It's Cold.

The furnace didn't work last Thusday morning. Steven lit a fire early, before his dentist appointment, and he turned up the heat in the bedrooms. The furnace didn't kick in.  It was 27 below zero. The furnace tech came within hours of our call, despite our insisting that this was not an emergency and others might need them more urgently. 

He couldn't figure out what was wrong. He thought it was the circulating pump but replacing that didn't fix it.  He called a buddy, slightly more experienced. A pipe was partially frozen. It took all day to sort it out and so I couldn't get in my sewing space. I was hot to work on OBW 6.

I had all the hexagons sewn into strips. I had sewn some strips together. I lost a day Wednesday because Theo had a spell during the night and I was sure it was his time. He rallied after a double dose of prednisone, some gabapentin, and some cooked ground turkey. I cried a lot, lost sleep, and overall decided that I couldn't deal with it if he died. He didn't.

I had been using the 31-15 for sewing the strips together. It is quite a lovely machine. I love it for the knee controller that lifts the presser foot. The machine is so old that it doesn't have reverse. Something is wrong with the needle bar, though. The clearance between the hook and the needle is very close. I know that it is the needle bar because the needle sits way right in the hole in the needle plate. 

Interestingly, if I use a #90/14 needle it will stitch but it hits the hook. I am using an 80/12 and it works just fine. 

I took the needle holder and thread guide off and cleaned it all up but found no difference. I guess I will fiddle with it some more before I tear into the needle bar. As I think about it, though, if the needle position shifts more to the left, the needle will hit the hook. I'm thinking maybe this machine has been re-timed to account for the wacky needle bar. Sigh. 

OBW 6 is all stitched together. I need to find some yellow fabric for the narrow border. That means a road trip to  A Quilter's Garden in Montpelier.  I guess road trip isn't exactly the right descriptor. Montpelier is 34 miles away. I have been cooped up for days, though, so it will feel good to get out of town. (Did you notice, I flipped the quilt?)

Theo isn't really that much bigger than Kota. Apple iphone camera distorts things. 

Fortunately the bitter cold may be finished. Wednesday's forecast is for 38. Today hit 21 and it was sunny for much of the day. After weeks of sub-zero temperatures, today was a gift. 

 

Leaking Iron

My Delonghi iron leaks. It's been leaking a while so I was using it dry. I now need steam. These OBW open seams require severe taming and steam is the way to go. I also bought a taylor's clapper to see if that will help.  I haven't tried it out yet. 

I got tired of sewing and decided to take a look at the iron.  I borrowed a Torx 15 from Steven and took off the back of the iron. 

No wonder it leaked. 

I think it broke when I took it apart. Clearly it was fractured before that. The inside wasn't all wet, so I can't imagine water had been spewing all over in there.

I don't know what this is made of but it stuck like glue to the male end in the iron. I scraped it off bit by bit. You can see the pieces in the background of the photo above. And yes, those are dental instruments you see. My hygienist gave those to me when she upgraded her set. Handy things to have around when fixing irons and sewing machines. 

It's all clean now. I looked online for the part. I found it for five bucks with 10 dollars shipping. So for fifteen bucks I can order the part. Or I can go to the local hardware store and see if they have something that will work. 

I love this iron for pressing long seams open. It has the perfectly pointed nose. 

I can glide that iron right down the long seam after I sew the strips together and just like the Red Sea, that fabric parts effortlessly. 

I'm pretty psyched. Tonight Mom actually answered the phone when I called. I told her that I was fixing my iron. 

"Why don't you buy a new one?"

Me: Because I want to fix this one. 

Mom: It would be easier to just buy a new one.

Me: Yes, but this one cost over 200 dollars. I thought you would be proud of how resourceful and clever I am!

Mom: Well, I did raise you to be independent and resourceful, so , suit yourself. But that's what money is for, after all. 

So, despite my aversion to spending more on shipping than for the actual part, I likely will order the tube on line and see if I can get another ten years out of this ironing system. 

Mending a Horse Blanket

Steven is a great father, grandfather and yes, great grandfather. He is such a good dad that he offered to mend Badger's blanket. Badger is a horse. The blanket is huge. The straps have been torn off in several places. He was going to sew it by hand. I scoffed. 

