Out of Lascaux

Sewing and stuff

Now that the hardest part of my LAST semester is over, I've been doing fun things (perhaps too many fun things, because it still isn't over :-).

First thing I did was finish handquilting the quilt I started about a year and a half ago. Check it out now.

I call it "Uproar" for no good reason except that's what it looks like. I spent too long working on it to keep it on the bed - three dogs sleep on that bed, and they are not terribly sensitive to the bed covers. The picture of the back really shows the amount of hand stitching that went into it (or it would if it weren't so darn dark).

I'm very pleased. The DH and the Son are already fighting over who gets to keep it. Of course the Son wants to sell it as soon as I'm dead. He's so sentimental.

A couple of weeks ago, the Safety Razor King and I were at the flea markets up on Doniphan. One shop had 4 antique Singer sewing machines, and I kept seeing more at different places. I was strong that day and spent no money, but we went out the next weekend and wound up with not one, but two antique machines.

The first is a Singer that looked to be in terrible condition. I figured I would take it apart and see how it worked - you know, play with it.

It is actually in pretty good condition. No rust, only dirt and grime in the machinery, and the decals are pretty much gone. But the basic mechanisms work. It has a motor which also works, but it was made as a manual treadle machine in 1927 and converted many years later. I may or may not put the motor back, depending on whether I can find a treadle cabinet for it.

The second machine is a Free-Westinghouse from about 1935. It works, so it has taken the spot the Kenmore used to be in: it was starting to misbehave, and I never really liked it anyway. The Free-Westinghouse is purely electric, but it's very simple and smooth-running. Now I just need to get the hang of it.

Lots of quilting ahead.

Posted by Alexandra at December 1, 2006 08:21 AM