I was so impatient to start working on her that I forgot to take any “Before” photos.  So here she is, just being beautiful in the “After” stage. 

Ruby came to me in a sadly neglected state.  She was very grimy and sticky, the chrome on the bobbin plate and needle plate was badly pitted, and the lid to the accessories compartment was completely rusted out.  I believe she probably started her life as a hand-crank machine but later was fitted with an electric motor.   The electrical plug end was the old type that fits into a light socket where a bulb normally goes.  The flex cord was very frayed and twisted, and I didn’t want to risk a shock, so I removed all the old electrical bits and disposed of them.

In my treasure chest of sewing machine parts, I just happened to have a hand-crank mechanism of the right style and size to fit this machine, so I installed that.  I found a replacement accessories compartment lid on eBay, and I used sewing machine oil and a cheap emery board from the grocery store to sand out the pits in the chrome.  I took the tension assembly apart and cleaned that, and gave the whole machine a good cleaning and oiling inside and out.

Finally I polished all the enameled surfaces with a non-abrasive auto polish that is recommended for use on Aston Martin and Jaguar cars.  I figured, if it’s safe enough for fine motor cars, it ought to be safe for my little sewing machine — but I did test it first on the underside, just to be sure!

This is Ruby’s bentwood case.  I was also able to locate a square-ended key to fit the lock, so now she can be stored and moved safely in her case.

Inside the accessories compartment was this large assortment of attachments and feet, including the requisite lethal-looking razor blade!  Every vintage machine I’ve ever bought has had a razor blade like that with it.  It’s what people used before seam-ripper tools were invented, although my mother always used fine embroidery scissors, and so do I.

With stitch length adjusted and tension fine-tuned, she is now sewing perfectly.  I think Ruby’s a keeper!

Happy Quilting!

When she’s put away, she looks like this:

I cleaned and oiled the machine itself and lubricated the treadle irons, and she is so quiet now!  She has a lot of wear to her decals, and her wooden table could be refinished, but mechanically she is sound and works great.  That’s most important to me for this machine.  I wanted a good treadle that I can really use a lot.

We bought the machine from a lady in Leeds who inherited it from her great-aunt Whilhemina, who was a seamstress.  It came with a drawer full of attachments, a shoebox full of thread spools, and a big plastic bag full of scrap fabric.  I’ve named her “Mina” in honour of her previous owner.  She also has her original instruction book and a receipt from January 31, 1959, when she was bought used from the Singer dealer for £30.  That was a lot of money in 1959!  The wear to the decals is where the lady’s hands would rest when she was sewing.  It’s just so sweet.  I love it. 

She is sitting on a plastic sheet because I oiled and cleaned the treadle irons and didn’t want to make a mess on the carpet.

Happy New Year!  Happy Quilting!

At the Singer Sewing Company website, you can get a certificate for your vintage machine using the serial number.  It’s really good fun!  They also have lots of historical information and pictures relating to vintage Singer sewing machines as part of their 160th Anniversary celebration.

Happy Quilting!

I’ve been trying to determine which sub-category this Singer 15 fits into — I know she’s not a 15K80 or 15-96.  At first I thought she was a 15K30, but when I saw a photo of that model, I realised the bobbin winder is in the wrong place.  The letter K just means that she was manufactured in the UK, at Singer’s Kilbowie factory in Clydebank, Scotland.

Lavinia’s bobbin winder is in the lower position.  The 15K30 photo I saw had the bobbin winder in the higher position, near the top of the machine.

I like to think that someone spent many happy hours sewing on this machine.  Look how worn her decals are on the machine bed!

I’ll keep looking for her model sub-group, but it doesn’t really matter.  I just love to sew with her, and I’m planning to spend many happy hours with her, too! 

Happy Quilting!

She is badged as a “Vibra,” but she’s really a Jones CS in disguise.  All Jones CS (cylindrical shuttle) machines have that large screw on the top, between the spool pins.

I found some information about this model and a photo of a similar machine at the Antique and Vintage Sewing Machine Virtual Museum.   The serial number of my machine is 510728, so I think she was made in the mid-1930s like the example machine on the website.

The chrome on the balance wheel, faceplate and slide plates is all beautiful and smooth.  There were some dark spots before cleaning that I thought might be pitting, but luckily it was only dirt!

