A hobby that holds together the fabric of life

I stared at my year-old, state-of-the-art Janome sewing machine on the floor of my Texan home, and asked myself: "Do I ship this thing to China or not?"

I was packing for my new job in China, working at China Daily, and contemplating shipping the carrier of my sewing passion.

But not so fast - this sewing machine would tip scales in terms of kilos and heft. It's a real machine, with steel innards. And it would have to be wrapped carefully, as today's sewing machines are computers as well as needle pushers.