The Girl Next Door

 Winter is here in the frozen north, even if they think we might have a few 50 degree days ahead. The snow pack is very real and now we hunker down and get sewing! I need to get a few more sewing machines listed for sale so everyone has a greater choice of models but I've been sewing and quilting and even with retirement there are only 24 hours in a day.

Back when I had 3-4 cabinet sewing machines in the garage, I sold a Singer 15-125 and received a Singer 66 as part of the deal. Why was it going out the door? It just wasn't used anymore and the table had a few dings in it. I finally got around to checking it out when we had a whole week of warm weather

Singer 66 table top

only to find a large chip on the front and a nifty piece missing on the top surface.  Above you can see the general flaking of the finish so it was going to need a complete stripping of the finish. I rarely deal with veneer problems but this one begged to be fixed:

Chip

 

A close up shows the degree of damage. Using a piece of the veneer from the front I cut and pieced it in:

Veneer glued down

It doesn't look too great at this point but when wood filler and stain were added it ended up looking pretty normal

Finished top

With a chunk of the veneer missing from the front, I chipped it all off, sanded it down and left it lighter than the original finish for a completely new look:

Two tone finish

What about the machine inside? It's a beauty, a classic Singer 66 in excellent shape:

Classic Singer 66 in her refinished table

I love a Singer 66, so basic yet so reliable. I think of it as "the boy or girl next door" who is always there and smiling, underappreciated, until someone realizes the beauty within:

Singer 66: where's that chipped piece?

Quilting has been taking up my time as I've been working on a quilt for a friend. It was an easy pattern and quick to put together:

Pieced blocks in one arrangement

Above is one version of the arrangement of blocks but I found I needed to even things out so instead of 42 blocks I ended up with 48 blocks. Right now I'm quilting it with various free motion patterns and writing. When it is all done I'll show you some of the features of this one but, for now, it needs to remain a bit hidden. A nifty surprise was finding 109" wide fabric for backing at Hobby Lobby. I only needed around 2 yards, it wasn't on sale so I could use my 40% off coupon for a real deal of only $15 for the backing. Saving my judgement until after washing, it came through the laundry just fine but did shrink. I'll need to buy a little extra next time. 

I better get those machines ready for sale because the weather calls for sewing, sewing, sewing!