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Thursday, July 26, 2012

In Search Of Debra Stone! ((Item Lost, Item Found!))

Debra, I hope you read this!

I just got a message from Mary at Mary’s Quilt Shop in Bedford and said they have found your “missing item!”

They are holding it for you or will mail it to you if you need them to.

Please email marysquiltshop@comcast.net or call them at 814-310-2278.

They don’t have an address or number for you, but said you stopped by because you read my blog every day and they hope you read this post too!

So that’s the LOST part of this post!

How about a FOUND PART?!

Yesterday while in MILLERSTOWN PA ((Don’t ask me why I called it Millersburg yesterday, there are a heck of a lot of burgs in PA!)) I spied this little round wooden case and I had to check it out:

PA_July2012 327

Oh BOY!

I found the key tied to the top handle, put it into the lock, not sure of what model of machine I’d find inside or what kind of condition it might be in…..I lifted the lid, and:

PA_July2012 325

Oh my goodness! This is a rare find for me! The first thing I see is that it has the “matte” or “godzilla crinkle" finish. Thinking it is a 99k --- I look a little closer. Look at the bobbin winder! Look at the bobbin cover area…it has a shuttle/bullet bobbin! This thing is really cool!

It's a 128!

I was also amazed at how black the bobbin cover slides are. Later this afternoon I found my way to the Featherweight booth here at the show and was telling them about it, and I wound up taking it up to their booth---

PA_July2012 326

Here you can see a close up of the rough matte texture, and the dirty bobbin shuttle area!

I haven’t done the research on the serial number yet. The faceplate on the side is also as black as the bobbin cover slides:

blackside1

I did some quick web research and this is what I found according to SingerSewingInfo.Co.UK:

‘Blackside’ Machines

During the period 1941 to 1953 Singer occasionally produced what are known as ‘Blackside’ models. Unlike the standard machines, many of the normally bright plated parts utilised a chemically blacked finish instead. This is thought to have been in response to shortages of nickel and chromium.

It is a characteristic of these machines that there seems to have been no hard and fast rule as to which ‘Blackside’ parts were fitted. Generally needle plates, bobbin covers and faceplates etc. would all be Blackside, but various knobs, levers, screws etc could be either bright or black. At the same time Singer also produced a range of accessories, tools etc and even bobbins that were blackside. Generally blackside components had the same Simanco part numbers as their bright plated counterparts.

I don’t have a manual for it – it’s been sitting a long time and runs pretty gunky, but the light lights up! I don’t have an electric shuttle bobbin machine, and there are not oodles of these around, so I’m happy to have found it!

Oh…and this is the fun part – it was marked $45.00, and the booth was 20% off, so I got it for $36.00. STEAL!

Tomorrow is Crazy Day ---full day Smith Mountain Morning workshop, with a luncheon lecture for 236 quilters – the largest luncheon lecture ever held so far at Quilt Odyssey! Holy Moly.

Happy Thursday Evening, Everyone!

25 comments:

  1. What a find! Very cool. You lucky girl. So how many machines do you have now?

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  2. Anonymous8:20 PM EDT

    HOW on earth do you ever find these wonderful machines?????? Everytime I find an "old" machine it is in pitiful pathetic falling apart shape! And what a steal of a price- did they NOT know what they had????? Wowser- ok, enough drooling on the keyboard- back to watching husband roofing a barn. I have an excellent vantage point from my hammock :o) Joy In AK

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  3. AWESOME! What a tremendous find! I am currently on a search for my grandma old machine..Talking to aunts and cousins to see if anyone has it!

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  4. That is a STEAL. I paid $60 for my Tombstone machine, circa 1922 Great Britain. I am still looking for the knee control. Mine isn't the Black finish or Shuttle Bobbin either. Lucky that you found it.

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  5. What I want to know is, how did you keep from telling us yesterday? Were you afraid they'd come take it back when you gloated about the steal you got--all the uncommon features, the age and good condition, and the price to boot? Lucky you! Enjoy it.

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  6. I have a 128 that was made in 1925. It belonged to my Great-Grandmother, Helene Weifenbach and then to my Grandmother. Its mine now! Mine is not the Blackside but is a shiny one. I'll send you some pictures of it.

