WOOT!

Ok my beautiful machine is running, now only to bring her home and make the adjustments to it so that it will run.  I am having a problem where there normal 66 class bobbins aren't fitting but will have to figure that and the needle thing (cause thats not fitting either). YAY it works!

Flight of Dreams

Just over three years ago I discovered I have a talent for quilting.  A girlfriend from work had been diagnosed with breast cancer and I embarked on a new journey myself.  I made my first true throw sized quilt made with all breast cancer awareness fabrics for her. 

Shortly there after I joined my husband's family in the Relay for Life.  My husband had lost his brother to cancer in 2007 and his family had been doing the Relay for Life since.

 On a quilt high from the beautiful throw for Jean, I volunteered to make a quilt for the silent auction that year, and my now husband put out the request for blue fat quarters. Why blue? Because it was Paul's favorite color.  Deciding on a pretty log cabin design, my daughter learned how to use a rotary cutter, and both my boys learned how to use the iron. 

As the top of the log cabin quilt was done, I noticed I had a lot of fabrics left over. Some of the family had had so much fun in picking out fabrics (Marti yes you...) they brought a lot into this quilt. I must say, the ladies who bought the fabrics did a wonderful job so many amazing and awesome to choose from.  So after figuring out I had enough left over for a SECOND quilt... I put together a design of stars and flying geese.  Of course once you have two quilts going you know what happens... Yup, both sewing machines decided to not work.  Well this was a special quilt, it needed a special name, so we put up on facebook for people to name the quilt.  My step daughter Ashley, came up with the name flight of dreams.  It was perfect for the quilt.  However, the day of the relay as you can see in the picture below, my other half, my stepdaughter Amy and I finished tying off threads and hiding them during relay.

The quilt was raffled off at the end of relay, and the amazing thing was out of the hundreds of raffle tickets we sold, Paul's widow's sister won the quilt. 

This year its time for another flight of dreams, this one however wont be raffled but sold out right and part of the proceeds will go to the Relay for Life. Nothing like a good cause to fire up the creative juices.  I love the flight of dreams quilts. This year the colors are vibrant, greens and yellow. Bold and stunning. 

Just cant wait until its totally finished and even more striking! 

Deluxe Commodore clean up

Today I was working on the Commodore by De Luxe with my middle child Justin. He's going to be 16 next week and can polish metal to a fine shine.
After some assistance from Mr Wonderful-Husband, I was able to pull off the face plate and also the bobbin cover assembly.

Oiled the whole machine, and worked the oil through.

And gave the old gal a nice sponge bath.

What the main thrill of this whole thing, was that my nearly 16 year old was helping. I cant begin to tell how much it means that he's helping. I'm pretty sure he might find some of these motors interesting. 

Bad Jill, bad bad bad Jilll

Well, I brought home another machine... Bad bad bad Jill.   This is a beautiful Deluxe made Commodore machine.
Last night my husband started perusing the craigs list ads again and we found this beautiful machine that is in need of some TLC. From what I understand this old gal has been unused for at least 26 years. Yet she starts right up just needs a belt and a new plug. Also from what I understand I have purchased this machine from the original owner's grandson and his wife (lovely people!). Now a special word to a great co-worker who is such a nice person he came with me to pick up the Commodore, thanks Tom!  This gal is a portable and will fit in a corner for now while I restore and wait for the chance to bring home the 66. I look forward to learning more about this terrific, hernia causing, darling.
I have already done some research and found out that the Deluxe brand is a Japanese clone.  They were often branded for stores, and were often the economical choice. Yes they were not as expensive as the main name brands but this baby weighs a ton, definitely solidly built and built to last. I've read more then once that these are machines that last.
Pictures of this beauty will be following shortly, but I didn't have the time to take them tonight.

Sisters

So the other night my wonderful husband and I were again discussing the online search for a regular presser foot for the 66-1.  So while discussing the differences between a small hemming foot and a regular foot, as well as the cost of a full set vs the overall value of the machine. When my terrific husband states he doesn't think the 66 will be used as much as I think as I have all these "better" machines.  By "better machines" my husband means my current, newer electric machines, the ones that didn't work for 9 days after Sandy hit our shores (yes we live on the north shore of Long Island so got away easy) or after the storm last year that left us without power for 6 days.


First let me introduce you to the oldest of the sisters.  My blocky and beautiful Husqvarna 320.

The Husque (Husky) was a great Craig's list find. I had been working on two quilts for for our family Relay for Life team when my brand new singer started acting up. Of course the old Singer also was extremely moody and I had gone through two Singers 3xs to try to finish these two quilts. So this beauty popped up on Craig's list and my husband promptly called on it (yes I did say he's wonderful... usually). Unfortunately we were too late someone had already said they were picking her up. Luckily that person never showed and I am now the proud owner of this beautiful machine.  Mostly though I use her for the heavy duty alterations and some piecing. 

 
The next sister is another Craig's list find.  A beautiful Babylock BLQC.

 

This beautiful machine was listed as not working because it wouldn't recognize that the presser foot was down.  Figuring that we could either fix it or take it locally to be fixed it was worth the pittance that they were asking and stopped on our way from upstate New York to pick her up in Connecticut.  Well the car ride must have done something because she works like a charm.  This lovely lady is my favorite piecing machine and rides on my hand made quilting rack. 

I still have the two Singers, they still don't work well and I am not about to take them off to the rude servicer in NJ again these two sit in my storage. One day perhaps I will take the time to take them apart again.  I also have a singer serger that I love and find useful for edging fabric before washing, or when making clothing. 

These are the sisters, they have their uses and I love them all. 

Slowly

So not too much has been going on with the old 66. Having the beautiful machine in storage makes it very difficult to work on, except for what pieces I can pull off and carry home. So this weekend my 13 year old daughter and I went shopping for machine pull and steel wool. After our mini shopping spree we stopped by to visit the old gal. While we were there we tried to try the belt in the drawer. Of course it was way too small. So after a lot of research we ordered a belt from Amazon and are now impatiently waiting for it to arrive

Feet

So now the hunt for a plain old rear attaching foot is in full swing. The early Singer 66's were definitely odd balls according to my research.  Of course being an odd ball myself, I truly feel a kinship to this old lady.  Being different does have its perks, however finding a rear attaching foot for a sewing machine isn't one.  After days of searching online I have found two, one in iffy condition with spots of rust on eBay and a second which is a set of four feet, three of which I cant see myself using, but its a decent price, but still more then I want to spend. So now its time to start searching local antique stores!