Me: Why not do it on the machine?

Him: The machine can't sew through all those layers of strap and the blanket too. I have mended many a tent by hand. I am sure I can do it. 

Me: Have you looked at it?

Him: No. 

Me: We should look at it. 

So Molly came by with the horse blanket today. Kota and Theo were thrilled. I checked out the job.

Two straps were double thickness polyester webbing. One was single thickness. I got the 15-90 off the shelf, switched it out with the 201-1 that was in the treadle stand. Put a 110 needle in and some 40 weight thread (I had nothing heavier, it will be fine) and in less than an hour fixed all three straps. One was totally missing so I found a ring I had in my purse hardware and constructed a replacement strap. Easy Peasy.

There is no way Steven would have been able to get a hand needle through all those layers. Shit, the man has a really bad Dupuytren's contracture on his right hand. Sure, he used to be able to sew tents, but tents don't have three layers of webbing and horse blanket. 

Anyway, I showed off. The 15-90 did the trick, no sweat. I'm not sure that the 15-91 would have done so well. That's why I love the treadle. I think you get better power with feet. I love the 201 but if I had to have only one machine, the 15-90 would be it. It's just so strong. 

 PS. The good news is I have a 15-88 that was born as a treadle. In the before times, I had occasion to go to Montpelier for a meeting. I just so happened to be trolling Craigs list a few days prior to the meeting and saw a 15-88 listed in Barre. I thought I'd take a look since I was going to be in the area. I told Steven that the meeting started an hour before it did so that I could have the time to check out the machine. Yes, I lied. The machine was in a storage shed among other belongings. It did not turn over and I had no tools to take it apart. I didn't even bring a screwdriver. I was pretty sure that I could get it going. I offered less money than they were asking and came home with the machine. 

Steven wasn't home when I got home. I unloaded the machine and took it into the basement. Then I drove as far as I could up to the She Shed and unloaded the stand. I wasn't really hiding anything, but did Steven really need to know I had brought in another machine?

So I got it running, hauled it up to the She Shed and told him all about it eventually.  When my neighbor came over to check out the She Shed she saw the machine. I told her the story.

Neighbor (who is married to a pastor): You lied to your husband ?

Me: Yes I did.

Neighbor: We'll pray for you. 

It's usually the simple stuff.

I love my Singer 201-1. I love to treadle. Lately the treadle has been clanking. I think the original wooden pitman is failing.  At one point Steven had crafted a beautiful wooden pitman for another treadle stand I rescued. I'm hoping he can do the same again. The clanking is driving me nuts. (See here)

Me: Do you remember making that pitman rod for me years ago?

S: Yes, I do. What happened to it?
Me: It went with the treadle stand when I sold that machine. I think I need a new one for my stand in the studio

S: Well, let's take a look.

Which meant that we both went downstairs and I got on my belly behind the stand to look at the pitman rod. There isn't much room behind the treadle stand. I store stuff back there. Extension cord wires hang down. I'm old and stiff. But I managed.

Me: See? There's a small screw, maybe I can tighten it .
Steve: No, I can't see. 

It was awkward reaching the screw but I persisted (yes, my name is Elizabeth) and so did the clanking.

Steve: It looks like there is play side to side. Pop out that cotter pin and see if it will take another washer. 

I do so, it wouldn't. But now I see that the clanking is coming from the pedal itself. I see a screw holding the pedal to the irons. 

Nope that one is not loose. 

Yep. That one is. 

Problem solved. (Wow look at all that thread.)

 

And now I remember tightening that very same screw some years ago when we lived in New York. Sheesh.

Progress on OBW Six. I need more light and a better camera. 

 

And now I remember the time I had to tighten that very same screw about ten years ago when we were still living in NY. Who knows, maybe I even wrote a post about it. 

Look at all of that thread on that rug under that treadle.

