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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

It’s Boxing Day!

Which in my house means – we box it all up and put it all away ((Whatever IT is)) and look forward to starting the new year with a clean house.

I don’t generally run out after sales on this day.  But there are some errands that need to be run, so I will be venturing out into the crowds just a bit. 

I’ve got to make a post office run.  I have some things to be shipped out FedEx and that means a run down by the mall ((Often referred to as the MAUL in my household because the traffic is always a disaster)).

I hope to be done and back by 2pm for Quilt-Cam for those who want to leave the left overs of Christmas and come sew a bit ---regain your sanity.  Sit a spell.

Don’t you love this ad?  It’s from about 1958.  And yes, I think I own four out of 5 of those machines.  Did you know that Singer also did vacuums?

Today have something really special to share with you.  Earlier this week after showing the very cool sewing cabinet and the green quilted sewing box, ((Click HERE to view!)) I got an email from Marge with photos of a really old family sewing box.  I asked her if I could share it, and she said yes!

margaret1

Marge’s sewing box.

Hello, Bonnie,

Thank you again for Quilt Cam.  I’m so glad I found it!

I enjoyed your post today about the sewing table (or whatever it actually is.  Someone at Antiques Road show would know, I’m sure!)  To that end I thought you might enjoy these photos of my maternal Grandma’s sewing box.  It was made for her by one of her brothers, who was a cabinet maker.  I don’t use it except to store sewing supplies.  There’s a crack in the top and one bit of wood from a corner is missing, so I try to keep it out of harm’s way in my sewing room.
 
margaret2 
Inlaid box lid

In addition to the box, I have two pair of her lo-o-ong sewing shears (at least one of those might have been her mother’s) and a pair of curved snips, all of which I had mounted in a shadow box frame which hangs inside the door of my sewing room.  These tools, and a crazy quilt block finished by my paternal Grandma – her initials and the date, 1894, are embroidered on it – also framed and on the wall in that room – remind me of my sewing and quilting heritage.  Just love that stuff! 
 
margaret3
 
Compartments inside!
 

It’s fun to read about your vintage quilt and sewing machine discoveries.  Such fun – and such a blessing to be able to give them some TLC and to make them useful once more.
 
margaret4

Hidden compartment under the pincushion!


Blessings for Christmas and the New Year!  May your travels bring you as much pleasure as they do to the folks you meet along the way.

Sincerely,

Marge

margaret5
 
Storage underneath the compartment tray.
 
I love seeing things like this.  This is really a special treasure.  Thanks for sharing it, Marge – and may you have many more happy years of using this wonderful sewing box!
 
Do you have sewing related family heirloom that you’d love to share with me?  Simply send me the story and the photos via email!
 
And with that I’ve gotta get a move on if we are indeed going to make Quilt-Cam happen at 2pm Eastern!

14 comments:

  1. Singer also makes irons. I don't know if they always did, but they certainly do now. When my old iron bit the dust, I researched www.consumerreports.org and found that the Singer iron was very highly rated and available at a good price at Wal-Mart ... so I now have a Singer iron. ;-)

    That sewing box is BEAUTIFUL. Thanks to Marge for allowing you to share that with us.

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  2. Anonymous8:34 AM EST

    If you have four of the five, you could get the fifth and finish your "collection". LOL

    Sewing box and story are special. When you show us things like this I wonder what happen to my Mom's O.N.T. case... when they were breaking up the first house I had no interest in it... but now... a different story.

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  3. My GM sewed on a 301, which my aunt has. Don't know of any other items of hers that still remain. Mom does only utility sewing, kids clothes, hems, repairs. So I really have no historical items. I will have to show pictures of that box to my brother who works with wood. I am sure he could make something like that for me if I asked him nicely :) Then I would have a special historical item to pass on for the future.

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  4. There's never been anything I need to get the day after Christmas either. I don't go out to shop again until the 2nd or 3rd week in January. By then everyone is back at work and school! Don't shop on the weekends either. I'm too old! LOL!

    This sewing box is nice! I use one my DH's Uncle made his wife. When she died, it was one of the few things I wanted of hers.

    Keep getting more educated by you Ms Bonnie!

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  5. Is it raining there? Pouring here in CH. i'm staying in! You would be proud of me. I spent all day yesterday catching up on my scraps. Got all my strip scraps cut and put away and most of my little scraps are cut in squares. A few more hours today and the scrap bins will be empty. Woohoo, feels good!

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  6. I can almost feel your grandma in that box, Marge! I know she put that that gift from her brother to good use for many, many happy hours. Thank you for sharing it with us.

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  7. Oh, what a neat sewing box! And I love the pincushion in the middle and the print on the back of it! Thank you for sharing.

    Barby in MH

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  8. Awesome box! Love those buttons, what a great treasure! Enjoy!

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  9. My husband and I have not exchanged Christmas gifts for many years, but this year he surprised me with a Singer featherweight! I had talked about getting one but had never done it. Our local repair person had one that she fixed up and cleaned, so the price was not like at a thrift store. But it has been well kept and sews nicely, so I will use it this afternoon during quiltcam. I think it is from about 1960.

    I also have a 301a that I bought when I started college in 1956 that I thankfully did not trade in when I bought my next machine. JoAnn in snowy Nebraska

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  10. What a lovely treasure box!! So special that it was made by a loved one. Fun to display in your sewing room. I have some lovely embroidered items my Grandmother made...she lived in Holland and came a few times. I would have loved to have her sewing machine, but no one knows what happened to it :-(.

    I saw a couple of those Singer vacuums at auction sales, but where do you put the stuff!! Very tempting though. I do have two Singer irons in my sewing room on display. Found them at yard sales over the years.

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  11. Bonnie and Marge. Thanks for sharing your precious sewing box. It is a joy to see the treasures from the your grandmother.

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  12. I shouldn't ,but I need to tell you Singer also makes beautiful marriages. My husband and I met in a Singer sewing shop. He was selling sewing machines and I was selling fabric. Thanks to that Singer Sewing Shop in Maryland, my husband and I have been married 48 years.

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  13. Well it is snowing to beat the band! which is better than the icey rain nad freezing rain that was coming down at 6 AM. Sounded like some one throwing rocks at the house! So I'll be available for quilt cam. I have only 6 more Fat turkeys/fat geese// I think they are HOUSES! left to do. Guess I will have to work on a UFO after that.

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  14. Anonymous1:55 PM EST

    How wonderful Marge still has such a family tresure! You could let me choose between a huge expensive piece of jewelry and a family heirloom like Marge's box ...HANDS down the box would win.

    These are the objects that mean sooooo much; first to the
    brohter, then to your Grandma and now you... a chain of love.

    Thanks Bonnie and Marge for sharing this beauty with us all.

    Smiles
    Julie

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