Mojo doll challenge

     My guild had a challenge for the end of the guild season in June. We were given a pattern and told to make a doll to inspire us when we need it. I don't sew 3D things real well, but I tried. It was a little small to handle and stuff.
     I thought of who inspired me to quilt in the first place, and it was Grandma Okie, my husband's grandmother. She had been a tailor at M. Wile who used to make the top suits in this country. She sewed all the time- On a red eye Singer 66 treadle (which I cleaned recently for my sister in law who owns it). She taught me how to make scrap quilts. She recycled everything and it always looked gorgeous. I wrote about her, a long while ago, and Quilters Newsletter magazine published what I wrote and gave me a free subscription for a year. And now sadly, I just read that the magazine is shutting down in October. 
     So, I scanned her face from a photo and sewed it on crumb pieced fabric. I added a scrap skirt. Grandma Okie has been gone for 30 years and I miss her so much. I have some of her quilts from recycled fabrics and UFOs that she bought at thrift stores.
     I am inspired now by Wanda, from Exuberant Color. Her posts, words, replies, and photos are always tremendous inspiration for me to keep me quilting. I owe her big time. She will probably not like it, but I took her face from her blog, printed it and sewed it on batiks crumb fabric. I added an antique gold button on the skirt sash. 
     This particular challenge was the most entries we ever had. Unfortunately, I missed the meeting where they were unveiled, as I had a monster migraine and could not even move out of bed. We are going to exhibit them at our quilt show in October, so I can photo them all then. Here is mine:

Grandma Okie side

Wanda side in the flowers

Grandma's 66 hums again

     Finally, I finished restoring Grandma Okie's treadle machine. You can see how much I have done if you look back. It took many, many hours. Lots of pieces were bent, broken, or missing. The paint on the bed was so incredibly dirty it took over a half can of TR3 and bags of cotton balls and a bag of rags. Grandma sewed constantly and sewed anything.
     It is going back to my sister in law to be reunited with its parlor cabinet. It is in my refinished cabinet for the photos because I had to test and adjust it. This machine is why I bought a parlor cabinet after looking for so many years. Mine is a 15 Tiffany which is hiding behind the 66 Red Eye.

Runs flawlessly and strong.

The Velveteen Rabbit of sewing machines

     A blast from the past. That is what this machine is. It belonged to my husband's grandmother, Grandma Okie. She was the absolute best. She taught me how to cook out of what was in the house and make it scrumptious. She taught me how to sew on her treadle. She had sewn for a living at M Wile doing piecework for men's suits. She could alter/salvage everything. My sister in law got her treadle and I put sewing on the back burner for too many years. It took Bonnie Hunter's quilt cam and the generosity and friendship of Elizabeth and Andrea to get me back on the right path. I now own a parlor cabinet treadle like Grandma's. I am restoring a second treadle cabinet to put in a Singer 237 so I can zig zag treadle.
   So, my sister in law asked me if I could restore Grandma's machine. Boy, it is in serious need of rejuvenation. So far, I have scraped more gook and lint out the hook area than I have ever seen. All the metal has serious brown varnish encasing it. I am using alcohol and KrudKutter to dislodge it painfully slow. If Elizabeth were closer, I would ask to use her ultrasonic cleaner. It is missing the screw in the handwheel to secure the clutch and it is missing the wheel in the bobbin winder. The paint is rather sad. This machine sewed so much in its time with so much love and care. I just have to get it back into useable condition.

Surprises and Finishes

    By mentioning surprises, I don't mean the weather- it's winter, it's Buffalo, I accept that. The first couple days of the new year brought some unexpected big delights. First, Quilting by the Lake, a program from the Schweinfurth Museum in Auburn, NY with extraordinary teachers, called me and offered me a 5 day scholarship for classes in July!! By July, I thought I could have scrapped up enough to take a 2 day class with Victoria Findlay Wolfe, but never 5 days there. What it would have cost for an entire 2 days, I can stay all 5! Just the lodging to come up with, and if I had a room mate, it could be even cheaper. So, there is still room for her classes or others, so maybe think about coming. I love scraps and colors and Victoria is a master with both. I never win anything and wow, here it is.
  Second, I have a good friend who is a fantastically talented jeweler. She is an art teacher and a Roycroft artisan jeweler. In the mail, I got a pair of silver angel earring with glass beads that are just terrific. I can't take a picture of myself with my camera and I have a stupid phone, so have to get someone else to photo them for me.
  In the cleaning department, I finished the Kenmore and it is ready to go home. I was going to deliver it at the quilt guild meeting tonight, but it got weather cancelled. It is pretty spiffy and sews up a storm.

In its zipper case, ready to be used. Power cords and pedal in made bag.

    On the vintage machine forums, it has been mentioned about using TR3 resin glaze to polish paint and Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish for metal. Wow, great stuff. I picked up some last week at Pep Boys and used it on an old 66 treadle both the paint and metal. I also shined up my new 15. I used cotton balls just like the forum people said. The old 66 was a real wreck. All the metal was rusted. I read about using cider vinegar to soak the metal. In a bucket, I piled all the metal pieces in with the cider vinegar, and in 24 hours, I could not believe it was all gone. Now with the Mother's, I can restore the shine.

Left side, 1/4 of it polished, rest with rust removed

Right edge with polish after rust removal

Top with TR3 and cotton balls

What the black surface looks like without polish

Great Products

     Comfort Quilt finish- orange jelly roll strips from http://www.jellyrollfabric.net/ and Liz has a great sale right now. I just bought some animal skin prints, plain white, and some gray/blacks. The pattern is the 3 Dudes quilt from Missouri Star Quilt company except I used 6 strips cut into blocks instead of 4. I auditioned colors to make the orange pop and be happy. I never decide my borders or binding fabric until the quilt is pieced because I can make better choices to highlight the center.

Auditioning for the border

Ready for basting and backing

     Another Comfort Quilt, the 4 patch B&W leader and ender, is all quilted and bound. The backing donated by Esta is a lot of fun.

Detail

Back

Detail

Finished Quilt

   Wow, that was a lot to get through, but I hate taking pictures off the camera, naming them, putting them in folders, so I tend to do it all at the same time. I did not photo my machine disasters lately, so I won't be sharing those!

"New" Treadle

   My wonderful husband picked up this treadle for me because I was working at the quilt show. I bought it from Craiglist. I really just wanted the irons and the cabinet. I am going to put a Singer 237 in it so I can treadle zig zag. I don't have the 237 yet. I was hoping the machine in it was in good shape so I could pass it on. But, it seems rather in bad shape. It is a Lotus Singer 66-1. If I knew someone wanted it for free, I would redo it. Right now, I have to refinish the cabinet and the irons and that is all I can handle. More photos are on my flickr site.  I think the cabinet is just a lovely piece of workmanship. I got the bug to do this at the CNYTOGA when I blissfully treadled a 237.

The beautiful, but needing refinishing, cabinet,
the center drawer was removed for moving

Look at that detail!

The dirty irons

The back

 

The front