After cleaning, she just needed some round-shank needles and a new rubber tyre for the bobbin winder, and I was able to order those online, as well as an instruction book,  from Helen Howes Old Sewing Machines   — no affiliation, just very pleased with the excellent service and valuable advice.

Now my little Vibra is working perfectly!  I need to do something about her poor old storage case, which is in a very sad condition…but that’s a story for another day!

Happy Quilting!

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!

However…in the last couple of weeks, I have been very naughty.  It all started with this fabric, which I just had to get to make a dust cover for my sewing machine that stays out all the time.

And then, I was lucky enough to make the acquaintance of two very nice ladies who were selling fat quarters and half-yard cuts for such good prices that I couldn’t resist, and I got this fabric, too.

Look at all that brown fabric!  I blame Judy for that.    Before we did the Monochromatic challenge for March, I thought I didn’t like brown.  Now I’m infatuated with it!

That’s 14 yards total, so that brings the status of my Stash Report to:

• Used this week:  0 yards
• Used this year:  5.5 yards
• Added this week:  14 yards
• Added this year:  16.5 yards
• Net used:  -11 yards

I have been sewing a little bit but haven’t finished anything, as I just started a new job and haven’t got the new routine organised yet.  But soon, soon! 

To see how other quilters are progressing with their Stash Busting, please visit Judy’s blog.

Happy Quilting!

Nigel the quilting dog is helping to plan the layout.  He likes the “design floor” much better than the design wall! 

As with many things in life, this layout isn’t going exactly to plan!  But — I like it better than the original drawing.  Do you think that sometimes a quilt just “tells” you how it wants to be?

The first two rows are attached:

And all the rest of the blocks are made and waiting to be added, row by row.  The little white squares are the tags for the row numbers.

The pretty tulips were a gift from my husband. 

Please visit Judy to see what other quilters have on their Design Walls today.

Happy Quilting!

It’s difficult for me to think in shades of brown at this time of year.  When March arrives, I start thinking in pastels and Easter egg colours.  Maybe I could think of this project as the Easter chocolate?!   Hmmm, chocolate bunnies and chocolate Easter eggs…yummy!  That’ll do it — now I’m in the mood for Springtime Brown. 

I don’t have much brown in my stash, but what there is might look nice in this arrangement.  I have been thinking of this pattern for a long time, with the horizontal and vertical blocks each having a different number of rails or stripes.  I even drew a sketch of this quilt a couple of weeks ago while waiting for an appointment, so I guess its time has come!

This design is very similar to the green Strip-Stripe quilt I am (still) working on for my husband, except these blocks will be larger — 6.5 inches unfinished.  The four vertical rails will be pieced from 2-inch strips, and the three horizontal rails will be 2.5-inch strips.

Here’s my small collection of browns, which range from tan through rust to dark brown.  I think it will be fun to mix these up and see what happens! 

Please visit Judy to see what other quilters have on their Design Walls today.

Happy Quilting!

I practised and practised my free motion meandering on my domestic sewing machine until it looked right to me, and then I just jumped in and did it.  It was very scary!  I kept thinking — what if I ruin this quilt top?  It’s one of my favourites, and it’s a gift for my father-in-law.

Here’s one of my practice samples with scrap muslin and batting:

And here is the quilting on the quilt top.

It was a lot more difficult to manoeuvre a large project than my small practice samples, and I can see some places where I made errors and some of my stitching lines are not smooth and flowing.  However, I’m mostly happy with it, and truly amazed and relieved that I could do this. 

Here is a photo of the whole quilt top.  It measures 63 x 81 inches.  The sewing machine just visible in the background is my Janome 6500P, which is what I used for the quilting.   The sofa underneath the quilt is one of my most valuable quilting tools — it’s like a giant extension table! 

The back is pieced from my stash — two pieces of dark green and one green floral.

Now I just have to trim the quilt edges and bind it.

I already counted the fabric for the top in a long-ago stash report, but I can count the backing and binding this week.  The binding is already cut, pieced and ready to sew on.

I also bought some new fabric this week — a roll of 2.5 inch strips in pink and blue batiks put together by a local fabric store.  I saw a jelly roll pattern recently that will be nice in these colours.

My Stash Report totals are:

• Used this week:  5 yards
• Used this year:  5.5 yards
• Added this week:  2.5 yards
• Added this year:  2.5 yards
• Net used:  3 yards

To see how other quilters are progressing with their Stash Busting, please visit Judy’s blog for a list of links to Stash Reports.

Happy Quilting!