Creativity

Jus sayin....

Design Wall Monday

A little inside look at what I've been up to!!

Adding the Queen Borders to a Glacier Star Quilt

Stuffing a cat bed with the scraps from a Glacier Star Quilt

Learning to free motion quilt on my Vintage Singer 201

Just a little quilting left to do on my Grandson's quilt!

Red Barn from a Picture Piecing Class taught by Cynthia England. 

You can view what others are getting into over at Patchwork Times - Design Wall Monday

Vintage Singer No 36806 Needle Threader

Being a VSM (Vintage Sewing Machine) collector\restorer\repairer...you get excited about the weirdest little things.

Vintage Singer No 36806 Needle Threader

I picked up an adorable little Singer Model 99 in a bentwood case at a garage sale yesterday.   These little darlings are near and dear to my heart because my very first restoration was a 99 that I accidentally bought a few years ago.  I say accidentally because the internet post was for a $10 sewing table.   They never mentioned that a machine was inside....

Vintage Centennial Singer Model 99

My first Singer 99 I deemed "Susie Centennial".  She was frozen solid, rusted inside and out and had no accessories with her, other than the rusted foot that was bound to the presser bar.   I must've spend 100+ hours gingerly wiping with sewing machine oil on every inch of her before I decided to dissemble every single piece.  I started to research what would REALLY work to bring her back to life.   $10 investment....why not?   I was bored.  LOL  By trial and error, every piece had the rust removed, wires replaced, put back together, timed, tweaked and Viola!  Not a single part was replaced.  Only the bobbin cover was added.

Since then, I have restored, serviced, and in some cases sold about 4 dozen machines (or maybe more, I stopped keeping track).   "Susie" will always stay with me.  She's my go-to machine for every day quilting\piecing.   And when I acquire more Model 99's, she gets all the best accessories handed down to her.   In this circumstance - the Vintage Singer No 36806 Needle Threader.

Hunting for information, I found very little.   One pamplet was in German....but the pictures helped!

When I put my glasses on - I see that there is half of a hook on here.

First, let's get that screw out

Removed on of the little hooks from the key ring and screwed it in place

Now let's take it for a test run...

Now that needle hole was SERIOUSLY easy to find with this...didn't even need my glasses!

Loop the thread behind....oh boy - that was easy to hook on there.....

Oh I am officially in LOVE with my new toy!!

FMQ with my Vintage Singer 201!

So excited! At the quilt show, this past weekend, there was a first time vendor with parts for VSM's. I bought 2 different kinds of low-shank darning feet.

Just tried the first one on my beloved Singer 201 and we are movin' and a groovin'!!! 

First things first - we need attach the foot

Next....drop the feed dogs.

Gently lift the machine so you can see her underbelly.

Right there towards the front is the lever that needs to move.   Gently unscrew the screw (it doesn't come out all the way) and when it's free, pull out gently, move the lever and seat the screw in the hole closest to you.

Next - we set the stitch length to ZERO (all the way down if you can't see the numbers anymore)

Then we pull the bobbin thread up through the fabric 

And AWAY we go!!!

I noticed that when I go really fast, I get a few skipped stitches. Watching the thread come off the spool pin I see that there are times that the check spring doesn't get to do its job. The thread ends up with a little slack because it got an uneven spin off the spool. 

Going to dig through my stuff and find that standing spool holder that I've never used and see how that fairs!!

I can't wait to find my comfort zone with Free Motion Quilting on this beautiful classy girl!!

Embroider This!! Part 3 (Seasonal Sampler)

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Last Month I started posting a BOM series that I am sharing with my local quilt guild.  If you would like to participate too, take a look at where it started here.   The post for Month 1 is here.

What fun it was to see what other people came up with using MY pattern!   So proud!

My Block

Ann G

Kathy C

Marilee - oops!  I helped her fix it

Pam W

Here's the next installment of my Seasonal Special Block wall Hanging series for Month 2!  If you want the instructions that I made for everyone on piecing them together, just shoot me a message!

2015 Seasonal Special Block Wall Hanging Series

Unit 2 (Make 2) Notice Placement difference!

Finished Block Size is 7” x 10”

“Special Block Size” = 5 ½” x 7” finished

Cutting:

a) Using 1 ½” Strips – cut 8 squares You could also sew two strips together and cut two patch units to save time

b) Cut 2 small rectangles 2” x 1 ½” The center of that row needs to be just a tad bit bigger to fit!

c) If you are doing a “special” block in these squares, they have to be trimmed (allowing for seam allowance) to 6” x 7 ½” to fit here.

d) Cut 2 pieces to 2” x 8.5” (I fussy cut a fun fabric here!)

e) These spots get just a little piece of filler.  Cut 4 pieces at 1” x 2 ½”.

f)  Using whatever method you prefer, make 24 Half-Square Triangles at 1 ½” x 1 ½”.  These finish at 1” when sewn in, and can be hard to get just right because they are so small.   Either make them bigger and trim down, or use 1.0 Finished Thangles like I did!!  Love these things!

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with next!!!