Sewing Machines

My Mom's sewing machine.

My mom taught me how to sew using her sewing machine - a 1950's Singer that still works as well as it did the day she bought it.  Even though she no longer sews, twice a year, she still pulls out the oil and the brushes and cleans the mechanism of the machine.  I wish you could hear the hum of that motor when it gets going.  It almost purrs, it runs so smoothly.  It went with her when she married my Dad, and survived through the 14 moves they made while he was in the Air Force.

Stuff Bags for the House of Ruth

When I started college, I bought my own sewing machine.  I've had my sewing machine for 30 years now.  I bought it at Minnesota Fabrics in the Fair Oaks Mall when I was a college student for $70.  I've used it over and over again.  I've sewn clothes for myself.  I've sewn quilts.  I've sewn clothes for the children, and I've made quilts for Project Linus and purses and bags- some for myself, and some for House of Ruth.

My 1980 something sewing machine.

It's a very simple, no frills machine that works one stitch - straight.  It doesn't do a lot, but it meets my needs. And has met them well for 30 years.  It has moved with me from house to house, and city to city.  It's a portable machine, and I have hauled it to school, sewing classes, my Mom's house, and friends' houses.  I've taught my daughter how to sew with it, and she too, has made tote bags, back packs, and purses for school.

Middle Child's graduation quilt.

Alas, my machine is beginning to have issues.  It's having problems with the tension.  I've taken it in to be serviced, but the tension issue is a continuing one.  Now that I'm an empty nester, I've pulled out the machine and have some projects I want to work on.  Unfortunately, every time I begin to work on a project, that tension problem becomes an issue.  No matter how I adjust things, the back of the piece of fabric is a mess of loosely looped threads.





What's a woman to do?  I've taken the machine in to be fixed before, but I was told that the tension issue is going to cost more to fix than a new sewing machine.  I'll play with it some more, but I know what needs to be done.  I am going to have to pull out the brushes and the oil, and clean out the machine the way my mother taught me.  And, if all else fails, I'm going to have to take it to my Mom and ask her how to fix it.  She has forgotten more than most of us know.  I'm positive that she'll be able to talk me through fixing my machine even if she can't see it. You know, she grew up during the Depression, and that generation can fix just about anything, make anything from nothing, and find ways to stretch a meal ten ways to Sunday.

The problem is right down there - with the bobbin.

Just in case, though, I'm going to have to look for a new machine.  I'm looking for a 1980's machine - something simple that sews straight stitches and doesn't require a computer microchip to run.  Something that will last and last and last.  Wait - that's my machine.  If Mom can't tell me how to fix it, I might just have to suck it up and take it in to the shop and have them work their magic on it for me.

Why mess with a classic?

T Shirt Quilt

 

I've been plugging along on the t-shirt quilt for middle child.  If you don't remember, I am making this quilt out of t-shirts from high school.  I'm well over halfway finished now, and thought I'd share some of the quilting process with you.

This is one of the blocks on the bottom of the quilt. When you quilt, you begin in the middle and work your way out to the edges.  I've already finished the middle 9 blocks in the quilt, and this particular square is in the middle, on the bottom row of the quilt.  I've centered the quilt inside of my quilting hoop.  The brown along the bottom is the outside "frame" of the quilt.

Here is another view of the quilt.  If you look at the bottom edge, you can see the batting up next to the hoop.  The safety pins were placed in the quilt to hold the batting and backing in place while the quilting was in progress.


 

I remember asking my husbands' grandmother once "How do you actually quilt?"
"It's easy," she replied, "You make the needle go up and down, up and down".
In theory, that's it.  It depends upon what kind of pattern you want in your blocks.  On the t-shirt squares, I am just outlining the letters in stitches.

The letters are outlined...

The finished square!  In addition to outlining the letters, I also stitch along the edge of each block.

A closer look at the stitch work.

 



I've got 9 squares left to go.  I've finished 15 squares to date.  The black blocks are harder than I anticipated.  I'm quilting on black fabric with black thread, and the stitches are difficult to see.  I'm working on the black block next the this block right now, and I'm taking pictures as I go.  Once I finish the black block, I'll post pictures of what I'm doing to quilt the black blocks.  (Besides going cross-eyed!)