Binding thoughts

I've quilted the sandwich featured in the Gemischt post (I am LOVING my new weightlifting system!) and am in the process of sewing down the binding. I decided to use up ALL my 1.75" binding scraps, acknowledging that would mean having to sew the binding down by hand, but also relishing the fact that those scraps would be GONE, never to be replenished. I figured out some time ago that 1.75" was just a little too narrow for comfort, double-fold-binding-wise, and have been cutting bindings at 2" for several years now. Yesterday I simply decided I'd use up the narrow ones, once and for all.

There were some long strips but LOTS more short strips. I briefly worried about and wondered how to avoid seams in the corners, what with all the connecting of the itty-bitty pieces. Well, DUH Carolyn: plan the corners and put the long pieces there! And as long as I'm planning the corners, I might as well use the dark scraps so the mitered pattern would shine without competition.

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!

Craigslist prep

On this my day off, I decided to check out the problems I had noticed and noted on the previous vintage machines: January's Singer 237 Fashion Mate (the tension got wonky toward the end of the bobbin),  February's Singer 329K StyleMate (the tension knob drifts to zero as she sews), and May's Brother Atlas (no problems, but the tension assembly was the only thing I hadn't taken apart to clean). When I was satisfied I'd done all I could do to fix any problems, I'd start listing them on Craigslist.

I started with the 237, couldn't quite get the tension assembly off, but loosened it all the way and did a good cleaning between the discs. Then I cleaned her up, sewed a bit (for photographic proof of her tension and stitches), took copious pictures, and posted her on Craigslist:

Pink Atlas: a closer look

I did a gentle surface clean last night, and took a vacuum to the case this morning and got rid of all the lint, dust, and dirt that had accumulated in the case's nooks and crannies.

Then I removed the needle plate, under which I found where the bulk of the lint had been collecting. That's what I expect to see in old machines!

What's in the box?

Rosaleen got cleaned and oiled this morning, then set aside (but close by in case my son has her power switch made soon). Casting my eye over the other vintage machines in the living room, I spotted a wood case between the treadle and the wall and pulled it out.