"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

The CNYTOGA

  Last week, I had to thrill of the year, to go to a treadle machine gathering. We just sewed on multiple machines, learned to clean and troubleshoot, learned how to use the attachments in demo and sample, asked questions, sewed and sewed wonderful straight stitiches. I fell in love with a Singer 237, which is kind of an ugly duckling, but sews awesome. It is an electric machine, converted to treadle. Zig zag and treadle. Wow, what a wonderful thing. I also got to sew on a 201 and the worn one I used hummed so lovingly. The setting was magnificent, in the country in a little red barn. Who needs Disneyworld? Now I am back to sewing all alone.

Attachments demo

Case found for the 99!

I finally found a case for my Singer 99 that I had received in a broken jumble. I was able to reassemble the 99, but the case was smithereens. I found a Bentwood case on ebay and it was packed great! The case is really dirty though. Elizabeth recommended Murphy's oil soap and so I scrubbed it with straight soap on a sponge and a toothbrush. I kept rinsing the sponge and changing the water. It is not gunky anymore, but will need some kind of finish. When I get it all cleaned, I will post a photo of it and the 99 in it.

Wonderful packing job!

Pretty grimy.
 The handle was removed for shipping, but I can easily reattach it after I clean it.

Welcome to the studio

Through the years, I have made many studios for doing all different kinds of artwork. Two years ago, I was blessed to be able to turn my unused living room into a studio. I use it for quilting, drawing, painting, card making and everything except my silkscreen work which I do in the basement. I added Kraftmaid cabinetry on two sides of the room, a sitting area on stools by the window, a writing/laptop desk, and shelves with undercounter lights.
Here are some shots of the studio-

I recently sold my new sewing machine and have purchased vintage singers because they piece and quilt exactly as I need them to and they are a joy to use. I use the 301s for free motion quilting and have a project on each one. I use the 401 for zig-zag and the 403 for straight piecing. This way each machine, the right foot, the right stitch plates and controls are ready to use. I just bought a 99 and a Spartan which I will show later. I found a lot of links that helped me select and clean them up like blog.sew-classic.com

1st 301 I found

403 for piecing

Just the nicest 301!

The mighty 401