Sharing

Yesterday, I participated in the sharing portion of the quilt guild meeting for the first time. I nervously showed off my newly done chevron baby quilt and my Shattered Bones quilt. We are told to give a quick description on the quilts; so, I informed the guild that these quilts were pieced and quilted using 100 year old sewing machines that I treadle. While walking back to my seat, a lady handed me her business card with a note written on it stating that she had a treadle that she wants to give me. During the break, I spoke with her to make arrangements for picking up the machine after the guild meeting. Yes, I came home with beautiful Red-Eye Singer 66-1 machine, gorgeous cabinet, and treadle!

Somehow vintage machines have a way of finding their new steward.

Tension

Oh no, tension issues!

It pays to do things correctly the first time around. I realized that the thread tension dial was not correctly in place on my Singer 224. That is what I get for not taking that area apart to clean correctly when I first got the machine. Before starting work on the decorative stitching today, I took some very thin yarn with a light amount of oil to clean between the discs. Well in doing so, I somehow again messed up the tension mechanism. This is the third time I have done this stupid maneuver, and somehow the machine still sews. Normally it had been an easy fix, but not today. Well, I took the thread tension assemble apart and cleaned all the parts.

 Reassembled the parts and adjusted the tension.

Much cleaner! Plus, it works!

Made in Japan

 When I learned that some Singer machines were made in Japan after WWII, I started my hunt for a Singer from Japan. I didn't want a cloned Singer. Why? Because I spent four years living in Tokyo in the early 1990s, and I have such wonderful memories of the time spent there.  And I love vintage Singer sewing machines!  Well to my surprise, this week a Singer 224 was posted on CL.  They posted it as a Singer 401, but I knew that it wasn't a 401. At first, I couldn't identify the machine since the Singer 224 machines are rare in the States.

The Singer 224 are designed to be treadled, takes 15x1 needles, and takes the flat cams for the decorative stitching.  No need to bypass a motor to treadle this machine like I have done with my Singer 328 or my Necchi Supernova Ultra.  This machine treadles so smoothly!  Cabinet has the look of duct tape attack, but that should clean up.

The Endless Knot

Celtic Knots symbolize a rebirth or continual cycle of life. How appropriate for this machine to be decorated with the Celtic knot decals. After replacing the missing parts (the lost limb) and a good cleaning with oil, life has returned to this once sad soul. This machine is a true warrior! I still need to spend time cleaning the machine, but I gave it a quick test run (out of treadle) to see how well it stitches. This machines surprised me! It produced one of the prettiest stitches (top and bottom) on the very first test.

Thread path

Breanna, the strong and honorable one, will serve me well.

Vintage 1951!

I totally forgot that this was the weekend for the huge neighborhood garage sale. Shortly after I started off with dog on our routine Saturday walk, I noticed numerous garage sale signs on the main road. So, I decided to stroll around the neighborhood checking out the garage deals. As I'm walking down one of the side streets, I spotted a machine sitting off to the side. I picked up my pace as I noticed numerous cars quickly heading in to park. Well, there sat a Singer 401A for only $10 without the power cord. The foot petal cord and carrying case with attachments were sitting on the ground together not too far off from machine. The seller told me she didn't have the power cord anymore. She was very apologetic about that. I told her that it was ok and that I would still purchase it without the cord. After I got home, I found a power cord with the correct adapter in my discarded motor box. I think that cord came from my Singer 15-90.

Here is a picture before cleaning up machine, case, and attachment tray.

Carrying case and attachment tray all cleaned.

The interesting contraption for holding the attachment box that tucks nicely inside carrying case. The attachment box slides into holder, and then one flips the holder 180 degrees into storage position.

I think I like the carrying case with this fascinating hidden compartment more than I like the machine!

Everyone must have at least one!

I was busy Friday driving around picking up great deals!
My first stop in the morning was for a free Singer cabinet and Singer VS2, fiddlehead (which I posted already). My second stop in the evening was for this Featherweight that was hidden on CLs. The lady posted it as a Singer 15-91 with another 15-19 (post read two 15-91, portable and table). I took a looked at the posted photos and immediately sent off e-mail. She was happy to sell and I was happy to receive my first FW.

My husband was waiting for me each time I arrived back home to help unload the car. With the FW, he went to the back of car, opened hatch, and stated where is the machine! I chuckled and told him its sitting behind me. So, he goes to open the passenger seat door behind me and says "this is it…it's so light…no wonder everyone wants one". When I opened the box and showed him the box layout and machine, he was so surprised at the size. All night long he kept talking about how cute it is and that the FWs look like toys…and I should look for more…start a family.

Again I chuckled because my 2- Two Spools, Melinda and The Cowboy, just got married. So now, they have their first child, Heather-FW. And grandma, VicOtoria-VS2, has taken up residence too. There went that honeymoon!

Hank in Treadle

Took some time, but I was able to get Hank into his new location, and I put him to work. Yes, I can treadle with him!