2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Three - My Machine!

Well now...that a silly prompt if you think I only have ONE machine!! 

I have my main machine - Jenny Lind (because she is a Singer!) - a 9020 which is not a common Singer machine. My Parents got her at a special sale - I have not ever seen another one like her, except my Sister's - but then my Parents got one for her too at the same time! My Parents got buyer's remorse after they bought the two machines, wondering it they would turn out to be duds...but I have been using mine since I started quilting in 2001. And relatively easy to service (I do most of my own servicing)

She is a good basic workhorse of a machine - only thing I dislike on her is the reverse button - it's hard to hold in. If they had only kept the lever idea from the earlier machines!

Next up is my Treadle machine that I restored - Aurora - A Red-eye Singer. I was happy as a clam doing the restoration work. The guy I got her from said his mother used her as a plant stand (!) and that the treadle belt had been broken since he was a young boy. EEP!!! Somewhere in Aurora's history she was exposed to smoke - she is not quite old enough for it to be oil lamps so probably at least one person smoked. The amount of grime that came off during cleaning...not only on the machine head, but on the cabinet as well.

And her little sister - Alis (Borealis) - a Singer 99 - alternately, and mistakenly called a Featherweight - but its not a real Singer Featherweight (I want one of those too!) At 22 pounds, she is NOT light to carry. I restored her too. Looks like she might be due for a bit more polishing on the bobbin winder!

Then there is the serger - O Brother - and not surprisingly, he is a Brother 1034D. He kinda scares me, so he mostly stays in his tote bag.

Rockette - a Singer 500a 'Rocketeer' with the #42 cabinet - it needs refinishing and the top hinges on the machine are sadly busted. This was given to me for my wedding by my maternal Grandmother. Someday I hope to find a stool like in this picture - I think Grandma HAD the stool, but might have forgotten to give it to me when we went to pick up the machine. My Mom has one that might work but I think it might be a bit wider than the official stool. My cabinet is a bit darker than this photo - oak finish, I think.

And Goldie - a Singer Golden Touch and Sew 630 which has the dratted plastic camstack so it keeps going out of timing. I hold on to her because I really LIKE some of her features and I keep hoping someday I can either get a set of metal cams, or I could turn her into a felting machine. The most peculiar thing on this machine is the normal foot - it's got rubber pads under it that interface with the feed dogs - and the rubber disintegrates, sigh. But, I love the 'wind the bobbin in the bobbin case' feature.

Elvie - the Singer 15 that my Grandfather bought brand new for my Grandmother, passed down to my Dad and then leant to my maternal Grandmother who made quilts for the poor with her Dorcas group. She kept a stable of machines in her mobile home for the Dorcas ladies to use. When she passed away, my Dad asked me if I wanted it - silly question! OF COURSE I wanted it! (Seen here piled high with my pincushion collection) You might be able to make out some of the writing on the case - my Dad wrote how to thread the needle and some other handy tips for the Dorcas ladies in red pen. My Dad recalls his first sewing task was making sails for their sailboat in the 40's. My Grandfather also used the machine - I have several puppets that he made the clothes for with this lovely old lady. 

La Donna - a 431G machine that my friend bought to make baby clothes with when her hubby was stationed in Germany. I just was blessed enough to obtain the 'unicorn' throat plate for this machine - I might need a different bobbin case but supposedly, I should be able to make her chainstitch - I've been meaning to try it out!

And just for fun - a music box treadle given to me by my Daughter and a Lego sewing machine that I got as a door prize at the Retreat I go to annually!

You can just see the bag that covers La Donna under Aurora's cabinet behind the Lego machine. As we learned yesterday, I have TOO MUCH STUFF! 

Link to the Muppin Blog Writing Challenge

2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Day Two - My Sewing Space

My sewing space is pretty cramped. I most definitely have more 'stuff' than space!

