Busy three months

I know it has been more than three months since I posted. My life has gone into overdrive.

• School ended, which meant I had to pack up all my personal belongings from the classroom to bring home, and all the rest for the summer. My teaching job has ended in favor of a big move to Michigan!
• I took online classes for enough credits to renew my long-expired Michigan teaching certificate, just in case.
• We have made two more trips to Michigan with loaded trailer: at the end of May and at the end of June. Now that most of our things are in Michigan, we know there is just too much for a small house.

I did have time to work a little bit on the maze quilt in June, posted here. I was able to get two more rows done, and work on another, before I had to pack up my whole sewing room and put it all on the trailer. Talk about withdrawal!

In March 2011 we had an auction. Here are some of my lovelies that had to sell at that time.

Several of my sewing machines

Three of the four you can spot in this picture actually ran well enough to be used daily. The one in the blonde cabinet was from 1927 or thereabouts and once it was oiled it worked very well. I’m a sucker for old, mechanical machines without electronics.

treadle

To the left of the hide you can see a treadle machine in cabinet.

treadle

Here is another treadle machine, electrified. I believe the same gentleman bought all the sewing machines.

Now I am trying to sell one more. It’s clean and a beauty, but I really have a very small sewing room where I’ll be living.

Singer 99K from 1955

My next blog post will be as a Michigan resident. I promise some updated pictures on the maze quilt soon. I’m anxious to get it completed!

Confession time

One of the toughest parts of quilting for me has been the exact 1/4″ seam. I’ve tried different ways.

First there was the tape on the throat plate. Sticky mess if I had to move it, and it wasn’t something I could see at all times.

Then I got my new machine, Singer Professional 2010, and it has a 1/4″ foot. The only trouble is, when the fabric lines up to the outside edge, it’s more than 1/4″. If the fabric lines up to the inside edge of the “toe”, it’s more like 1/8″.

I found this one among my presser feet. I hadn’t had the motivation to learn about the presser feet I was unfamiliar with, but I realized the adjustable edge would make it perfect.

I put it on the machine, held a ruler to the needle and adjusted the edge marker to the right until the gap measured exactly 1/4″.

I have been using it on this, the latest baby quilt I am making for a grandchild, and it’s working absolutely wonderfully! This is the first time, as I’m sewing rows of blocks together, that the seams always line up just right.

This is a trial layout of the fabrics for the quilt. I don’t know what it’s called, as I have been calling it the “plus sign” quilt. I love it because I can use up scraps. There are only 3 sizes of fabric pieces: 2″x2″, 2″x3.5″, and 2″x5″. I had to lay out the pieces or I would hopelessly mess up the sewing order. This is for the youngest expected grandbaby, a girl due in March.

Side note, the friend I am making the circle quilt for has informed me that we won’t be trying to get them all done for Christmas, so I’ve been working on some other projects as well. I have the first circle quilt complete except for the 3 embroidered  blocks my friend has yet to stitch for me. We have a tentative completion date on them for next spring.

Odd critters

I had to laugh out loud when I saw these.

Some clever someone had converted old sewing machines into tractors. Add a few bits like gears, wheels, shafts, paint a bright color, even add a decal.

We were at an old gas tractor show in Scottville, MI last July and came across these.

How Fun!

Back to the past

I have been working when I can on the circle quilt, and it is taking quite a bit of time. I’m beginning to be concerned that I won’t be able to finish 3 quilts by Christmas. One of the hold-ups is that I haven’t been given any additional embroidered patches for the center 12 squares of this quilt. I’m still missing 3 for the first quilt.

Meanwhile, I started working on the second quilt. I cut 150 circles and have them put together in columns of 15 circles. Then I heaved a heavy sigh and looked over my sewing room. Light bulb moment – if I put away a few things piled on top of my old 1957 Singer model 306w, I would have a sturdier work surface, at least.

I found, to my thrilled surprise, that the zigzag stitch is so much faster on the old machine! I knew I slowed down a bit going to the newer electronic Singer, but the difference, when thinking of all the slow zigzag on this quilt, multiplies to such a great degree. Genius!

 

Sewing for windows

My son recently bought a new house and the previous owners took all the good window coverings with them. That left a 20-something single man needing to cover some bare windows. He has lived without on some windows, and made do on others, until good old Mom could show up with a portable Singer sewing machine.

First, of course, we had to talk about what kind of coverings he might want. Since I knew I couldn’t cover every window, I had to know which were priorities. As far as design, color, and style, he said I could decorate as I wanted to.

I forgot to mention that his house is a 6-hour drive away from mine!

I showed up with all my paraphernalia and set to work measuring windows. I shopped for a while to see A) where all the fabric stores were located and B) what might be available. I talked over my ideas with my son and figured out, in the time I had, I could cover the two windows he requested, plus two more.

First I made Roman shades for his bedroom. That was the fabric I found first, that I liked. It’s a black faux suede with an embossed viny leaf design.

The next day I was out shopping again, this time to finalize the purchase of any hardware and supplies I needed, and to find the rest of the fabric that I couldn’t find before. I scoured the same fabric stores again, widened my search horizon, and was able to find what I was looking for.

The next windows I sewed for were the kitchen window and the patio slider. He needed something that would not block the light but would reduce the heat from the sun. These sheers with a plaid white-on-white design worked very well. By hanging with cafe rings, he can easily slide it aside to go in and out the door.

The final window was the living room window facing the street. The problem with it is that the sun would shine in, bounce off a couple of walls, and make it miserable for watching television. More Roman shades would do the trick there. The valance happened because removing the black curtain rod would leave holes to patch and touch up with paint, and it was just simpler to make a valance.

