A Quilting Vacation

I'm back from a week of vacation in Charleston, South Carolina, where quilting is alive and well. We met my quilting sister and her husband for some nice rest, good food, and as it turned out, visiting quilt shops. Who knew? It started out with a plan to have the guys do their own thing looking at ships and such but a wrong turn and  backup on the bridge meant they came along with us as we spent the day touring shops (I think they were along for the lunch).

First stop was Five Eights Seams, a bright and cheerful shop that actually had various sewing machines and classes.

I love the subtitle: Perfection starts here

More than just quilting, they had samples and fabric for clothing that caught my attention:

Border prints!

I did my best to resist but I bought one piece of fabric before I left, a lovely Lori Holt sewing themed piece that I planned on making a cover for my industrial Bernina 217. We shall see:

Heading up to Summerville, we stopped for lunch first at Fives Loaves Cafe and then on to People Places and Quilts. I found this very fun fabric with four different patterns in each width. I couldn't decide so I got a yard of each of the red and blue:

Then there were patterns! First I picked up the sewing machine cover with a camper theme and then I found the travel iron bag that doubles as an ironing surface:

They even added the heat resistant fabric so you don't have to go shopping around for it. If and when I make this little gem I will have to show you.

On another day we stopped at Wild and Wooly where they were having a birthday celebration for one of the owners who happened to have a rare February 29th birthday. How old was she? Not very old since she only could celebrate every 7 years or so but it was all fun with birthday cake and punch. Of course, we did buy a few items we were sure we couldn't find anywhere else, including camping themed fabric:

 

 

Camper fabric with a companion piece

Camping fabric paired with four patterned fabric

Loved the camping fabric and even found another piece of the four patterns on a width that I think might work together. So now I have several pieces of fabric and patterns for sewing machine covers but I only need one of my machines covered. Who knows where this will end?

Before our trip was over, my sister shared the quilt top that I had assembled for our aunt as a lap robe as I wrote about in Hand Quilting back in the summer. When Aunt Marcella died we just let that project drop, or so I thought, but she had it quilted for me and I am now the proud owner of my aunt's lovely flower garden quilt.

Flower Garden blocks all assembled and quilted

Another great trip was put away but we have many happy memories. The four of us are planning our next trip with our campers, maybe not this coming summer but for the next year. Could I pack a sewing machine along with me? We shall see!

Hot Time, Summer in the Cities

I'm ready for a week of vacation. You might have noticed a lack of postings this past week and wondered if I was already on vacation! Where am I going? Last year I took a nice trip to Michigan and Illinois to visit sisters and pick up a few sewing machines in cabinets, three to be exact.This year is a stay-cation where I plan on getting a few projects done, mostly in the realm of sewing and sewing machines. The list is long:

• Rewire Singer 201-2
• Photograph and post many more sewing machines for sale
• Sew up the little girl dresses already planned
• Sew a dress for myself (already cut out)
• Attend 3 big sales
• Check out motors on 3 machines with husbands help
• Refinish more cabinets in the garage
• Check out gas grill and either clean and fix or sell
• and many, many phone calls I've been meaning to make

As you can see, there is no way I could do all of this in a single week but it's on my to-do list. If I write it down it's possible it could get done over a series on months but if I write it in this blog I suddenly feel even more responsible. We shall see.

Here are a few photos of some of the above items I have plans for (and might even write up blog posts about!):

Little girls dress (now with a large flower added)

Cabinets in garage, 2 stripped and waiting to be sanded

Singer 99 down to bare metal

Wait a minute, how did that last one get in there? It wasn't even on the list! Isn't that how things go? Since I started this blog post, I've worked on the yard, bleached some plastic parts, and stripped the paint from a Singer 99, getting ready to paint with a hammered finish paint. It wasn't on the list! I have a feeling there will be many things that get done without first getting on the list but it's my week at home and I do get to pick.

I might even get to read a book.

Vacation in Paradise

I've been home from my vacation for a week now but I haven't reported the details of how I brought home some real gems. An earlier post about the Bernina 831 via pony express from Illinois to Minnesota was planned when Jane heard about my trip to Chicago and all turned out well but I already planned to pick up a machine from one of our host families. A lovely little Singer 185, those real cute green models, was purchased at a garage sale and stored in the garage for several weeks so we knew in May that we were going to bring a cabinet sewing machine home during this vacation. Then we heard about the Bernina and figured we had room for two cabinets.

On our last day in Michigan we planned to drive out of town after stopping at a close out sale at an antique market. Sounded like fun to us so we were there when they opened at 10 AM. here is what we found:

All those machines and a table of accessories!

So many machines, so little time.

This was a sale that had been going on for three months and this was just the last day so things were pretty picked over. I was sorely tempted by a Necchi Lydia 2 and when the price went down I just had to try and see if I could fix it:

Necchi Lydia MK2

Along with Lydia I did get a whole bag of serger odds and ends that included many knives that I thought would be useful, a dozen Viking bobbins for my 1100, a bag of Singer 221 bobbins that were marked Singer Slant Shank but I recognized as Featherweights and 301's, and a few foot controls that I could use. Seemed like a nice bag of goodies.

We did some thrifting on our last day in Illinois but didn't find much in the way of sewing but that was fine: wasn't our car pretty full already? On our way back to Minnesota I checked local Craigslist and found there was a Singer 15-91 that was almost being given away and it was going to be on our way when we got into the Twin Cities! Let's get it! Once we got home we had to pull out two cabinets as well as luggage so we could deliver the Bernina. I was just itching to get to the three that were for me. I cleaned up the Singer 185 first because it was easy:

Singer 185 all clean

Back in blond cabinet, so cute!

