the epiphany part. The true epiphany came when I realized that to service all of the machines I have, it would cost me more than $900 annually. Once the extended service plan I have for the Viking is up, it will be more than $1,100. Yes, I know a lot of people don’t have their machines serviced annually, but I do because it keeps them in top working order, and I sew at least some everyday.

Also, trying to keep so many machines going on a regular basis is HARD. An electronic machine should be run, at a bare minimum, at least once a month for about 20 minutes to an hour. It’s not easy to do that, frankly. They don’t all get the love they need, and that’s a shame, because they are all very nice machines.

Remember I said I had two epiphanies? Well, the second one was the one that really shook me to my core.

I do not like doing embroidery.

I love the look of embroidery, and I like the concept. I just do not like actually doing embroidery myself. I’ve said to myself a thousand times, “I should make myself a blazer with embroidery.” I have neither made myself a blazer, nor have I embroidered one. I will buy something like a plain button up blouse or some t-shirts and tell myself, “I am going to embroider this!” And yet, I never do. It isn’t because I don’t have time, or because I’m missing some element of embroidery. I just do not care to do any embroidery. I hate testing designs. I hate changing threads 20 times for a project. I just do not like to do embroidery.

So why do I have three embroidery machines? Not one, not two. THREE. I have lost my mind.

I also have lost sight of why I started sewing and quilting in the first place – and that was for stress relief. Yet, there is no stress relief when every time I walk into my studio, I am greeted by a slew of machines that I don’t use that often, or worse, that I genuinely do not enjoy using. I also have boatloads of crafting materials that may never get used, but I’m not sure why I have them.

My mom says that I’ve been this way all my life. I find something that I have a slight interest in, and then I buy everything I can find for that craft. The result is that my house is bulging at the seams with crap I never use, and four sewing machines, and one embroidery only machine. And lest we forget, I also have a serger and a cover stitch machine.

Even thought I’ve long known exactly how many machines I was accumulating, the cost of maintaining all of these machines hit me like a ton of bricks last night. It isn’t even just the cost of maintaining them all. It’s the cost of all the supplies – supplies I NEVER use – and all of the extra accessories. Again, accessories that I rarely use. I have realized that I am, in essence, a hoarder, particularly of sewing related items. And it has to stop. It isn’t that I can’t afford having all the machines serviced, it’s that I don’t want to pay for them to be serviced.

It may take a while, but I’m going to get all of my machines serviced, and I’m going to start selling them off. I will be keeping the Bernina 435, which I have come to really love over the last ten days, as a back up machine. I plan to buy a Bernina 475QE to use as my primary machine. I don’t need big fancy stitches, and I don’t need a big machine. I chose the 475QE because it is compatible with the Bernina Stitch Regulator (BSR). I don’t think it’s included, but it will be the one accessory I absolutely insist upon when I buy the machine.

First step, getting machines serviced. As I get them back from being serviced, I will be listing them for sale. I seriously just cannot do this anymore. I have to cull the herd, and now is the time.