Let's Makea Deal: trade offs

 Here we are in the third week of October and are in the midst of our third snowfall. Seriously. Like inches of snow, on the ground, not melting. I say it's the perfect time of the year to get quilting! I just finished up a quilt that took way to long to finish but here it is:

Quilt top

This was a conglomeration of partially finished blocks of my aunt's and ones I made up so  now all those little hexagon scraps of fabric are gone and done with. I love the blues and greens but it turned out a bit too green for my taste but isn't that part of the learning process? Not having enough fabric for the backing, I managed to piece fabrics together to make it look like it was in my design plan:

Quilt back

I liked the pieced border on the back so much I decided to use the same idea for the binding. Actually, I wanted to make the binding in navy pindot but I didn't have enough fabric so this was my next best idea. Here's a closeup of the free motion quilting:

Close up of the free motion work

Which sewing machine did I use? The Singer 1200 was so much fun to use that I just kept stitching until it sold. Yup, even the favorites get sold over here but it was quite the deal.

Gary really wanted the 1200 but was having trouble with the cost so he proposed a deal: part cash, part sewing machines. At first I said no but then I got to thinking and running the numbers in my head and decided I would be ahead if I took his deal. Here's what I got:

Necchi Nora

Singer 503A

Singer CG590

Pretty awesome, right? The Necchi Nora is the cream of the crop, in excellent condition, runs well, but came with no accessories. I thought I might have a set of cams but I only have cams for the Necchi Supernova. I hope I can be patient until I find some. 

Next up is a Singer 503 complete with accessories and print manual. Great condition, sews well, only missing the carrying case, but will still sell. Right now I also have the Singer 500A, the fully loaded version called the Rocketeer.  With both models I can list one and probably sell both. I'm not a huge fan of the Rocketeer, preferring the Singer 401 as the real classic.

The final part of the deal is a Singer CG590, their answer to home heavy duty sewing machines. I had a similar one a few years ago and had to admit it did sew heavy stuff as well as two layers of cotton. Dropping the feed dogs, I used it to finish up the free motion part on the above quilt and it worked well  but seemed loud and created an unpleasant sewing experience. It also came with accessories and is ready to go out the door. All told, when these three sell it will add up to more than the cash value of the Singer 1200 plus they are all ready to sell. I hope Gary is as happy with his machine as I am with the deal we made.

I've been practicing free motion quilting with my treadle and decided I needed to trade out machines. My back clamping Singer 66 Red Eye just would not work unless I used a spring type presser foot but they don't seem to come in any back clamping feet style. Instead, I put a more modern side clamping foot Singer 66 head into the cabinet and used a free motion foot. I did get the hang of it but now need to keep practicing. There's another quilt all put together that needs to be quilted and I'm determined to use my new skills on this quilt.

Snow or no snow, what are you thinking about sewing?

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

I've enjoyed digging into my stack of future projects and getting them done during this time of staying at home so, next up, was a bundle of fabric with cut squares and strips. First Quilters had a fabric sale a few summers ago and this zippered plastic bag looked cheerful to me so I bought it for only $3. Looking at the potential, patterns for half square triangles, sending photos to my quilting sister, Jane, I came up with this plan/idea:

 

 

Bag of fabric sorted and labeled to make sure there was enough???

Block design

It didn't take long to piece these blocks and I decided to use my treadle this time. Why? Why not? It gave me some much needed practice time and made it more fun, too. There wasn't quite enough fabric for all of the edges as well as one final block but all I could do was punt:

Bottom right corner: oh oh, not enough!

 So I had to mix things up just a bit and came up with this (see if you can find the pattern variation):

Final product: even the binding is done

I love the bright floral print but it was very bold so when it came time to free motion quilt it I needed to find patterns that would actually show off the fabric. Here's some of my experimentation:

Different designs on each fabric

Script? I can now sew words!