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  7. Anonymous9:22 PM EDT

    Holy Moly, Mama Mia!!! STEAL is not the word for it!!!! What a great find, what a great price, what a great machine!!! You were just so lucky to be in the right place for such a find. Of course, maybe you get to visit way more Antique Shops than the rest of us do, so I am thinking that exposure increases your chances of finding great stuff!! We are so pleased for you Bonnie, and appreciate that you share your finds with us.
    Faye in Maine.

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  8. Wow, what a deal!!!!!!! I have a 1915 SInger that I bought at an estate sale for $50. and then also have my Mom's 1925 Singer, Both electric and both sew wonderfully - just a little noisy.
    Have the case for the 1915, but my Dad threw the top away from Mom's machine when he built the cabinet for it.

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  9. I just almost the same machine. Mine is the 127. It has the gold scroll work. I found it was made in 1911 over 101 years ago. Mine has a knee pedal to operate.

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  10. Another great machine! And what a steal! Yippee!

    Sounds like a crazy, but fun, day tomorrow! Try and find some time for a nap! :o)

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  11. What are you going to name it/him/her?
    Blackbird?
    Old Crow?
    Nevermore? (quoth the raven)
    Lenore? ("lost Lenore" was who the poet mourned in The Raven)

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    Replies
    1. I doubteth that Nevermore will be considered-she couldn't swear of antique machines if her fabric supply depended on it! :0)

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  12. You are a vintage machine magnet, girl!

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  13. Two lucky people! Debra Stone for her quilt return and you for the discovery of that georgous old machine at a super bargain price. Hey! The machine has got to be your reward for a good deed! ♥ That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

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  14. At a recent sewing group one lady told us how her son has got six bikes and is currently buying another! We all were aghast at that, until someone asked how many sewing machines each of us had, which brought us all down to earth. We agreed that sewing machines were very different to bikes, and you can't have too many! Glad you're a member of this club!

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  15. I so wish I could go antiquing with you. Every time I find a machine they want hundreds of dollars for them, and they look terrible and some don't even sew or are missing parts. One day..........one day I am going to find me one and be lucky with it. Till then, keep scooping them up saving them from the landfill.

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  16. OMG that is a FIND! and what a price! It is proably not somthing youshould be carrying much though, if it is anything like my 99K that my MIL gave my kids, who now gave it to me.... it is too heavy to move from place to place. You are a lucky girl!

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  17. Wow. Lucky you!! I was lucky too yesterday!! MY BOOK STRING FLING CAME!! I was so excited it went to EVERY room of the house with me (and I mean EVERY, if you know what I mean)

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  18. A new "old" baby for the collection. Excellent find. Never seen that finish on any sewing machine before.

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  19. Black Beauty!! Wow, you sure fall into these prices... Lucky you!

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  20. CRAZY is the word for it-that is an awesome find. I am sitting here drooling-may have to get a new keyboard if I drown this one!! I have a treadle with those bobbins and, if I oil it and put the new belt on it, it runs great!
    Went to a quilt show today and forgot to take my camera-lots of scrappy quilts and a couple of "elderly" hexies. Bonnie kept popping into my head the whole time!
    BEV (kwiltpharm@aol.com)

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  21. Anonymous11:41 AM EDT

    wow,Bonnie,I have never seen a Singer like that..

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  22. We had one of these Singers when I was growing up. My mother inherited it from my Dad's mother. Later on Mom got a more up-to-date machine, a White sewing machine from Sears. It never worked right and Dad was so mad that he never ever set foot in a Sears store again.I remember sewing on the Singer at the kitchen table many times. It's the machine I learned to sew on. It had that exact same funky wooden cover, too. It operated with a knee lever rather than a foot pedal. Something I had to unlearn because my Pfaff knee lever does soemthing entirely different. You can probably find a manual online.

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  23. Try www.ismacs.net for a free download of the manual for the machine.

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  24. I have the same machine! Found it at the flea market during "Mule Days" (Hohenwald, TN) when I was visiting my sis-in-law in 2011. It included a receipt for a 2009 tune-up. The lock doesn't work and apparently the repairman couldn't fix it, but I didn't care. The case and machine are both in beautiful condition. I picked it up for only $40! Sadly, I have not yet taken the time to see if it actually works - I just like to look at it for now. :-)

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