i have been such a busy person of late. I'm not sure i'll get everything i want to say in. who says retirement is time for rest and reflection!!! the first thing i want to show you is my new purchases. I've decided i want to have a working treadle machine. thank you bonnie hunter for putting that idea in my head! i used to use my grandmother's waaaaay back in the day. i remember thinking nothing of plopping down and sewing away with whatever thread was in it. here's what I've found....
isn't she a beauty! the mister cleaned it up for me, i oiled it and then i took it down to our local quilt shop. neal, part owner/sewing guru put a new spring on it, a belt and straightened the wheel out. it sews beautifully! it is so heavy that I've named her annie (as in 2 ton annie). according to what I've learned from the Husqvarna site (they own white), my own research and neal we've all decided that its not a white sewing machine but a singer 15-91 that singer made for white. except for the decals there is no difference in the design. i got this beauty, with the table for $35 at the habitat for humanity yard sale! good deal wouldn't you say???
the next purchase was at the brimfield antique show in brimfield ma. i got this treadle base for $40 and this singer for $10! the sewing machine is already set up for a treadle and i love the decals on it. to my surprise there were quite a few treadle bases at the show (there were over 5,000 booths). the latest rage is to take the treadle base and make a table or lamp out of it. we saw many already made and these items were pulled apart to do just that. how sad!!!! i hope i can put her together to make her into a treadle. i haven't named her yet, i have to stare at her for a while and decide what she looks like. she's going to need some things (a belt to connect her with the treadle, a table to set on and something to hold the spool of thread! mechanically though she seems and sounds fine. we'll see!
when i was in Kansas at the quilt show in june i bought the martelli table. it took 8 weeks to get here but i think it was worth it. the table not only raises and lowers electronically but tilts on either side. it came with its own mat and cutting equipment and an ergonomic cutter. i also got a rotary mat cutter that has a round unit that you just place on it to iron on. my sister and bil bargained him down to $25 for (a $100 value) and gave it to me as a gift. as a special for the show they also threw in all the templates they had. they're in that bag to the right of the table! I'm hoping this will help my back. i love the ergonomic cutter. it works wonderfully!
i made these pincushions off the Missouri star quilt company's tutorial. one for me and one for my sister. the one on the left was my first one and you would not believe the trouble i had! once i started to put it together wrong i just couldn't seem to stop. i had to unsew it and put it together 4 different times! i think the funniest one was when i put the tail in the front instead of in the back. it looked suspiciously male but everyone knows there no such thing as a male chicken! the mister looked at me while i pulled apart yet another seam and said, "there's only 4 sides to that. how many times can you do it wrong?" i didn't tell him how many.......the second one i was very careful with and it not only took me only 1/2 hour to make but no mistakes. whew!!!
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