Using the Singer Futura XL400, I sewed each section with a different design with large flower type design in each gold square, lines of loops in the half square triangles, and even a feather type of stitch on the border. Some of the places were not-so-great so I removed stitches and tried again so the final product was something I was proud of. I decided to give this quilt to my younger sister, Mindy, who loved my last quilt and even asked if it was for sale. This one was just for her so I wrote messages in the border and in various places on the quilt. I don't think she has found them all yet but I'm patient, she will find them one by one and I'll hear all about it.

Along with quilt projects, I also was inspired to make something with all of the hankies I've collected. Not only were mine stashed in a box, I now have my mom's and aunt's collections so it seemed like a huge pile. I also had a stack of linen placemats and napkins that were just too cute to pass up at the Goodwill Outlet so putting them all together:

Hankie and linen arrangement

I sewed them on a large piece of white muslin, added buttonholes at the top, hemmed, and she's now on display on my shower:

Hankie shower curtain from doorway

Hankie shower curtain

I'm so glad I put these lovely items to use; they weren't going anywhere in a hankie box so I might as well enjoy them every day! Speaking of showers, I better wrap this up and get a shower before the online church service starts. No one can see me but old habits die hard and I like to clean up before church and that hankie shower curtain waits for me. Until next time, what are you sewing on?

In the Meantime

As usual, there are so many sewing machines and just too little time! I've acquire some very nice ones, sold a few, fixed a few more since my last post but it's craft fair season! I do not have time for machines, just sew, sew, sew. Tomorrow is our final day for being in a craft fair so I took some of the comments from the last fair to heart and have made a few changes.

The baby booties attracted some nice attention but it was the little cuties herself who stole the show:

Kelly & Evelyn at the Blaine show

Yes, that's my granddaughter Evelyn, with her mom who got many offers but apparently she is not for sale. Hoping she could model some of the booties brought about the comment of her too-big feet. I don't think her feel are too big but I made only the smaller sizes: 3-6 months and 6-9 months. People wanted to buy them but they were just too small. In the two weeks between craft fairs I have made a dozen pair of booties in sizes 9-12 months and 12-18 months. They are much easier to make when you aren't struggling to turn them right side out so there's no objection from me! It's always fun to match up fabrics with patterns:

Booties for sale

When not sewing up a storm, I managed to pick up a Bernina Record 830 for a song. As usual, when they say it's still available, I do not hesitate but go right over (before they change their mind or get a better offer). It came with a wonderful set of accessories but no extension table or carrying case. During the testing phase I found out the foot control was wacky and this model would need a much more expensive replacement for $75. Ouch! Maybe there was an alternative? I Googled "Bernina 830 foot control rewire" and found a YouTube video. I had a nice new electronic foot control so I opened both up, switched wires paying attention to the colors and instructions, put it all back together, and it worked. It continues to surprise me since the whole process is pretty simple but the inside of an electronic foot control is anything but simple.It's my plan to continue to learn about circuits from LinkedIn Learning and my son-in-law so I'm saving the complex problems for later. Here's the Bernina Record 830:

Bernina Record 830 with accessory box (full!)

The garage continues to get cleared out with another treadle going to a new home to a maple tree farmer, a Singer 15-90 going to a young father who wanted to make gear (his wife had a new computerized sewing machine he wasn't allowed to use),  and a few sets of treadle irons and cabinets without machines were let go very cheap. So there is a plan and we should get one car back in the garage after the craft fair is over. No new machines! Especially in cabinets! Then I spy a Singer 301 in a table. Oh no, not a black 301. Yes, it's still available if I can get there in the next two hours. You bet.

It's an estate sale so they do not know anything about sewing machines. It's missing the power cord and the foot control has the button missing but it comes in a decent table with the cradle so it is mine. It is also Halloween and I need to get home to relieve my poor husband. That means since he answered the door while I was gone I get to answer the door during dinner. Oh well, that's a price I'm willing to pay.