My main space used to be my son's bedroom when he was living at home. I also have stuff in my daughter's old bedroom which does double duty as my office for work.

The main room houses a drafting table that I have had since my early college days that serves as my cutting board. There is a filing cabinet that belongs to G, on top of which is the storage for my excess wall hangings. A desk that used to belong to my son that has the household internet connection devices. A short bookcase that is piled high with my button collection. A rolling cabinet that has a printer on it. Two steel shelving units that hold books, batting, ribbons, an old fashioned sewing machine case that I probably should get rid of since no one in their right mind would want to haul a sewing machine in that case when they have a perfectly good rolling case stored under the drafting table. The pressing surface - my old ironing board with a wood Big Board that my Dad made several years ago, is snuggled up to the drafting board. My display wall - it originally was going to be my design wall, but its too hard to reach so I pin stuff to the flannel. And...an old computer table with the keyboard dropdown that my main sewing machine lives on. Sometimes I have to turn sideways to get into parts of the room!

In my daughter's old room, I have my extra sewing machines- we'll learn more about them tomorrow! And some projects on the bottom bunk of her old bunk bed.

Sorry its way tooooooo messy to photograph! I need to do a thorough cleaning but may not get to that until Christmas break. 

This is a project that was on my Big Board (with the edge of the drafting table)....it shows a wee bit of my sewing room!

Link to the Muppin Blog Writing Challenge

2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge - Introduction

 Heh...I decided to try the blog writing challenge from Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com . Let's see if I can keep it up - every day for the entire month. Probably more posts than the whole rest of the year!

The first prompt is Introduction. OK -  Hang on to your hats and glasses - we are in for a wild ride!

I had gone to a Craft Show with a few of my friends. I was not a quilter - yet. We went to a demo of the Jodi Barrows 'Square in a Square' ruler because my quilter friend noticed the class was about getting Perfect Points. 

The lady demo-ing this ruler was so fun. She did the demo and then asked "Why would someone cut up perfectly good fabric into tiny squares, just to sew it back together again?" The answer she said was "Why, to make it more beautiful"...that made perfect sense to me. So when she asked if anyone in the audience thought they could use this ruler - you set it down on the block by lining it up on the seams and whack off what sticks out, I kind of said under my breath "I think I could do that", my friends all turned towards me, like I had grown a new head or something and were totally amazed. 

We trooped over to the vendor booth right after the demo and all three of my friends bought the ruler. I was still a bit on the fence - but my friends said we could share the ruler at a Craft Day - we periodically would meet at one or the other's houses to indulge in Crafting. 

One friend had a sewing room that all of us could meet in. I went to Walmart, Husband G helped me pick out three fabrics, I took my hither-too unused sewing machine down to her big sewing room and they taught me how to use the rotary cutter and how to use my machine and how to chain piece. 

I got a good bit done at that first meeting - went home, co-op'ed the kitchen table, worked like a dog and had the quilt quilted by the next weekend when a couple of us got together to go Christmas Shopping - I was the first one of the group done. And that is how I became a quilter!

My Mom bought me my own Square in a Square ruler for Christmas that year.

It's a neat ruler...those points are Pointy! and Perfect!

I still use this quilt. It's had to have the binding replaced and some of the quilting has popped, but it is a favorite. There is so much that I still had to learn about how to start and stop quilting and about burying thread tails. And how to measure borders -  I just laid the fabric up against the center - hence the kind of 'friendly' waves in the outer border. I did the most difficult quilting for a beginner to try - stitch in the ditch. I dived right in!

I backed it with fleece so it is very cuddly. The original pattern on the ruler had the star points alternating colors, but I decided to make them match. And the size for the original pattern was just a wall hanging but I knew if I didn't make something I could use, I would not want to continue quilting, so I figured out how much extra fabric I needed to make it couch quilt sized - and bought extra just in case! (Turned out I needed the extra red for the replacement binding)

Link to the Muppin Blog Writing Challenge