 

You'd better Clean this up, Grammy

 Three and Seven were here with their parents for the recent Christian holiday. I worked as hard as I could to get the house ready for them. That meant the basement, and my sewing space there, became the repository of all the clutter we live with day to day.   My sewing space tends to be messy anyway because I did not inherit the tidy gene. My sister did. She hated it when we had to share a room in our formative years. I try, sometimes, to put stuff away. I just don't have the talent. 

Three asked to go to the basement the second day they were here.  I'm not sure why she wanted to go down, but what kind of Grammy would I be to say no?

She silently wandered around the studio for a few minutes. Then she said, "You'd better clean this up, Grammy" and went back upstairs. 

One Block Wonder

 Note: I just looked back two posts and found a post about OBWs Two and Three. Two years ago. Sigh. 

I thought I might try to resurrect this blog. Let's see what happens. I am still nuts about sewing machines, though my SMAD has been in remission for a while. I did relapse this summer a bit.  

I had to be in B'town and Milton isn't that far, really, just up 89 a bit and head west. Can't go too far, because Lake Champlain is in the way. I found the place, another slice of Vermont heaven, and the kind woman was selling the machine for her neighbor. The ad claimed it was a 237, which I knew was wrong.  It is a lovely Singer 191J. Is it more closely related to the 15K110 or the 15-91? Probably the 15-91. The 191K is closely related to the 15K110. I could compare the underbellies. Maybe I will. 

 I love it this machine. It is similar in shape to the 319, yes? 

 http://mysewingmachineobsession.blogspot.com/2013/11/odd-but-worth-it.html

I have a one-in, one-out rule, now. I re-homed a Kenmore to the kids in the Mid-west. I know it's all the same pot, but at least, well, ok, shucks. You can see that I have used it. That's a hexagon under the needle for my fourth One Block Wonder, that went off the the PNW last October. This photo is the best I have. Kaffe Fassett collection: Rose and hydrangea. 

Absolutely lovely fabric. 

Original fabric here:

 

If you don't know what a One Block Wonder is, Lady Google will help you. I do, however, recommend that you read one of Maxine Rosenthal's books. It's her idea and she will walk you through the process step by step. I bet the library has it. I admit, I did buy my book on Amazon, before I was enlightened. 

Anyway, I am on my sixth OBW now. I just finished five last week.

Thank you, I do think it is stunning, too. The border makes all the difference.

I hated that green blob. I seriously considered deconstructing the quilt and rearranging hexagons. Then I auditioned the navy and black fabric for a border and that was that. 

  

Now, as I await the backing fabric for OBW Five, I am well into OBW Six. It took too long for me to finish Four and Five; months and months. It is time for some self discipline and time away from Twitter Doom Scrolling. If you follow Maxine Rosenthal's instructions, which you don't have to, but if you do, you will get about 108 hexagons from your 4 plus yards of fabric. Of course, a bigger quilt (that queen plus I made for the DGD in the PNW) requires more yardage and more hexagons.  I may make a large one again, but now, I am content with the smaller, not quite twin sized quilts. I started Number Six on Saturday and have over half of the hexagons sewn. Yep, that's right, my goal was to sew 18 hexagons a day and I have met my goal. 

 This process is different from piecing a quilt with a specific pattern, like a log cabin or HST or Nine patch. Each hexagon is made from a stack of identical equilateral triangles. Those triangles can be arranged in any of three different ways. That means as you start to piece your hexagon, you must audition the triangles for the most pleasing arrangement. 

I look for movement in the block. This one is a bit chaotic to me. 

 This one is better. 

This one is the best. 

 Remember, though, that there will be a 1/4 inch seam allowance between each triangle. It is hard to imagine how much of the center design you lose because of that pesky seam allowance. I take a generous quarter inch to make the final construction easier. AMHIK.

See what I mean?  All of that lovely green in the center is gone and replaced by a blue blob. It still moves, but not as elegantly. The red along the edges will likely disappear, as well, leaving maybe a whisper of red in each corner. Maybe. 

I sewed this hexagon together to show how much is lost in the seam allowance. When making this quilt, the hexagons don't go together like this. They go together in strips. Then the strips get sewn to each other. 

Depending how tomorrow goes, I may describe the process for you in another post. 

Until then, don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Wear a mask, get vaccinated and stay well.