For several years now, one of my favourite places to visit on the Internet has been a sewing machine history website called The Needlebar. It has (or possibly still has) a photo gallery of almost every sewing machine in the world, and I could easily spend hours there looking at the evolution of designs of the various brands, especially the Singers which are my favourites.
I have 15 vintage Singer machines, ranging in date from 1888 to 1975 including three treadles and two hand-cranks. In addition, I have a 19th century Jones Hand Machine, a 1930s Vibra (made by Jones) and a working Varley & Wolfenden machine from 1880. All of these machines were bought in England, and they were not expensive. I have found them in unexpected places, and I haven’t paid a great deal for them because that is not in my budget. I was able to identify them and trace their histories by using the photo gallery.
These machines have brought me so much joy, and I sew on all of them as much as possible. After all, they are SEWING machines, and as I am a practical and utilitarian person who abhors a waste, I like to use these sewing machines for the purpose for which they were intended. Not as an ornament, not as a garden table, not as a conservatory plant stand.
So, back to The Needlebar. Lately I had noticed that my access was being restricted to all but the most basic forums, and I had not been allowed at all to use the photo gallery. I checked my login information — it all seemed OK. I read the owner’s notice in the introduction forum — I thought I had complied fully with the requirements. Then I accidentally discovered another post by the owner, most obscurely titled, that revealed to me the source of my problems:
I have not posted enough in this “fully participatory” group to merit my membership anymore. In the past, I have sent in photos to be considered for the photo gallery, but I never received any acknowledgement, so if they weren’t suitable photos, no one told me why not. I do own a lot of sewing machines, and I like to use them, but I would certainly not classify myself as an expert. I don’t think I would be qualified to answer questions except on the most basic level. But I always enjoyed reading what others had to say and learning from their expertise. The owner seems to feel that this is only “taking” and not participating, and that talking about actually sewing on an antique sewing machine is off-topic, but hey — it’s his website, so he can make the rules.
I always get along well with everyone, so feeling properly chastised and hugely embarrassed, I politely wrote to the owner to inquire about my status. No reply. I then posted a new introduction, thinking that perhaps I should start over for a clean slate. No reply. Other new introductions have since been approved for posting, but not mine.
So I guess I am Persona Non Grata with this sewing machine site that is solely interested in the history of sewing machines and their manufacture and doesn’t give a flip about the purpose of these marvellous, lovely, labour-saving devices that changed the lives of so many women all those years ago — the same machines that still mean so much to people like me.
Never mind. I already think I spend too much time on the computer when I could be doing something more productive — like sewing! 
Happy Quilting!
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