Right next to the front door is a Singer 12 treadle that I've been working on rather unsuccessfully. Someone has shown some interest in it so I'm motivated to get it working smoothly. For this one I check Treadleon for how to clean and adjust a treadle and then Youtube videos for threading a model 12. I finally put a brand new leather belt on it, shortened it twice, adjust the pitman rod to shorten it, and she runs! I keep treadling to work out any of the kinks and find she's really fast, loud, but fast. I'll try it again this weekend but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Singer 12 treadle

Singer 12 treadle with new belt

The cabinet is in good shape and a coating of Howard's Feed & Wax really make it look good. I have to keep wiping it down to get the excess off but by now it's practically glowing.

 

 

Singer 12 in treadle cabinet: she glows!

Keep on Learning

Some people scoff at the phrase "lifelong learners" but I really believe in the concept of learning new things as long as we live. My late in life obsession with sewing machines has nearly transformed my life (and my house) giving me many new friends, an occupation in my retirement, and a worthy place for my mind to travel to. All that is a prelude to those pesky Pfaff 1222's that I cannot fix! The one that's only running in reverse is my current project and hoping I could take one more look to see if it's the buttonhole mechanism that is stuck, is now going back home. I can hardly blame the owner but it feels like such a failure; she bought another one and her husband wants to take a look at her original machine again. It's getting picked up today and another machine is getting dropped off: a treadle!

Now we are back into treadles and it came about when I found a model 22 cabinet reasonably priced and not too far away. It was a fun texting conversation when I asked if the treadle mechanism was still inside and she said "What would that look like?" As it turns out, there not only was a full treadle mechanism inside, there was a Singer 66 sewing machine, too. Since it had been in their family I tried to convince her to keep it and I would even show her how to use it but they were moving and there would be no room for this cabinet as a TV stand. Yes, that's the most popular use of old treadle stands. We got it home and when I went to use it there was resistance as I treadled. Was it the treadle or the sewing machine? I took the metal spring belt off (those are so cool!)

Treadle belt in spring style steel

to find it was a problem with the sewing machine so I came inside with me. After cleaning and oiling several times it still wasn't smooth but I took it back outside to the garage hoping it might get past the problem as it was treadled. Nope, it was still sticking at some point. It was late and I went to bed, hoping for better results in the morning.

Singer 66 in treadle cabinet with steel spring belt

Never underestimate to power of walking away when you can't figure something out: it worked fine in the morning. No kidding, it was smooth, made a nice stitch, action of the treadle was fairly effortless. I'm going to have a harder time selling this one when it is just so nice. Actually, that's not entirely true because now I'm looking for a Singer 66 Red Eye for this awesome cabinet.

Drawing room cabinet similar to Singer #22

In the meantime I get a call from Jane saying Bob can drop off a treadle today. We have been working on getting this one from Bob's garage to mine for several years and today is the day. Here's what she looks like:

New Home treadle with missing drawers

I think I have some work to do on this one. We had to concede to leave one of the cars out of the garage for the duration of the summer (and into fall) so I can get the cabinets ready for sale, something that happens each summer, but I have been very careful about bringing cabinet models home. Here's what it looked like for most of the winter:

Yes, that's a Bernina cabinet stacked on top

We are getting ready for a garage sale and those cabinets will still be here so I bet there will be For Sale signs on them, too. I've got my work cut out for me!

More Hand Crank Sewing Machines

I continue to be enthralled with hand crank sewing machines  and had an opportunity to purchase two a few weeks ago in a package deal with a treadle and an electric sewing machine. It was a quadruple hit! My husband went with me for the drive on wet roads at night but we found the place easily enough and, of course, there was a story, too.