When I could stand it no longer I got out the Necchi Lydia MK2 to see why she moved so slow. When the side was opened up, I could see a chunk of the camstack dislodged but was hoping it was only a chunk that could be glued back but then upon further inspection this is what I found:

Lydia camstack

It's a broken crumbling mess! As I did further research I found you could get a brand new one for a slightly different model but not this one. Oh yea, it would also be $120. So now I have a parts machine. This was pretty disheartening so I almost forgot about the Singer 15-91 and I was pretty busy getting ready for company by that time. While I was waiting for someone to come over on a Saturday morning to look at a sewing machine, a 7:30 am call no less, I looked over and found the Singer 15-91 in need of cleaning. Although it wasn't in great physical shape it ran perfectly. I wasn't sure about the cabinet but after a cleaning with an orange cabinet cleaner it isn't half bad:

Singer 15-91 cleaned up

Cabinet cleaner than it was

It would be a nice refinishing job but I'm not sure I really want to spend the time on a set that isn't really "worthy" of the whole clean-up process. It's still a great sewing machine in a decent cabinet, just well used. Maybe I should sell it like it is at a reduced price? That's an option but time might make that decision for me.

So that 's the end of our vacation and the sewing machines that came home with us. Not always what was expected but sometimes there are surprises waiting in the wings. But that will be for another day.

Business Trip

Although it's only a few days before Christmas, my husband and I took a brief vacation to a resort area in Minnesota to enjoy the outdoors, get away from our work, and apparently to add a few more sewing machines for my business. We like antique shops and thrift/resale stores so we looked around and found a few to visit. We were happy to find a couple vintage buttonhole making machines, a Kenmore and a White. Although the attachments themselves are not unique, these two came in bakelight containers that I had never seen before so I was happy to invest in them to be added to the appropriate sewing machine as an enticement!

Kenmore buttonhole attachment

White Buttonhole attachment

As I turned the corner to see what was at the back of this antique store I spied an Admiral sewing machine on the floor. It's a clone of a Singer 15, looks in good cosmetic shape, but the wires were snipped on the light and motor. Everything was still there but not functioning. The needle didn't move up and down either but it had been marked down in price so I suspected the seller knew this machine wasn't going to sell easily without a slash in price. After a discussion with the proprietor of the shop about the price, we determined it had to go for the asking price of $16. Not bad but could I get it moving again? The answer is yes, especially after I took the bobbin case out and examined the hook. Lots of extra thread in there so after cleaning and reinserting it would move. Pulling the motor apart proved easy enough and a cleaning helped it to run better. Here he is, all cleaned up and ready to sew:

He's an Admiral (Singer 15 clone)

On the way home we stopped in Brainerd at the Salvation Army store but there weren't any sewing machines or accessories so we backtracked a few blocks to visit a thrift store that was planning on going online (Ebay?) so everything was half price. My kind of store! I didn't see any sewing machines but did find a green Kenmore box with a wonderful set of cams and accessories and another Singer box with a 401 manual and set of feet and 4 top hat cams. Each box was marked $2.98. Then next to the accessory boxes were various new bobbins, pins, and wait a minute - a mini-stitcher? Yes, just like the Singer Handi-Stitch.

Just like the Singer Handi-stitch

 A separate post will include these wonderful finds that were $1.50 each!  After I set my treasure on the counter I looked over and spied a sewing machine cabinet. Oh boy, would it be a good one? After taking everything off the top and looking inside it was a rather worn looking White that wasn't something I needed another one of but wait: there's a picnic type basket behind the cabinet with a tag that read Singer Sewing Machine $19.95. Now we're talking! I opened it up to find a cute Singer 99 in poor cosmetic shape but the potential was there. For $10 she went home with us.

Just another Singer 99

When we got home we found the Viking Huskylock 431 serger had been delivered so that made the third sewing machine.

Viking Huskylock 431

I went off to work an evening shift but remembered I had made contact with a gentleman about an Elna Supermatic for an 8:30 pick-up that evening. Only about 15 minutes from work, I went to take a look at this gem that was dirty but otherwise in great shape with no flat motor pulley as on the Elna Plana plus it had the knee control.

Elna Supermatic: it's not easy being green (or this old)

That made four sewing machines all within a very short period of time but they were all good purchases. My husband and I discussed the poor cosmetic shape of the Singer 99 and that maybe it could be painted in a really jazzy color next summer, like raspberry! The others were in such good shape they were fine as is with just some TLC. So this vacation ended up as a partial business trip but with this much fun who cares?

Taking a Break

Those who follow my posts on a regular basis are probably wondering what's happened to me since I have not posted for several days so I will have to tell you about my vacation. I know, I know, it's not about sewing machines, but we all need to take a break from time to time and here is my break:

We traveled north up to the Gunflint Trail to one of our favorite places, Gunflint Lodge, north of Duluth and west of Grant Marais in Minnesota. We had been there before when it was snow covered with a frozen lake so were anxious to see if it was just as beautiful in the summer and we were not disappointed. Above is the path to our cottage, well groomed, even with patches of annual flowers planted by the doorways. On our first night we witness a serene sunset:

We spent an afternoon paddling a canoe, and another one catching fish. the scenery had the greatest impact as we tooled around by boat:

Can we stay in this cabin next year?

There is never enough fishing gear.

Boats waiting at the dock at our lodge.

Ah, the loons taking off with their sorrowful cry.

My captain.

We had a great time even if we only caught one fish. That's right, one small mouth bass that was my catch. I would like to share it but it is only about three bites once it was filleted. We said good bye to our mini-vacation via this wonderful sunset:

Sunset over Gunflint Lake