Oops!

Hmmm.... I am sorry. I have deleted--or moved, more likely--some pics somewhere along the line this month. I will hunt them down and put them back where they belong. So, with apologies I don't have pics for this post, either, until I figure out what I did wrong--then I will rectify that situation.

In the meantime I have been trying to make time in the evenings to take care of some of these machines. The Singer 27 treadle is wonderful and I have been doing some sewing on it. I also have done some cleaning and polishing on her and have practically disassemble the bobbin winder in the process, but it's working fine now and little by little I'm getting her cleaned up. I need to do that with my Singer red-eye treadle, too. I'm getting comfortable with the whole treadle action, can even start without using my hand on the flywheel sometimes!

I also found an evening to clean up and look at my green and cream Necchi BU Supernova Ultra. I looked her all over and cleaned what I could see, then oiled like crazy and the poor thing was still binding like crazy when I turned the wheel. It was so bad I knew better than to plug her in, though we did see that the motor and foot pedal worked when I first bought her.

After opening up the back end I discovered that the v-belt is mostly disintegrated. Piles of black rubbery chips and dust all over inside and the belt itself has a couple 2-3 inch sections that are bare cords. I've been reading posts on the vintage Necchi group in Yahoo, and while there is discussion about the belts, no one who has found the correct belt actually says what belt they ordered. So far I haven't found a "parts" list for my Necchi. I also would love to find some sort of list to help date Necchis by serial number. The best I can do so far is go by the years my model was produced in Italy, 1958-1963, and then read and watch for clues.

AND today I replaced the leaders on the Quilting Beast, my APQS Millenium II long arm quilter. The ones she had when I got her last year were stained and as I discovered when I decided to put Velcro on them--ala Sharon Schamber--really stretched out of shape. I decided to replace them. Now they are attached as is the Velcro, and I have hemmed one of the two supplemental leaders that I need to also add Velcro to.

THEN I won't have any excuse not to get these quilts quilted! And by the time I quilt the ones I have waiting, I'm thinking I may take on quilting for pay. We shall see. Wish me luck.

Some new friends

I've been busy since my last post. Of course my day job takes up a lot of my time. But I've also managed to find a few new friends and here they are.

First is a Singer model 27 treadle with Sphinx decals, circa1900. She stitches beautifully and sounds so good.

I found this interesting Kenmore Imperial Rotary 117.591 from 1940 at the same time. I couldn't pass it up when I saw it was in a cabinet equipped with the pulley cable that automatically raises and lowers the machine when you raise and lower the lid. Fun!

Neither of those machines was specifically on my wish list, but this one definitely was! Pretty little light green and cream Necchi Supernova Ultra in beautiful working order. 

 

Right now I barely have time to clean and oil them let alone sew much. They've been around many decades already, so I guess they'll last until I can retire and spend time putting them to good use.

Oh, this cool double bobbin doo-hickey was in the drawer of the treadle machine. Anyone who can tell what it is made to do? What was this used for?

Well I'm off again. Getting ready for a much needed visit from my daughter and granddaughter. That's going to keep me busy for a while, but what fun!

Valerie

Playing Catch Up

Do not adjust your monitor--isn't it weird how black and white quilts look on the monitor--but really the color controls are fine! This is one of several quilts I've made since summer.

Now, let's save time--insert all sorts of excuses really good reasons here for why it's been so long since I posted.
My last post was a picture I took one morning while we were visiting my daugher and family in Texas celebrating GG's birthday. We are so lucky to be able to go and enjoy the time with them. This year it was COLD for these desert dwellers--below freezing every day except the day we arrived and the day we left!



The winter weather meant GG was out of school for three of the five schooldays we were there--so more time with her. Yay! And DD got hours cut from one of her jobs, but that also meant more time with her while we were there. The only one who had to work the whole time was our SIL, but he did schedule a day off to join us for a day at the Fort Worth Stock Show. The visit is always too short, but we enjoyed the time we had.


Time flies by for us, and I don't really get a lot done weeknights, and weekends often involve activities with family or friends along with the weekly household upkeep, but I have managed to get a few things done. I finished a 2-year-old UFO by adding the inner and outer borders on my sweet little GiGi treadle Singer 66 Red Eye. I also stitched up three very simple, fast baby sized quilts on her as well. And I made my first "1600 race" type quilting using 2-1/2" strips I cut from my stash. So I have a few quilt tops ready to let me get in some good time on the Quilting Beast soon.

And just for a grin--where else but in Sun City, AZ would you find a sign like this in a hospital parking lot?


That's all for now!

Wordless Wednesday on Thursday