...why I sew on old machines

Gail and I got together yesterday morning to work on our braids for the local hospital's chemo unit. We are paired up with another member of the Elgin Piecemaker's Quilt Guild and we decide what we're going to do and then work on the project together. It's a great way to get to know another member of the group better and we accomplish something useful :-). Here are the braid pieces, all cut out and ready to sew:

I sewed the braids on my trusty Singer 15-88 treadle sewing machine. Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE this machine? :-)

First braid coming together:

Gail's first three braids at our second get together:

Yesterday, we trimmed the braids and sewed the pairs together and got started on the sashings and borders. Trimming was a great job to do together! I had to test a Featherweight that my husband had cleaned and serviced, so I "killed two birds with one stone" and did something productive while test sewing. This little Featherweight was made in 1934!! It purrs along so nicely and was a joy to stitch on!! While looking up some of the history of this older Featherweight in Nancy Johnson-Srebro's excellent book "Featherweight 221 - The Perfect Portable", I came across this paragraph:

"It's hard to believe some of the Featherweights purring away in sewing rooms and class are now old enough to qualify for social security, but there they are - proud of their Depression era birthdates and not only alive, but thriving. And they look as modern today as when Singer shipped them from its Edison, New Jersey, factory to a cautious public ready for the 1933 World's Fair.

"The Featherweight will probably never be reproduced as we know it. Even with today's advanced technology - investment casting of parts, and CNC (Computer Numeric Control) machining operations - the design and hand fitting involved in assembling this intricate, finely-crafted portable sewing machine would likely boost its unit cost too highly. This reality just reinforces its status as a classic; an example of craftsmanship that's fast disappearing in this modern world of plastics and throw-aways. This alone makes the Model 221 well worth owning whether you are a quilter, seamstress, or a collector of fine things that will probably be no more."

p. 131

....and that's why I sew on these wonderful old machines :-).


Check out the stack of 2" squares that I was using as leaders/enders while sewing the sashings and borders onto my quilt :-):

And, here is the finished quilt top (the colours are a little off in this photo...the border is a blue with brownish/plum motifs):

The quilt top is actually square :-)...I was not exactly in the center when taking the photo..hey, I'm a quilter, not a photographer LOL.

Another Quilting Night in Canada

Gail, Nancy, Karen and I got together tonight for QNIC and got quite a bit accomplished. Gail and I worked on our quilts for the chemo unit at our local hospital. This is my first set of braids...second set is almost finished. The background colour on this picture looks black, but it's actually an eggplant sort of brown/purple colour.

Gail has three sets finished of the green background set. We will do four sets altogether; then add sashings and borders to make a nice sized lap quilt.

Braid quilt

Gail and I got together tonight for QNIC (Quilting Night in Canada) to work on our quilts which will be donated to the chemo unit at our local hospital. The Elgin Piecemakers guild pairs up two members to work together on a quilt so we get to know one another while olanning and sewing a fun and worthwhile project. Gail had a jelly roll that she donated to the cause and I contributed the backgrounds. We split the jelly roll into two colourways and Gail is working with this pale green background:

My half of the jelly roll is paired with a burgundy background and has the blue and beige strips:


I am sewing my braids on my trusty Singer 15-88 treadle:


The beginnings of the braids:


We will choose sashings/borders after the braids are finished. The pattern is from the book, "Open a Can of Worms" by Debbie Caffrey

Ruth and Jason's Wedding Quilt

On August 6, 2005, our dear friends, Ruth and Jason got married. Of course, she had to have a quilt :-). I had just taken a class at the Quilt Rack in Ancaster, ON, where I worked at that time, on the Friendship Braid Quilt from the book, "Open a Can of Worms" by Debbie Caffrey. I did my quilt in black and yellow and just fell in love with it! It's at the Quilt Rack waiting to be quilted by Lucy. This quilt pattern is addictive and I helped a few friends make one in blues for an auction for the Christian school in Hamilton. It turned out very nicely as well. Then it was on to the next one...it's a great way of using up leftover 2 1/2" strips! I found this wonderful leafy fall print in the exact colours that Ruth was planning for her new home and I raided my stash for colours that blended with the borders. I didn't have quite enough length for the outside borders, so I added corner squares.

This was the first quilt that I got brave with and used my trusty 15-88 Singer treadle to free motion quilt loops in the braid sections. I quilted straight lines in the green background for some variation and stippled around the borders.

Here you can see the quilting on the back:

A quilt is not complete without a label!

I have since done another one for my niece Melanie's wedding. I will post that soon when I find the pictures :-).