DIXIE

My mother is always bragging about the weather in North Carolina.  She loves it here and I do admit that the climate is agreeable.  It has been colder than usual this week  but it is still warmer than it is at home.  I take the same walk every day and pass this tree.

January 27, 2014

 The winter storm that paralyzed Atlanta hit us.  Snow was forcasted to start after 3 PM so we went out in the morning to run errands.  It was already snowing by the time we got back home at noon. 

January 28, 2014

 It snowed two inches.   That's not much according to my standards but for these parts it is.  Some people couldn't get in to work yesterday and I admit, I hunkered right down too.  I wasn't in any mood to share the road with folks who aren't used to driving in snow. 

By the time I got out for my walk this afternoon at two thirty the road was dry and much of the snow  had disappeared despite the cold temperatures (25 degrees).  The sun makes all the difference.  

January 29, 2014

Beggars can't be Choosers

I am visiting Mom.  She loves her Viking/Husqvarna electronic machine.  She thinks it is the best machine in the world.  Who am I to argue? ( No camera with me on the trip.  Hence the lousy iPhone photos.)

I will allow that it performed adequately.  It is mostly electronic and adjusts tension and stitch length automatically.  You can override the settings.  I tried but I just couldn't get the nice straight stitch that I love.   The foot pressure adjusts manually. (Is that a pun?)   The machine is strong enough to sew through several layers of fabric.  I liked the zz stitch it made but the ss left me wanting my 201 or any one of my Kenmores.  But hey, beggars can't be choosers.  It's the only machine here.  So I suffered.

I promised, months ago,  to make a hand bag and a wonder wallet for a friend who is sponsoring a silent auction for a worthy cause.  The dinner and auction are on Saturday.  I failed to complete this task before I came here.  Because I don't want to be considered an unreliable dead beat, I stopped at Joann's Fabrics in Albany Friday night to buy supplies for the project before I checked into my hotel.

Yes, it is true, the Albany airport is a mere 75 minutes from home.  The forecast for this past early  Saturday morning was for blowing snow and frigid temperatures.  I opted to drive up Friday night, rent a motel room and get up for my early Saturday morning flight.   I thus avoided  some travel stress.  Oh and did I mention I had to stop at Joann's?

I found more fabric than I needed and bought it all.  I also bought some yarn, but only a little. I bought much less yarn that I bought fabric.  I am trying.

Today I set to the task of making the infamous OHB (One Hour Bag)  from All Free Sewing.  It took me all day.

OK not really ALL day.  I did have to clean Mom's iron.  I was working in pretty primitive conditions as well.  No cutting mat, rotary cutter or nice, big,  plexiglass ruler.  All I had was scissors, a very old cutting mat, a faded ruler, a pencil and a twenty year old electronic GENUINE MADE IN SWEDEN sewing machine.   Plus, I had to make the pattern from one of the bags I brought along.  I think I finally started close to noon.  I took a break mid afternoon for a nice long walk in the NC sunshine.  That felt WONDERFUL.  I finally finished before dinner.

I made some critical errors along the way.  The fabric has a big, bold pattern.  I realized this after I finished fusing the interfacing.  I cut out two new pieces, paying attention to the pattern.  I am not sure I paid close enough attention to the pattern.   I can't tell if the bag looks like an owl or Wonder Woman's Chest.

My Angst

 I don't own a 400W.  I hope I can sell this on eBay.

I must admit, I haven't serviced many of these types of Singers.  I have about ten of these.   I found a website that sells them.  Apparently the nut is no longer available.  I have a couple with the nut attached.

  These are in serviceable shape, I believe

Who knows what these fit?  I think, perhaps, an end loading machine.  Japanese.  May fit one of the Singers. 

 I would love to see the machine that this fits.

Looks Brand New.  I think it fits the 400W.  

 Drawers full of stuff: Guides and Hooks.

Most of the seam guides seem (pun intended) to be in decent shape. One is pretty rusty.

 Most of the hooks were broken.  Angst. These seem to be intact.

  NIB Necchi Foot controller.   The box isn't so new.  A little bit of cleaning is all this will take

 

 Connection for Necchi.  No cord, yet.

 Another NIB foot controller.  This will fit any machine with that connection.

I found many many many slide plates.  Many needle plates.  I found some more industrial hooks which I believe will fit the 251 241 and 281.  Perhaps also some Brother industrial machines.

I found some other bobbins, too.  Class M.  Nice Big ones. TWSS.

I was pretty thrilled when I found a complete hook assembly with a bobbin case for a feather weight.  But upon careful inspection I found that the hook assembly was for a 301 (still useful) and the bobbin case was damaged.  Sigh.

I found some walking feet, many other feet.  Many many many industrial feet.  I found a compensating foot which I think will fit my 31-15.  Oh, yes, and the re-built Necchi motor that I put on the Necchi yesterday.

There is much more.  I need a slide plate for a 66 but cannot find one.  Thus my angst.  I have a lot of stuff, some of it may be useful, but when I need something as simple as a 66 slide plate and can't find it, I wonder, WHAT HAVE I DONE?

There's a light.....again....

Remember the light from the Necchi BF?  http://mysewingmachineobsession.blogspot.com/2013/12/necchi-bf.html.

I rewired it today.

Yes, I am pleased with myself. 