If I had it to do over, I would use a dark fabric to back it, but I didn’t want it to absorb heat from the sun. A close up shows the metallic floral design which goes very well with the two different paint finishes on different walls.

Overall, it was a very productive few days sewing for my son, and he’s thrilled with the results.

I start back to school on Monday, and have sewn 48 days this summer during my time off.  I have one day left, so I know I won’t complete my 50-day challenge, but missing it by only one day is pretty darn good. I’m still proud of all that I’ve accomplished this summer.

Signatures, anyone?

Back to work at the quilting, and I have just a few weeks to complete a wall quilt. I have all the blocks done, and I was trying out different arrangements. Remember, I don’t have a design wall, I have a design floor – and I take pictures from the upstairs balcony. I’m dependent on natural light and the day was cloudy, so I apologize for the quality of the photos.

My original plan was to simply lay all the blocks going the same way. I also tried out the half-square triangles as a border, allowing the white halves to create a zig zag in the border.

My second thought was to have a center square, and all the blocks radiating out in the pattern. To fit all the blocks, I had to have an extra row below, so it isn’t exactly a centered square.

The third idea is the winner. I’m choosing to place all blocks on point and fill in the edges so it will be a rectangular quilt. I gathered the blocks from lower left to upper right along each row and numbered the rows. I started sewing the white triangles to the ends of the rows and sewing the blocks together when the usual happened – malfunctioning equipment. It’s not that my sewing machines break down often, it’s just that I make adjustments without realizing, and it takes a while to figure out what I did and make it right. It was time to quit for the day when that happened.

On a happier note, I’d listed two of my machines for sale and sold one that same day. I think the buyer was my sister in a previous life, and our love for sewing carried over into this one. She was as happy to see all my sewing machines as I was to show them to her. She got the nickel tour and promised to keep my phone number. It’s always good to meet someone who shares a hobby.

DAY 30 OF MY 50-DAY CHALLENGE

But you can only use one at a time…

I know it has been a few days since I’ve posted. I have been working in the sewing room, just nothing very exciting so I didn’t post about it. I hemmed some pants, designed a paper piecing block that represents a sewing machine, and made a mini wall quilt for myself. That wall quilt is now my Gravatar and it hangs over my sewing machine.

I have a new project to start with a short deadline, so I decided to do a little cutting for it today. I cut white cotton into squares, 5 1/2 inches per side. The person this is for (cannot say, it’s a surprise) likes different shades of blues and browns.

On two opposite corners I will sew a triangle and when it’s together, it will resemble a twisted star. You’ll just have to trust me on this if you don’t believe it. I managed to get 45 white blocks cut and I located all the reasonable fabrics from my scraps that I will use for the corner points.

I’ll be on a vacation trip, beginning this week, so I may not be posting unless from the trip.

And the reason for the post title: I counted all the sewing machines that I own. First, in my defense, let me say that it’s addicting to pay so little at an auction or garage sale for a machine that I value so highly. For many, I paid only $15 or less, and several in the $3-10 range. Okay, out with it, I have 15 sewing machines. Makes you wonder what my house looks like, doesn’t it? In my sewing room itself, I have a non-working Elgin in a cabinet that holds up my stereo so I can have music as I work. I recently put up for sale two of the Singers: a 401 Rocketeer in a cabinet, and a 1923 model 127 in an art deco cabinet. I have the Singer 306W built into a small table, the new electronic Singer Professional 2010, and the Brother small home embroidery/sewing machine.

Singer 401

Singer 127

On the upstairs landing I have two treadle machines, both Singer, but neither has a cabinet or table. I haven’t bothered to see if they work. I have two other treadle machines, one has been electrified with a pedal bolted to the treadle pedal, and I have a Wheeler and Wilson. I have Kenmores in the dining room (being side tables) and one in the guest bedroom (ditto). I have been in “purge” mode for a while now, so in addition to the ones I have listed for sale, I’ll see if I can give away (non-working) or sell more of the others.

DAY 27 OF MY 50-DAY CHALLENGE

Summer, Day 1

I know, it’s still spring officially, but I work as an elementary teacher and today is the first weekday I didn’t have to report for work. All morning I half expected a phone call from the boss asking where I was.

This summer will be very different from other summers. I am not taking college classes, organizing and creating new teaching materials, working summer school, or tutoring students. I’m going to take this summer just for me.

I figured out the number of weekdays I am free is 60, and that includes Memorial Day. If I subtract 10 workdays for my vacation (but I’ll actually be gone 12), the number remaining is 50. So, my challenge for myself is to be productive in the sewing room for at least 50 days this summer. If I work on the weekends, I’m ahead of the game. There is nothing like the feeling of being productive to make everything else feel so good.

Let me introduce you to my sewing room. I’ll have to take more pictures, since I lost some great ones when I first set it up. I’ll show you a few things for now.

Low loft polyester batting on a roll, 48 inches wide. I have a lot of wall space and my idea was to make it easy to get to my batting and take just what I need. I used a simple curtain rod, attached to the wall. I recently used up the first roll of batting I bought this way and had to change rolls, and I was able to do that without help!

My newest machine, a Singer Professional 2010. My husband talked me into purchasing it. It has a lot of built-in stitches. I’m a mechanical girl, preferring something I can oil, adjust and repair myself, but it’s a very nice change to work in the current century sometimes.

Now that I’m off for the summer, I’ll have plenty of time to add to this blog and keep current. I’ll also be posting what I’m doing to be productive, and keep track of the number of days I’m successful.