A week of treadling

     This week has been one of those limbo weeks.  I am going on vacation next week and this week was a short one due to the holiday, therefore I haven't been able to get into anything of any consequence.

I  did spend a couple of hours in one of our community buildings sandwiching a couple of quilts, using two 8 foot tables pushed together.  It sure is better than crawling around and around on the floor, especially for a larger quilt.  I haven't wanted to start the quilting because of being gone next week, so was looking around for something to sew on that wouldn't require much concentration and could be easily interrupted.
 
     I pulled out the Split Nine Patches and brought them upstairs to the Singer 127.  I knew my treadling skill could use some improvement, so decided to concentrate on getting more comfortable with that process.  Here's the things that needed improvement; my 1/4 inch seam was inconsistent, my seams weren't very straight, the treadle belt was slipping and I would frequently break the thread because I would start the treadle movement backwards.

     I set up my sewing space and started addressing these issues.  I had bought a 1/4 inch piecing foot that was supposed to fit the 127, but if I used it, the fabric wouldn't feed through right.  I tried adjusting the presser foot pressure, but it still wouldn't feed properly.  I put the original presser foot back on, but then my seam wasn't a consistent size.  After trying several ways of marking the throat plate, I ended up with masking tape plus a magnetic business card.  Whenever you change the bobbin, you open the bobbin cover and disrupt the magnetic card, thus the need for both.
     Next, I shortened the treadle belt by about a 1/4 inch.  That helped with starting the machine going in the right direction.  I am happy to report that I haven't broken the thread all week.
     Now to work on the straight seam issue.  I seem to need to pin a little more with the treadle.  Otherwise, when I take my right hand off the fabric to give the flywheel a push, I get a little zag in my seam, or maybe its a zig, anyway it zig-zags.  I also think practice will make perfect.  The more I do it, the more control I feel I have.  I don't seem to think about the treading as much as I did.
    I love these split nine-patches.  Everyone of them is unique.  I have 70 now, on my way to 196.  That will give me a quilt 84 X 84.  The blocks finish at 6 inches.  Here's some of them;

I love how the shades of color blend on each side of the diagonal line.  I do find it difficult to just pick up the units willy-nilly and sew them together.  I find myself planning the color arrangement of each block.  I don't think that is the intent of a scrappy quilt, but just can't help myself.
     I will try to post about vacation, but not sure I can do it with my phone or i-Pad while on the move.  If I can't figure it out, I will post when I get home.  Meanwhile,
keep on stitchin'.
Judy

A little pickin', a little stitchin'

    I haven't posted much about picking lately, not that I've lost interest, but the weather in Missouri has not been conducive to antiquing.  There's always antique malls, but I have never found a lot there.  All of our local shops have been closed and the weather discourages road trips.  I did receive a wonderful item for Christmas.  When I found my treadle machine in a local shop, I also saw this adorable doll trunk, complete with bisque doll and handmade clothes.  It was about three weeks before Christmas and I knew I wanted to buy the treadle, so I disciplined myself to merely talk about the doll trunk, rather than buying it.  Much to my surprise, it appeared under the Christmas tree, through a joint effort of my husband and daughter.  Here's the pictures:

I love how the lucky little girl to receive this put Christmas stickers on the inside of the lid.  What is truly amazing is how it has remained intact through the years.  

All of the time spent inside, in my case, leads to lots of web browsing.  If I could just limit myself to other blogs, Facebook, email, etc. it would be ok, but there is always eBay calling my name.  First I shopped for a vintage 301 Singer, which I found and bought, but has not arrived yet.  I will save that for another post.  Then I started browsing sewing accessories and look what I found!  

I believe it is called a puzzle box.  I don't think that is the original name, I think that is a modern day interpretation.  It was an accessory box for some of the Singer treadles.  All of the metal pieces you can see are clips to hold the accessories and they are all numbered.  The little shuttle spools fit perfectly in the clips in the upper right corner.  My spare shuttle fits on the clip on the lower right.  And….when folded up, it fits perfectly into any of the drawers in the cabinet of the treadle.  It is made of oak and the corners are dovetailed.  The stamp on the front says "Patented 1889, February 19".  The inside is lined with brown velvet.

    This last item was given to me by a friend after I did some alterations for her.  She brought it home from Russia several years ago.

It is a silver needle case.  It has lots of engraving which is hard to see in the picture.

It resides with some of my other collectibles in the room with the treadle.

   I have been doing some stitching, mostly quilting on the QOV that I'm making for quilt guild.  That took most of last week.  I bought a used Viking Megaquilter and feel like I can finally make some progress on this front.  Here's some examples of the latest efforts.

    I have long admired the Dear Jane quilts made by other people, but thought it looked pretty overwhelming.  A couple of months ago, in one of my browsing expeditions, I ordered the book so I could really admire it in detail.  Then started reading the posts in Kathleen Tracy's yahoo Dear Jane group, which led to a challenge issued by Sheri Lesh, one of the moderators, to make one block.  So I thought, I can surely make one block.  Here is the link to that;  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/DearJaneSQT/info

So here it is, all 4 1/2 inches of it.  Yes, those strips finish at 3/8 in., as well as that little square in the corner.  I hand pieced it, mostly because that little corner square scared the heck out of me.  I knew any of my sewing machines would eat it alive.  Sheri is challenging us to one block a week, I may soon have two blocks on a journey to 227.  Who wants to volunteer to finish my Dear Jane?  I don't think I will live long enough.  No one in my family has lived to 150.  

Keep on stitchin'

Judy