New Home for Blog

I've had it with the changes in blogger.  Come find me here:
http://nurseknits.wordpress.com/

Necchi Nora for sale

Necchi Nora, with cams and cabinet.  Neither machine nor cabinet will will any beauty contest, but both are in good operational condition.  Not in a position to ship.  $200

two free pieced quilts

 The one above, in velveteen, was an ebay purchase.  I usually can figure out some seams where it looks like bigger strips or blacks were put together, but on this one, not really.  It has a blanket for batting, and some nice 1970's calico on the back.  Ever since I abandoned the cotton only prejudice, I have been able to pick up some real improve beauties on ebay for cheap.  Broaden your mind: include polyester.

This one I made, out of old denim scrubs, my husbands, and my kids jeans.  The yellow is some twill from....something.  It hangs over our bed, and has fleece for back and bat.  I had envisioned it as a picnic type quilt, but the bedroom needed a calming influence, so up on the wall it went.

Mystery Czech Sewing Machine

This one is a bit of a mystery.  Labeled Made in Czechoslovakia, and "Stitchmaster", a very common badge name.  The stitch length lever is the long lever to the right of the pillar.  The black knob is the zigzag control.  The bobbin case looks like a Pfaff 230, so my best guess is that this is a clone of that machine, sort of.  The face plate looks similar to Pfaff, as well.  I haven't gotten as far as finding a needle for it, but it looks like it takes a round shank and not a flat shank needle.  Found it in a junk store.  Anyone ever seen one?  There is no manufacturer name anywhere on it. If I knew what needle it took, I'd be a happy camper.  I tried a regular needle, a 15x1, and it does not fit.  It needs a new presser foot, as well.  The one it has is a straight stitch foot on a zig zag machine, so someone broke off one toe (ouch) of the presser foot so they could zigzag.  Very sub optimal.

I'm in a bit of machine doldrums.  I need to sell my Necchi Nora, and cabinet, to make room.  But first, I need to photograph it, and to do that I need to clean up the.....Then there is the completed quilt top and back hanging over the ironing board.  They need to be pressed, and then pinned, and then quilted. I have four blouses and two pairs of pants cut out, waiting to be sewn.  What can I say- It's raining cats and dogs here, and I just want to take a nap!

Vintage Machine Love

I was thinking about why i like vintage machines so much, other than my need to be difficult, and then I read this bloggers post:
http://charleeturner.blogspot.com/2012/02/buying-sewing-machinego-vintage-or.html

I leave you with a picture of Foxie, who has re-purposed a box of fabric as a Small Dog Bed. I probably wouldn't have made anything as cute as this with the fabric, anyway.

Bird Decals

The decals on the bed of my latest resident here at the home for abused and underapreciated sewing machines. The machine has been coated liberally in oil, now i will spend many hours and many cotton squares gently removing grime.

Cupcake Apron

I have made dresses that were less involved than this apron. That said, none of it was hard, but was picky. It is cute, but not so cute that I will make it again, unless, for some odd reason, I need any apron for an event. If I sold things at craft fairs, or worked somewhere like that where my crafty cred needed to be broadcasted, then yes, I would make this again.

The apron is displayed on my new, paper tape dress form ( just google it for many, many, tutorials on the subject. I have named her Truly. Because it was truly startling to see how big I've gotten, and it will be truly wonderful to be able to get clothes to fit better, and it is truly a conscious effort to love my self as I am now, and not how I will be in some undefined future.

Here's the vintage seam binding I used around the neck and pockets. Sweet! One 4 yard package did just those areas.

My Polish Girls

These little dolls were from the 1950's I think.  They are cloth, stuffed with sawdust, and have plastic mask faces. They are dressed in costumes that are supposed to represent different countries.  I don't know much else about them, but they were all made in Poland. Anyone else know anything about them?
The fourth from the left was the first one I bought , when i was just a little kid.

LEGO Sewing

Oh, the cuteness! Look what my son made for me! Isn't it lovely?












He even threaded it!

Victory by Sewing

This is a WWII era poster. While the extreme propaganda of the War posters is reather surprising to my modern eye, it was an extreme time. I think about this a lot, lately, as more and more of my friends and relatives lose jobs because the company they work for has moved operations overseas.

I wonder what it will take for us, as a country, or rather for the very rich men who actually run the country, to strt making things here again?

I was at three diferent thrift stores today, scouting for machines. I didn't find any I wanted, although one store had a nice selection of fairly modern machines that would be good for any beginner. I did notice, as I always do, how busy thrift stores are these days. I don't remember them being so busy in the past. Perhaps my own fears and worries are magnifiying the situation. In any case, I didn't find any machines to play with, but I did find two shirts that I will be turning into fabric as soon as they come out of the dryer!

I could have cleaned house, but instead I did this....

I've been out of town for a week, meaning the menfolk have been on their own.  They did a good job keeping it all together, but there was ample housework to be done.  So, of course I did a furniture project, instead! Above is a nice little sewing bench that my friend Chris brought me from a thrifting adventure.  It might also have been a vanity bench.  Sadly, it has lost it's drawer somewhere.

At first I thought I would paint the shelf where the drawer goes, and then look for a tray or basket that fit the space, but inspiration struck in the form of an Amazon box.

A little tape, white glue, and cutting later, I had a drawer.  I doubled every side of the box, and used white glue on the theory that it would work into the fibers of the cardboard and make it sturdier.  I did 4 layers on the drawer front.

Then I wiped it down with Howards furniture polish, stapled new fabric and some batting on the top, and covered the front of the drawer with fabric and a single layer of batting.  The ribbon loop is how one would open the drawer.

While a cardboard drawer won't be as strong as a wood one, I think that because it sits on a flat shelf it will be strong enough to be useful for small, light things.  I'm going to look for a basket for the bottom, and keep things in there.  Or maybe the cone thread should go there? 

I have to say I'm thrilled with how it came out!

String Blocks!

Foundations made of phone book pages

I usually press after each strip set- one per side, then press. But, I am working with very wrinkled strips. If the strips were not so wrinkly, then I could probably just fold them over and press them open with my hand.

One about to be trimmed, one after trimming. These are turning out 8 inches. I was hoping for 8.5, but the pages were too small. Oh well!

A nice stack of work. The strips I'm using were sorted into mostly green or mostly purple. I just grabbed a handful of each. The center strip is from the mostly red pile. Sometimes, it seems, that means pink!

sewn into 4 bloc X's. I'm getting them to the 4 block stage, and letting them pile up. I think aroung 96 small blocks will make a good quilt.

Of course, If I wanted to set them as a zig zag, or barn raising ( any of the sets used for log cabin quilts work for string blocks) Then I would not put them into this arrangement. Great thanks to Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com for teaching me this method, through her lovely blog and website! I feel like Bonnie is my own personal quilt godess, even thought we've never met. Go check out her website for tons of free patterns and tutorials!