In Jeff's very clean garage we found the four machines all waiting for me, a bit dirty but I knew they had been stored in another garage for some length of time. The two hand cranks were original, a Singer 127 vibrating shuttle in a bentwood case:

Singer Vibrating Shuttle

Case and machine both responded well to a good cleaning plus my favorite Howards Feed & Wax for the wood parts. Using my new products of Go-Jo and metal polish, things are looking quite good:

Singer 127 bentwood case

Next up was a very sweet Pfaff hand crank that looks much like my other German hand crank:

Pfaff model B hand crank

The Pfaff has a letter "B" on the back of the arm but my research doesn't bring up too much so I'm in the dark about needle size, threading, as well as the general mysteries of a transverse shuttle sewing machine. Most of my time is spent trying to find a needle and getting it set into the holder. I can get it to stitch but not without skipping or the tension miserably off. Still, a very sweet machine.

The first machine I started to work on when we got home was a Singer 319W that was very dirty but in excellent condition. It came in a bentwood case that was falling apart but wood glue and Howard's will fix it right up. The wiring gave me pause but it ended being sound and the machine stitches just fine. A box of accessories was helpful so it seems to be ready to go but here's the big plus: it is an aluminum model so it is not a heavyweight like most 319 or 306's. This is wonderful news and makes those piano keys up on the top just sing out to be used!

Singer 319W

The final model was a treadle, a Franklin with a coffin top, that is in fairly decent condition. Jeff said this cabinet was kept in the front room of the original owner so it has been cared for and shows it.

Franklin treadle cabinet

Franklin treadle with fiddle base and transverse shuttle

 I swore I wasn't going to bring home another table model but it was a package deal and I think it might be worth it. Along with a few accessories it also had a print manual, something I will want to scan. It's also my first fiddle based sewing machine and I find it charming.

So who had these sewing machines? It was a previous sewing machine dealership who sold Pfaff but changed over to Janome and eventually retired as the shop is no longer in business.  Without asking outright, I suspect he had died or moved away since his garage was emptied out and these machines were the ones that were left. Always a bit sad to see things move out of a family's home but at least I know who might want them and I'm getting them ready for happy new homes.

Treadle Madness

I get these crazy calls from people wanting to know if I would like/take their family treadle sewing machine. The answer is usually "NO" but I made an exception when friends from church said after their move into a house they couldn't fit this item in. Since they would deliver it I figured I could find a way to sell it for them. They want the proceeds to go back to our church but that also means I'm willing to donate my time: I'm up to 3 hours already and it is not done yet. But I'm having fun so here's what it did and does look like:

Treadle base before cleaning, missing drawer knob.

Singer 66 Red Eye before cleaning

Singer 66 Red Eye before cleaning, obviously!

These photos don't give it justice but take it from me, it had been stored in a garage for many years. As I started to clean with Go-Jo, a new method I saw demonstrated at the TOGA ten days ago, it was in good shape with decals somewhat intact, no pin rash from a rag tied around the arm, nothing broken and all parts represented. Even though I have way too much to do, including mowing the lawn, I just can't resist looking at it and seeing how much work is ahead of me.

Metal parts with rust

Before the day is over I have used Howard's Restore-a-Finish on the top exposed parts of the wood. It doesn't get much better but I know it is not worth stripping down. After it dries I go ahead and use Howard's Feed & Wax over all of the wood parts and it does start to glow a bit. Inside of the head I can see there are some very dirty and possibly some rust on parts so I go ahead and clean up with sewing machine oil and give it a nice oiling. Things move but not too enthusiastically so more parts come off to find the bobbin case like this:

How many years of compacted lint?

Even with a big clean-up job it still wasn't moving too fast and I know these machines should move with a touch of your finger. I get out the spray can of TriFlow and give the underneath parts and behind the round plate on the backside of the head a spray and leave it overnight. In the morning it was moving much smoother so I attached the original belt (just needed a new hole cut for the cleat) and she moved like the wind.

