Blizzard!

We are at the end of a spring blizzard here in Minnesota and I don't mean the kind you get at Dairy Queen. Given plenty of warning, we knew it was coming and could be prepared but it still surprised us with the amount of snow and general blizzard conditions. It has been awhile since we had a snowfall like this and, after all, it is mid-April when we should start to see bulbs coming up, not snowfall. It's not over yet and we think we have over 18 inches of snow now.

In the midst of it all, people are still buying sewing machines! I talked more than one person out of driving over to get one, especially since the Necchi is in a cabinet and would take several trips out to their vehicle and right now you cannot even drive up our driveway.

Necchi Mira in compact cabinet

Motivated by a new grandchild, Eileen wanted to buy a fairly new Brother sewing machine that was my sisters but she's on a long weekend down here from "up north" and not sure about driving back after all of this snow. My advice was to play it by ear and if the driving is good just stop in on her way home but if she gets on the road and is white knuckling it she can just keep driving and come down another day.

Before all of this started, I had the chance to buy a Singer 31-15 in a table with a clutch motor for a very good price but there were delivery problems. It was through Facebook Marketplace and turned out to be only two miles down the road. We showed up the first night to pick it up but no one was home. Many apologies later, they would deliver it to us the next night. Great! Several hours later I get a text saying it is too heavy and they will need more muscle. I suggest they take the head out of the table since that is probably half of the weight. More time passes: how do you get it out? I understand how that might look confusing and trying to give directions via text seemed silly so I said I would be right over. Jen was so sweet: this was her mother-in-laws and they were emptying out her house and knew nothing about sewing machines. This sounds pretty simplistic but I looked at the machine sitting in the table, tipped it back, and then just lifted straight up on the pins and pulled it out. Jen yells "Honey, she just took the machine out of the table! Come look!" Now the table was light enough to be carried up the steps and out into my car by two burly men. It's still in the back of my Jeep since I needed to get my car into the garage with the predicted snow that was sure to bury anything left outdoors.

Singer 31-15 head

I got to hear the stories about Mary who did all of her sewing on the Singer 31-15, an avid crafter and quilter. The serial number was such a hoot: dated to July 21, my birth date, but back to 1902, not my birth year! This particular machine had been a treadle, indicated by the spoked handwheel, and the date just confirmed that. The table is fine but it looks like a very old clutch motor and I'm thinking about getting servo motors for both of the industrials I now own. Stay tuned to the progress on the industrial front.

Back of Singer 31-15: lever for knee lift of the presser foot

The day wears on and Eileen is not driving back north today and we will try to connect next weekend instead. I did have one of the quilting ladies show up this afternoon for a free motion lesson. I basically just watched how she was doing it, admiring her skills and planning but she just needed to slow down. That was it, just slow down. But I know with so many things it just takes someone else to talk to about our latest project or skill to see if it can be improved upon or why I'm not happy with the results of my efforts.  All in a days work it seems.

What did I make while confined indoors for two whole days? I managed to take an office/sewing chair that needed new upholstery and get it all striped down the finished:

From green crushed velvet to navy basket weave

This was a somewhat fun project since the cushions were in good condition, fairly clean, and the new fabric was only $1.25 at Goodwill on their last 75% off day. A couple of hours of work and only $2 in supplies: I call that a lot of bang for my buck as well as a nice way to spend our time in confinement. We are dreaming of June and long days of sunlight with warm breezes. Dreaming, yes, dreaming.