Cautionary Tale and Cabin in the Woods Finished

This week was full to overflowing that included replacing a clutch motor with a new Servo motor, a fundraising event that was way too much fun, and along the way I had the opportunity to repair a Kenmore. I got a call on Friday asking if I could repair a heavy duty sewing machine that no longer worked. Well...it was left in a storage building over many months while they moved and that wasn't doing it any good. The model number wasn't familiar but I said I could look at it but it might be cheaper to buy another older Kenmore if the repairs were too costly. Here's what I found when I opened up the top:

Kenmore 148-12050: a dirty bird

Oh my, I almost said NO but knew it still had life in it so I started to clean. Because it was fairly dirty inside I think the rusty coating landed pretty much on the dirt. Cleaning off the dirt with sewing machine oil took the rust off, too, so it looked worse than it actually was. Whew!

Kenmore 148-12050 all cleaned up inside

It took more time to get it to run quietly, replacing the ring around the hook race that had rust on it. Even when cleaned off, it seemed to be a noisy part so I replaced it with a clean one. Yea for spare parts! Here's another view of the feed dog area when exposed before cleaning:

Kenmore 148-12050 feed dogs before cleaning

With tension adjustments and much sample sewing, it now sounds better and ready for more sewing. Moral of this story: do not store sewing machines in unheated areas unless you are ready for the accumulated moisture and rust that follows.

And here she is, all cleaned up and running again:

Kenmore 148-12050 after her spa treatment

The Cabin-in-the-Woods quilt I was working on is now finished with backing, binding, the works:

It was tricky to figure out how to add quilting to the wolf panels so I used free motion quilting and outlined the animals. You can't tell from the front but on the back it looks nice:

Young wolf outline (fabric is actually an orange brown)

 A recently acquired Viking 49 was the machine of choice for the free motion stitches and they were effortless: great sewing machine! I sure could use more practice on my straight stitching when adding the stitches to the whole "sandwich". The Pfaff IDT sure made the whole process go much smoother in keeping the layers together with no creeping forward or backward of fabrics. In consultation with a daughter who made binding suggestions, I had to go with a green that would coordinate and I'm pleased with the overall effect. It was a good project for these very cold days and we are in for another week of cold along with 50 mph winds today. What a good day to stay home and sew.