Now I'm down to the metal parts and the bobbin winder. That bobbin winder looked good from the front but I know it's a mess deep inside so I need to give it some serious time with cotton swabs, sewing machine oil, and metal polish. It's really looking good:

Cleaned up bobbin winder and replaced Singer nameplate

It was missing the Singer nameplate but I had an extra that I glued into place. Sorry that isn't too authentic but it worked! More cleaning, buffing, and just keeping at it comes down to this:

Singer 66 Red Eye ready to go back in her treadle stand

Singer 66 Red Eye backside (replaced plate with a different one)

Much better

And now for the stitching: things weren't going too well. Taking the whole tension mechanism apart showed it had been put together wrong and there were missing parts. Digging in my jungle of parts I found what I needed and with some tweaking of the bobbin tension it now sews like this:

Singer 66 Red Eye after adjusting tensions

A nice clean bobbin area didn't hurt so compare to the photo above to see how it is now glowing:

Clean, clean, clean bobbin case

And how did the cabinet turn out? Meah. It's not horrible because there are no chips in the veneer but it's not great either:

Classic 5 drawer cabinet for a Singer treadle

Since these are a dime a dozen I'm trying to talk myself out of stripping down the top for a really nice finish. I hope I can resist! It does work well as it is and is fine when set up, just not much of a display piece. That's where the stripping of the old finish comes in. Let's see how long I can hold out but it will also depend on the weather since we had our first hard frost last night. Days to work out in the garage are numbered and I have 2 more projects to finish up first besides the craft fair items that still are not ready! It will get done, it will get done, all in due time.

River Rats TOGA Third Edition

We had a good weekend with the treadle aficionados in Lake City, MN, despite the heat and community celebrations. Coming from the Twin Cites to the southwest area of Minnesota, there were all kinds of motorcycle conventions and corn fests along the way to keep me focused on the road and get there on time. As per last year, I only attended on Saturday but it was great fun learning how to clean metal parts, heads with decals, how to identify feed sack prints, solving tension troubles, and the ever famous raffle late in the afternoon. I managed to bring three sewing machines and not take a single one home again. Oh wait, I did bring two in for repair consultation that did come home with me but that was the plan.

The Davis vertical feed came to me completely frozen up so the first thing was to get things moving again. With very patient cleaning and oiling it finally broke through and had complete movement. I continued to clean and put parts back where they belonged until I decided to thread it up and stitch. There was a part missing, just the first thread guide, but it looked odd. Since I have another Davis I looked at it only to find there was a small disk, just like the ones found in a tension mechanism held in place with a screw and spring. The bag of parts that came with this machine did have a small screw with spring but no disk. There was no solution at the TOGA and no additional parts but when I got home I looked in my boxes of parts and think I found one that would work:

Davis with top thread guide added

Next up was the little Ruby sewing machine head. She was a freebee given to me by a neighbor who is also a co-worker. It started with not knowing how to thread it, then finding a needle, so Cathy and Bill both worked on it with me:

Cathy and Bill debate how the tensioner should be functioning

There was something wrong with the top tension mechanism so it was taken apart and put back in the correct order.

Ruby with repaired tensioner

Cathy knew how to thread it but it would take a much longer needle. She showed me a neat little trick in lowering the needle to the right length and how to make a small guide to use each time the needle needed to be replaced:

Needle positioner

Once we had it all threaded up it kept jumping out of the take up lever so it was decided it needed some surgery. Cathy made up a new ring to replace the broken part using jewelry wire and her handy tools for making jump rings:

Ruby has some surgery

New ring in place

With only a small amount of tweaking it did stitch. The shuttle bobbin was adjusted until the stitch was perfect, at least for black bobbin thread, always a no-no when testing out stitch tension:

Ruby Stitches!

Now I need a table to put little Ruby in and I think that's going to be very hard to find. It's a standard small treadle opening but the back pins are spaced wider than usual. It did come with the wood top and tray so I can hope to replace the top of a standard treadle with this topper. Maybe?

I did go to Cindy's storage shed and came back with a cool machine but that's going to be another post since it is waiting for a belt: to be continued!