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Saturday, December 17, 2016

Antiquing We Will Go!

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When Mona came to sew on Tuesday, we made a plan for Thursday to meet up at our favorite Mexican place for lunch, and then to wander into
North Wilkesboro for some antique mall browsing and putzing around before my drive home.

I haven’t been to this place in quite a while, and we were happily poking about when all of a sudden Mona exclaimed “Pink machine!  On the floor!  Pink Sewing Machine!”

I swear, the girl was close to having a heart attack!

Did I train her well or what?!

Turns out the machine is a late 1950s, early 1960s Atlas!

We moved it out from under the pile of stuff where it was partially hidden and here I am checking it out making sure that the handwheel turns, the bobbin case and foot pedal are there, and that the wiring doesn’t look completely scary.


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Oooh, isn’t she a pretty straight stitcher?

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It looks like Elvis’s pink 1955 Cadillac!

 The Atlas was marked $50.00, a complete steal and after I took it up to the front counter to be held while we shopped some more, the sales gal came and told us “Good news!  That booth is having a 30% off sale on everything in the booth.”  Whooopie!  This machine came home for $35.00.

There was a lot of ancient dried up tape on the machine bed, rock hard residue and yuck.  I oiled up the machine well, and let all of that good oil soak in while I let the GUNK on the needle plate and machine bed soak in a puddle of Goo Gone for nearly 24 hours.  It came off!  I love that stuff.  Be sure if you are using anything on a machine that it won’t harm the finish or the decals or the chrome.  This did the trick for me.  The key is being patient while it works to dissolve the yuck that had become petrified after so many years.

A good cleaning, oiling, new belt, new bobbin tire, and a needle change and slight tension adjustment had her humming like this on her test run:



Elvis’s first pink Caddie burned due to a fire that started in the brake line. Upon purchasing his next Cadillac, he had the car repainted by a neighbor who named the color 'Elvis Rose'. Elvis gifted this beautiful car to his mother, Gladys. Gladys Presley would always proudly point to it as 'her' car.

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I think she wants to be called Gladys, don’t you?

I pulled out my languishing Garlic Knots blocks – all the pieces were so scrambled I had to sort them all out again and then try to refresh my memory as to what I was doing.  Turns out I ran into a standstill because I needed more background neutral sets. How long has it been since I worked on this?

My 2” neutrals are NON-EXISTENT after all of the 4 patches for our En Provence Mystery.  There is just nothing left that is not too close to “brown paper bag.”  All of the light neutrals have found their way into either En Provence, or other projects.  So what’s a girl to do?

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I got side tracked into pressing MORE.

These will be heading to the Accuquilt likely on Sunday.

I went through some untamed scraps.  I went through fat-quarter bins and pulled the “What was I thinking?!”  “This will never go!” “You’ve been here too long!” fat quarters and I am cutting them into Scrap User’s System widths.  It’s time to start 2017 with a NEW BATCH of neutral wonderfulness.  Makes me excited just to think about it!

When was the last time you culled through your fat quarters in an effort to enrich your strip stash?  I want mine to be happy.  I want it to be enticing.  I want fabrics that have sat too long to find their way into new projects.  I want to breathe new life into a dying bin of old used up neutrals.

And not much else sewing happened because I ironed my evening away!

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This battle axe of a machine was also at the antique mall.

That whole thread tension section scares me.  LOL!

I’m guessing this is late 1950s as well, and it was much more money than the pink Atlas. 

One machine was more than enough.

And there were some quilts too – but I’ll get to that later because we are heading out early this morning to meet with a realtor in yet another Saturday search for the perfect cabin with acreage and NO HOA.  Wish us luck!

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Take a good look at these pinwheels.

What do you see?

Beauty in imperfection!

Happy Accidents.

REAL.

Have a great Saturday, everyone!


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29 comments:

  1. Oh my..... I thought you weren't going to be buying anymore new machines... Haha. Luv the pink...

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  2. That pink machine is the cat meow! I can't believe you were able to clean it up so well.

    Please let us know about your cabin hunt, good luck!

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  3. If I have to come back through this world again I want to come back as Mona! LOL! It would be such fun!

    I love Gladys! She's a beauty! Good for her that she found a "forever home!"

    See you next month in Prescott! Can't wait!

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  4. Yay! Love your new machine. I think they look like vintage cars too!!!

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  5. I think that I really NEED a pink machine! :)

    sao in Midlothian, VA

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  6. GOOD job on that Pink Cadillac!
    I have some of one of your neutrals, 'Starlight star bright' brown words on cream!

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  7. Ditto what AZMaggie said about coming back as Mona. Sounds like you had a fun day! I am off to finish the last 25 blocks of clue #4!

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  8. Best of luck of today's cabin search. Try to stay warm!!

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  9. So pretty in pink! Do you always have extra parts and pieces available to use on new-to-you machines?

    I'm currently trying to decide how to cut several neutral FQs that have been on the shelves a long time. I pass them over if I'm pulling to cut for a project, like the current mystery, and am hoping if they're already cut I'll use them.