Dear Hillary

Your comment on my last post has been marked as spam.  Clearly you are trying to advertise Berninas.  This has nothing to do with knitting or poodles.  Sorry.  I must keep the blog clean.

Hilary ****** has left a new comment on your post "CO 5, KFB, YO, K2TOG (OR Do these dogs make me loo...":

Thanks so much for sharing this! I would love to get a Bernina sewing machine from  *******  I hear they are the best! Do you know if this is a reliable company to order from :

 So if you are wondering why I didn't post this in the comments, that's why. 

CO 5, KFB, YO, K2TOG (OR Do these dogs make me look FAT?)

I know it is knitting lingo.  But this has captivated me every evening  for the past week or so.
Knitting relaxes me and, let's face it, with all those parts to sort through I have reason to be anxious.  There is a LOT of STUFF packed into those little bins and drawers that Steven and I brought back from Jersey.

So I took up knitting. Again. Ingrid taught me how years ago.  I haven't been a big fan but I decided I needed something to do with me hands in the evenings.  The original plan was to knit a pair of socks.  Right.  Double pointed needles in size 2 with fingering yarn.  Knots happening all over the place. 

I switched to this shawl pattern because a neighbor suggested it.

 And true to form I have become obsessed with this pattern.  It is called Brickless and the pattern can be found on Ravelry. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/brickless

The boys and I hunker down on the couch in the evenings.  It is a bit hard to knit all snuggled in there with two big poodles on either side.  But with Modern Family on the DVD player and my canine comfort, I can forget about the daunting tasks ahead of me. Who can think of anything when counting stitches on knitting needles?

GA'LL DANG!!!!

Me:  "How many page views do you think I have?"

DH: "I don't know, more than a quarter of a million?"

Me: "298,861"

DH:  "GA'LL DANG!"

It's a start...

Steven helped me set up the drawers and storage units today. They fit very nicely into this space.  I cleaned off the bottom one and started to paint it.  Then I gave up.  This summer I will empty the thing out and take it outside and spray it with some Rustoleum.  I think I will paint it a nice Teal Blue.

Many of the little drawers in the larger unit were empty which is good. I can cull and sort and start a list.  It's a project.

For any of you readers who are looking for parts, email me (go to Contact me at the top of the blog).  You never know, I may have it. 

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, My True Love gave to me....

....a trip to South River, New Jersey.

Sunrise January 4, 2013  One below zero.  BRRRRR

 When do you start counting the days of Christmas?  If you start counting on 12/25 then 1/4, yesterday,  is the Eleventh day.   This year Steven promised to help me load and haul some sewing machine parts that I bought from the widow of a sewing machine mechanic.  We were a bit concerned about the frigid morning but NOAA forecast low to mid 20s for mid-day in South River.  We bundled up and headed south.

 R. loved sewing machines with all his heart.  He could fix anything.  I was the lucky recipient of his stash of parts, sewing machine repair manuals, needles  and other sewing machine related items. We were so  lucky to spend the day with his daughter, B., a delightful young woman who happens to love baseball.  She worked tirelessly with us to load and pack the lot of parts.   D., B.'s mom,  is a generous, loving, compassionate woman who, understandably, stayed in the nice warm house and baked cookies.  They claim to like road trips.  Since B. loves baseball, we hope that they come to visit.  We have the room!  Oh and did I mention that they like dogs?

Admittedly as we unloaded the truck this morning I wondered  "What have I done?"

 What have I done?   I think we helped out a very wonderful family continue the legacy of their husband and father.  Certainly as we unpacked this morning, I imagined him rummaging through these things looking for just the right part.  I can imagine his delight as he found it and used it to fix a machine.  I can see him schmoozing with customers and neighbors as he sat in his little shed/shop showing off the beauty of these old machines.  I am sure he was kind and considerate of those who brought him their broken machines. I know that he fixed them all.  Well, almost all.    B.  found a motor with a sticky note that said "Struck by lightening."

 Anyone else would have thrown it away.  R.  kept it because it was meaningful.  I am so glad that he did.  B. is keeping it.

"That is so my Dad."

Happy 2014 !!!

I totally missed wishing you all a Happy New Year.  I went to bed at 8 PM on 12/31 and slept in.  Then I sewed all day on the squeaky Viking Designer II.

It is a handsome machine and I do love the needle up and down feature.  But the sucker squeaks.  I took the bottom off.  OOPS.  Didn't need to do that.  Nothing really to get at there.  I took the back off and learned that I needed to take two of the bottom screws off again to get the back off.  I tried to gently drop some oil on somewhere nowhere near the computer boards.  I gave up.  Yes I GAVE UP.  I am taking it in to have it serviced.  Imagine that.  The squeak makes me nuts and I want to keep the machine.  It likely is the belt and likely needs to be serviced anyway.  But I hate spending money on servicing a machine.

Steven did remind me that I can't service this myself.

"Yes, I know." with tremors of trepidation in my voice.    I just can't let it go.  I did try, honestly I did.  I put up FOR SALE posters and I listed it on the web page.  We had someone interested.  I prepped it for sale and when it came right down to showing it, though, I just couldn't do it. 

I guess maybe I am in Phase 9 now.  http://sewing-machines.blogspot.com/2010/01/sometimes-you-gotta-let-go.html But I haven't bought a new electronic machine.  I just decided that I couldn't let this one go. 

So, that's it.  The blog is about My Sewing Machine Obsession and I guess that includes this one.  Sigh.