When Betsy Came Home….

Remember earlier in the month when I came up to Quilt Villa by myself with Sadie – and we hit the wonderful Outdoor Antiques Festival in Downtown west Jefferson?

And then the last time I came up here and acquired the terrific China Hutch that looks prefect in the dining room?

Today we made a third trip to West Jefferson ---We are considering the benefits of a pellet stove with blower fans…instead of the old wood burning stove without fans that is in the basement at the cabin.

We were just LOOKING---and the plan was to grab things we need, have lunch and come back.  And to enjoy the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains before all the leaves are gone.  Today we have a blue sky with scattered almost corduroy looking clouds….VERY cool!

One of the other things on the agenda is setting up a “regular” tv antenna – you know…for the FREE CHANNELS that are still out there?  I do not want to pay for cable up here, we are not here often enough to make it worth while to pay for cable, I can’t get good satellite here in the trees and the mountains, and I really want this to be more of an “unplugged” location – though now that we have some internet, and a phone – it seems less and less remote all the time.

Anyway….

Lowes run – completed and hardware type stuff purchased.

Tractor Supply run accomplished and pellet stoves looked at and considered.

Lunch finished at the very fun Boondocks Brewing Company in downtown West Jefferson ---

And on the way home  to Quilt Villa we had to drive right past the Main Street Antique Mall and…..

Guess what came home?  After three trips in the last month, it was still there.  That was an omen!

The Betsy Ross treadle by National!

Remember when I first saw it HERE?

I love how it raises itself when you open the lid…see that chain?

Usually when I have seen these the mechanisms have been broken…this one is fully functional!

When the lid is open, the knee panel also swings silently and magically away.

It took some rearranging of the living room furniture, but not much.  We moved the couch away from the window and swapped positions, putting the couch on the opposite wall, and the two chairs on either side of the machine – I can sew inside this winter….but still look out the window over the deck rail to the view beyond.

It just looks at home here, doesn’t it?

The couch doesn’t look bad on that opposite wall either.  A happy switcheroo!

Along with a box of attachments was this unique thing I’d never seen before. It’s a needle threader, still in its wrapper of instructions!

I don’t know much about National machines – but I am about to learn.  There were a couple of good needles in this old pack that will help me find out which size they take….as well as a couple bent and rusty needles wrapped around with old yucky thread.

Someone used this machine an awful lot! The decals are very worn, but this machine turns free as a bird.  I am hoping that I can get her sewing again.  See how the bobbin winder swings out of the way? When you want to wind a bobbin, it pivots back with the wheel against the belt and the belt turns the wheel to wind the bobbin….of which I have only ONE.

Bobbin and shuttle present and accounted for!

When buying any vintage machine, whether electric or treadle – whether round bobbin or long bobbin…..be sure there is a bobbin case present, in this case the bullet shuttle ---and one bobbin so you have something to match to so you can find more.  Some machines it is easy to find replacements for --some -- not so much.

I’ll be on a search for more long bobbins as soon as I send this post!

And on a search to see if I can find a replacement handle for that bottom left drawer that is missing one ---

I’m excited.  Betsy has come home!

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