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  10. Love your new machine....Gladys is so pretty! And Barbara Brackman just posted some sweet imperfect quilts today....check them out....what a hoot! I love your daily bits of wisdom....they are so true...and sometimes I need those reminders! Of course, the quilts they sit on are awesome, too! Hugs!

    http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2016/12/what-can-go-wrong.html

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  11. You all have encouraged me to pull my old, discarded (replaced) 1970 Kenmore out of the garage to see if there's any life left in her...and I've also rediscovered my treadle that has been only a table for 20 years. May have to eliminate the beds in my spare bedrooms to make room for all of this!

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  12. Love the Atlas!! Today I'll be sewing on my 503a Rocketeer! Now I wonder where I got the idea to buy such an old machine???? Happy cabin hunting!

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  13. First off congratulations on the "new" addition to your herd. As I was reading the story out loud to Dale, I squealed and said here's a picture of Elvis's pink Caddie. Well of course he already new the story about the car...I wonder why;) Good luck on your Cabin hunting and I know the perfect one is out there somewhere waiting for a family just like yours. Merry Christmas and continued Health and Happiness for 2017 to you, Dave and the boys!

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  14. Congrats on your new machine! I would love to have a pink Atlas but I have never seen one in real life. You got such a good deal too. I wish I had an antique mall near me. Isn't this your second pink Atlas?

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  15. I thought Mona was buying the Pink Atlas! What a friend to find it and let you buy it. I did see the slideshow of your new quilt that came home! I love feathered stars. Happy hunting.

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  16. Love the new pink machine! Good luck on the new cabin hunt! (New Hunter cabin?) :D

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  17. Funny. We are going on a road trip to see the grand baby for Christmas. I was going to bring my machine and of course everything that goes along with it! But decided there wouldn't be any time to sew anything, or not much. I told my husband that I decided I am not going to bring it so that there is more room I need the truck in case I see any machines that want to come home with me! He had to huff and puff, but he knows better! I AM bringing my tool box that has everything in it, including stuff to repair all of my machines....😁...just in case. He hates that tool box! We dragged it all the way to Washington and back (MN) and it never came out of the truck! Bummer for me....that means I never got to shop for new machines....wish me luck!!

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  18. Bonnie, Thank you for the memories , my mother Imogene had one just like it, the sound took me back in time.She has been gone for
    13 years now & just before she passed she bought me a longarm, she never got to see it however I have used it to finish the tops she left behind & many more, I Love the scrappy quilts best .Thank you for the mystery we are doing together. I just got my rulers & your book, I love it.

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  19. Thanks for sharing your day/life with us, I don't know how you do it.
    Best wishes on your cabin hunting.
    Have a great day!!

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  20. Good luck with your cabin hunting! Have a productive day.

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  21. So glad you found the Atlas! I have the exact machine and box. Mine is named "Sandy" because she's a Pink Lady from the 50's and Grease is one of my favorite movies. I was just ironing and cutting neutrals into 2" strips for En Provence and my strip bin. Good luck. I hope you find everything you are looking for and maybe even in Virginia!

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  22. WTG, Bonnie! Your acquisition was a great deal.
    I pulled a lot of neutrals out of this bin and that box to make those 221 4-patches AND those isosceles triangles. "En Provence" is giving my stash a workout. And that is a good thing.

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  23. Lucky you! Wow a pink machine! I keep searching - one day!

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  24. Bonnie...You have a keen eye for which machine is worth spending money on! It would be wonderful for you to share - in, say a quilt cam or blog post - what to look for. Do you have a source for the spare parts for these old beauties? Bobbin Tire??? I'd be hesitant to buy an old machine, uncertain as to whether it was able to be brought to life again. But you've certainly piqued my interest in poking around antique stores *)*

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  25. OMG, that White sewing machine is just like my mothers that I learned to sew on in the 60s. That machine is probably from the late 50s. In fact, I still have the machine and cabinet. It is all closed up and I use the cabinet for picture displays in my entryway. Now I want to pull it out and see if it's usable. Or maybe my sister wants it.

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  26. Must give you such great satisfaction to get an old machine cleaned up and back into working service. Great going.
    Cynthia

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  27. I just inherited my grandmothers 1950 Paff. It is one of the first zig zag machines. She is nestled into oak cabinet (real wood, not pressed wood) that has a pull out seat with drawers for supplies. I remember as a little girl sitting in that sit and dreaming about sewing. I did not know how to do much at the time, but loved that machine. My real story is about a machine I saw a few years back in an antique store. It was a beautiful electric Singer with a nice rounded top. It was $60.00, saw one a few weeks ago in a sewing repair shop for $446.00 go figure. Next time my husband tells me no, I am going to kick him and buy it anyway. I currently have 10 machines in my stable and they all work.

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  28. You and Mona are great together. I laughed that the girl who would never do any of that "sewing Stuff" nearly had a heart attack over Gladys! Pink, pink, pink ... on the floor!

    Thank you for sharing so much of your life and knowledge with us.

    We all love you and want to be more like you.

    That wonderful cabin with the fabulous views is waiting to welcome your family. I know you will find it.



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  29. PINK MACHINE!!! OMG, a pink machine!!! This is so calling my name!!!

    As for my fat quarters, I put them in with my scraps. I look either in the scraps or in the stash and I just don't do a lot of fat quarter stuff, so they will be best seen there. Otherwise, out of sight, out of mind! And their previous home now houses crumbs that can go to a friend who will use them much more than I.

    Merry Christmas everyone! This time next week we will be waiting in line again to return and shop some more!

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