Wisconsin

I've been back from my 5-day trip to Wisconsin/Illinois for nearly a week, and haven't sewn a single stitch since getting home! The main reason for that appalling lack of stitchery is that 18 hours after touching down, I was attending a rehearsal of a women's singing group (Women of Heartsong) and have made that my new singing home. There's been a glut of music to reformat and learn. Thursday I finally had enough of a handle on things that I could look at everything I brought home with me, pull out my camera, and start taking photos not only of some batik panels from Nann's stash that I promised to list for her on ebay . . .

. . . but 23 other pieces from the CF!Q stash I'd been setting aside over the last several weeks, also for ebay. Yesterday I stared at all those pieces again, comparing real-life colors to what my camera captured and tweaking as necessary (I could barely see straight after 9 hours of that). Today I'm determined to get the CF!Q listing finished, then do some sewing!

1st Week of Winter

When Christmas is over, the general mindset seems to be that Winter should be nearly over too. But here we are, in the first week of Winter and the last week of the calendar year 2023.

Today I sold the Singer 329 Fashion Mate to a sweet young lady who was very excited to have her.

That just leaves the Atlas listed on Craigslist. I'm going to keep working through my vintage machines in 2024, but giving myself only one month each in 2023 turned out to be unreasonably limiting. Next up will be my Featherweight and its hinky plug. I hope that's all that's wrong with it! If I remember correctly, the bakelite had crumbled enough that the internal wires in the plug head had touched and caused quite a commotion when I plugged it in. Once I pull her out, I'll see how good my memory of that event really is!

Singer 301

A new month, a "new" machine!

As I finished up the Rocketeer's cleaning/oiling in preparation for putting them back on their shelf, I pulled out the 301 that's been waiting patiently on the floor in one of the bedroom closets.

General progress

My eldest son (Thing 1) was true to his word--when we went over to his place for a visit (I played Beat Saber on his VR device), he had 3 zigzag cams for me! He'd made them on his 3D printer from different types of filament, each having its own advantage. This one fit best right away (and even better once I scraped a little out of the middle).

I'm a happy camper now with a plain zigzag stitch at my fingertips!

Hope and Fresh Air

"... I feel as if I'm making quilts from hope and fresh air." Caroline's comment was floating in the background all yesterday and today as I sorted, trimmed, marked and sewed together all the batting scraps that have been accumulating. It was how I intended to use the Rocketeer this month, so no sense in letting them sit idly on the sewing table!

Unexpected

Yesterday's day off, which was to be devoted to cleaning, oiling, and lubing The Rocketeer 503A . . .

. . . was unexpectedly devoted to an in-depth audit of the chorus's financial books. I'm scrupulously honest, but the audit this time pointed up places where my monthly reports needed to have a page with a clearer breakout of income and how it's categorized and shuffled about between accounts. It was a solid 6 hours chunk of time and I was exhausted by the time I got home.

This morning I arose with renewed energy and started on the Rocketeer right away. Small wonder why it's called a Slant-O-Matic!

The Main Event(s)

Leader-Enders, by their nature/description, presume a "main" project is being constructed, the L&E pieces merely spacers. To that end, I needed a main project so I could advance the Lady of the Lake blocks, my chosen L&E challenge this year.

Last month in a bin of 'please take and use this!' fabric at the Community First! Village Quilters meeting room, I found some peach fabric that I knew would be a great color to back one of the N1C (Not 100% Cotton) Trip Around the World flimsies I completed last year. There was nearly 4 yards of it and I hoped it was enough.

I also needed to add some borders to the flimsy to get it to twin size, and I found some cute pink heart fabric in my yardage drawer. It had come from Nann for the backing of a Magpie hug, and there were 2 hunks of it wrapped around the cardboard.

Shuttle bobbin

In preparation for using my Singer 128 (knee controller) this month, and to refresh my own memory, I'm reposting my tutorial for threading the shuttle bobbin.

Singer 128 Model

First off, this is not an intuitive bobbin. The thread doesn't go where you think it's going to go. So rest assured, any problems you're having aren't your fault.

July start

I got the July banner on my mother's walker yesterday.

The "S MMER" letters were embroidered--I just didn't feel like paper piecing them. The U watermelon slice was paper pieced, using a Sharpie to create the seeds.

Huh

 Well, okay. . . .

My first thought: yay, it's a Singer!

185J

I finished my chorus top on Monday, then put away the Janome Jem I sewed it on (it's got a nice variety of zig-zag stitches which come in handy with knits). There was a sad, empty spot on my table which needed to be filled, so I pulled down a machine I knew worked (I watched "Rosaleen" in action before I purchased her in May 2017).

I'm jumping the April 'gun' a bit, but I didn't want to waste any time trouble-shooting. I wanted to get right to sewing again!

February's Machine's Tweaks

I love sewing on the 329K StyleMate, but learned quickly the only way to turn it off was to unplug it from the outlet. In my case, that meant groping around under the table for the power strip I had attached under the table's surface, often needing to get on my knees to accomplish the task. Getting on wasn't difficult--getting off my knees can be a strain.

February's Machine

As it turned out, this ...

ended up being this (a 404)...

... minus power cord, foot pedal, bobbin, and bobbin winder O-ring (and maybe a bulb). I knew I was missing the power cord/foot pedal for a 404 (I bought it in 2017 as part of a lot of 5 machines), and I had contacted the seller about it but he flaked on me and never sent them along. I'm just as responsible for this oversight, as I had the chance to inspect everything before I loaded them into my car, but didn't do it. Too new, too excited. So, now that I know which mystery case holds the 404, notes to self have been made and the machine stored back under the Viking's table. As I work my way through the year, who knows what other power sources I may come across? If 2024 rolls in and I still haven't supplied power to this machine, there's always the interwebs.

First Repair

The bobbin I popped into the 237 had only a few inches of thread wound on it, so the first order of business yesterday was to wind a new bobbin. I thought I'd try a different style bobbin in a continuation of the 'throw things at it and see what works' method of getting to know this machine.

The bobbin wouldn't wind, however, and after considering that perhaps it didn't fit on the winder properly, I took a look at the winding post while the motor was running and realized it wasn't turning, period. The style of bobbin had nothing to do with it. The Googles gave up a couple of videos about repairing this part, so when I took off the top it came as no surprise to me...

Owners of Singer Fashion Mates were apparently encouraged and expected to remove this regularly for oiling and general maintenance--so different from today's machines!

...that the rubber tire/wheel/O-ring was missing from the bottom of the winding mechanism.

Out with the New, In with the Old

I'm going to spend each month in 2023 using a different antique/vintage sewing machine (hoping that they are all usable) and set about culling the herd. My Brother got a nice clean and oiling before being put aside, and I grabbed the closest Singer to hand (or, literally, to foot--it's been sitting under my sewing table for 5-1/2 years) and set it up. She's a Singer 237, bought on Craigslist in 2017.

Will the real Craigslist Flake please stand up?

My last place of employment squandered my talents and skill set, so I terminated employment as of March 24, 2017. But I still enjoy working on and fixing machines, so now my attentions will be turned toward: Singers!

I already have a modest collection (and just recently added, through Craigslist, the sweetest 185J to the herd), but now I'd like to flip machines I find locally. To that end I've been reading Nicholas Rain Noe's blog (unfortunately, he hasn't blogged for several years), and as a result I've also been "collecting" craptastic Craigslist photographs so I can strengthen my knowledge of Singer models and try my eye at sussing out what the item for sale might be (other than "old sewing machine").

Of course, when one cruises Craigslist looking at ads, one is going to find something one didn't realize one absolutely HAD to have!

I came across this: