No Seriously.

Last weekend we moved into our new rental, a pretty little house on the better side of town that has room for me to bring Millie home.  At long last that beautiful machine is home.  Friday I took a short break from unpacking to give her some cosmetic love.  Quick bath and dry with a coat of Turtle Wax and we have awesome.

So encouraged by this I spent a few hours after work last night cleaning and oiling many of the moving parts and found out though extremely dirty she's a great looking machine! At about 11:30 last night we gave her a try.  Not exactly a success, but she sews now its time to figure out how to work the different controls and get the stitch regulator unfrozen.  So after that let down (yeah I was hoping she'd be easier then Sparky) off to bed as we are planning on moving more things today.

At about 5am the Hubby and I were awakened by our cat Nori howling. This is not exactly a normal occurrence but usually means he is hunting paper. Yes Nori steals paper (bills, letters, homework) and kills it.  After several months of not hearing the hunting howl my husband jumped up and hurried to find out what the cat was doing.

The awesome hunter in his natural state!

Well Nori had found my restoration kit and had stolen the bag of cosmetic cotton rounds and was standing over his kill howling for acknowledgement!  After laughing and taking away the rounds and going back to bed we were again awoken by the howling of the wild Nori!  This time he had gone back into the kit and stole another bag this one a ziplock with my scrubbies in it.  Guess its time to put the kit under lock and key! Silly Kitty,those are for sewing machines!

Happy Bornday!

Well, today is quite the milestone in Millie's life, another year older. Today is the old 66's 96th birthday.  I had hoped to have it home by now but unfortunately the space thing just isnt working yet. Soon though must be soon!
I've been thinking a lot about how much this machine has survived through. Being "born" in 1917, I can only imagine the amount of clothing and linens and quilts, etc that she has created. Can you imagine, how many hours of work this gal has probably put in over the years, how many technical advances it has survived through. Not only survived but has not been altered like so many have been. Its simply mind boggling.

Happy 96th bornday my old friend! 

Life is Good

Life is good. Recently my husband I went to the ultimate yard sale with my in-laws, niece, step kids and my daughter. Of course the in-laws arrived first, as they and the step kids live closer to the flea market/yard sale and my husband, daughter and I brought up the rear.  My daughter and I both scoured the booths and tables for sewing paraphernalia as well as something for her birthday.  

One thing I've noticed is that there are a lot of sewing machines out there in beat up condition.  We found a total of 5 machines and only one peaked my interest, but it was too expensive.  Other then that there was nothing of sewing interest. My daughter however did end up with an unusual jewelry box.

That night my wonderful in-laws had over the nieces (there are two), two of the step kids and a long time family friend who might as well be family and we celebrated father's day, my daughter's birthday and my own (coming up soon!).  The amazing thing is I then found out why there wasn't any good stuff at the yard sale... They had bought it all!

This is a collection that my in-laws have been working on for about a year, two small toy sewing machines, a sewing box and a pin cushion which has a tape measure!  I really am lucky to have these wonderful people in my life. But the one thing I cannot get over is the sewing box. It is a match for the 66.

And now to continue the search for the regular foot for the Ole 66. 

 

Amateur radio and sewing

A couple of years ago Neil (hubby) had his interest in amateur radio rekindled. Shortly after he got his license or ticket as they call it, he joined a local club called LIMARC, Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club.  We met a lot of great people and after a few months I started studying for my license, which I got last May.
So about that time we stopped by one of the ham's houses, to see his "shack" which is his radio room, when lo and behold we heard a sewing machine and his lovely wife is a seamstress.
At field day another ham mentioned his wife quilts. During a shop hop weekend my husband happened to mention we were headed out to one of the shops out east on the radio and another ham offered his sympathy for being made to go as his wife had already left with her friends, during the same shop hop we had a husband approach us about being a ham (do you see a trend yet?).  During the club Holiday party we were sitting with another couple, another ham active in the club too, and his wife quilts too!
Last night on my way across the parking lot, I stopped the only other female ham who works in my building, and mentioned the old 66.  Well surprise of all surprises, not only does she sew.... she collects sewing machines too! So what a conversation, showing her the remote mount radio in the car, discussing the clubs and their members updating her on some she knows but hasn't seen in a while, and sewing machines and the best places to find used machines and ham radios! I've come to the conclusion that ham radio and sewing go hand in hand!
Now to figure out how to use the treadle to power the radio...

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!

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

I am beautiful

Tonight I finally got back to storage and started going through the drawers of the treadle table to see if there is a presser foot for the 66.  My fear was realized when I discovered she is indeed a 66-1 with the rear attaching presser feet and there is only one foot in the box that fits this machine.

Of course the one foot was not one I really plan on using with this machine, but its nice they had ONE in the box. I will have to sort out the button hole foot.

Although these are common, people seem to really love this machine. Each and every time I have had her out  and am working on something, someone has to stop and comment.  I love to hear about how these people who have stopped have grandmothers or mothers who have had the same or similar machines.  I think in the past week and a half I've had this machine it has brought smiles to so many people, not just me.  I think its time to name this beauty. Any suggestions?

Organizing.

Well, now that I have cleaned and polished the parts I brought home from storage, its now time to start working on organizing my sewing area and perhaps, just perhaps be able to find enough room for the 66 to come home.  I have been searching high and low for different storage and organization ideas but first you must understand my sewing area(s).  We live in a small apartment on the second floor. My quilting rack/sewing table/storage area is tucked in under the eaves in the tiny livingroom. And on the other side of the room is my beautiful sewing armoire and ironing board.

The day we bought it.

So I have been searching all over the web for fabric storage solutions and have come across several interesting suggestions I do plan on employing. One of the most neatest ones I had to do was to use comic book backing boards to wrap the fabric around and then store on shelves. OK the wrapping of the fabric works even if the boards are a little less firm then I had hoped. But for $12 for 100 they fit the budget and don't detract from my fabric money.

Metal Polish

Ok so today after two days of waiting for it, my Maas Metal Polish came in the mail from Amazon. So tonight My husband Neil and son David piled into the car and headed off to storage with supplies.

Pulled off most of the detachable shiny stuff. And ran home to start scrubbing.

And so it begins

I have always loved the classical style of the older sewing machine. The rounded corners and sleek lines. To me this is what a sewing machine should look like.  Until we started to antique with my in-laws I believed I was stuck with today's plastic machines.  Once we started going to the antique shops we started finding the old machines, some in OK shape and some... well, not in OK shape, but all above my price range.  My wonderful in-laws continued to look at machines, but not knowing what I wanted or how much I wanted to spend. The dream of an older machine continued. Until this weekend.  My husband found some wonderful antique malls in PA. At a small antique mall, in the back, we found a beautiful Singer treadle, in my price range (cheap).

And so it begins