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Thursday, May 29, 2008

Better than a Snake!





I am laughing at the comments and emails from people saying they are not wanting to come visit my blog until I put something new on top of the snake skin pictures!

So here you have it! My new Singer hand crank! I just looked up the date and it was born in 1941!

I found her at an antique mall in Winston Salem that I hadn't ever stopped at before. Price? $85.00 I stewed about it for a while, wandered around the mall, came back..yep, still there. Took the cover off again, turned the crank (It turns SO smooth!) put the cover back on, and bought it.

I wanted a functional hand crank machine. I have one that is very old, and just decorative for me, but not working. This one, I think will work! I have yet to thread her up yet and give her a go. Makes me wish I were left handed because I'm not sure how I'm going to do cranking with one hand and guiding the fabric with the other!

I thought the decals were interesting, and she has a beautiful face plate!

I had a wonderful trip up to Lake Gaston, NC where I did a lecture/trunkshow for the guild up there on Wednesday. I stopped at an antique mall on my drive up there as well, and found the wooden antique ironing board that I have been looking for..in a both with a 20% off sign on everything! The board was only marked $7.50! I've seen them marked at $37.50 before, so this was amazing, and of course, I got 20% off of that as well. Not sure where I'm going to put it yet.

My friend Charlotte is coming to spend the weekend. She will be my first house guest since moving here! She will be here about lunch time on Saturday and stay til Sunday afternoon. I wonder what kind of quilty fun we can get up to?

23 comments:

  1. What a beautiful machine...I've not seen a hand crank one before. I have a Featherweight (born in 1937) and another (born in 1947) and my grandmother's treadle. The old machines can steal your heart.

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  2. I have a hand crank machine too but I've never tried to get it in working order...it's from 1922 and if I ever finish getting settled in, it will sit in my foyer in front of a hanging quilt.

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  3. Much better pictures!!!
    Love the old crank machine. My grandmother had a treadle machine which I learned to sew on. All I have left of it is the frame it sat on. I wonder if our children and grandchildren will get as big a kick out of our machines as we do our Mother's.

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  4. You will find the hand cranks are pretty easy to use and fun too!

    The decals on that machine are the RAF decals - you can check out other decal patterns used by Singer at the Needlebar site.

    http://needlebar.org/main/singdecs/index.html

    Lots of great info there about Singers and other machines as well.

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  5. I never saw a hand cranked machine before. Would come in handy if you lost electricity. If there was electricity in 1941, what purpose would it serve when you could use an electric machine? Then again the Amish do not use electricity.

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  6. It reminds alot of the "portable" my mom had. It was electric but it had almost the same wooden case. Separately the case and machine were heavy but together were all most impossible to lift-so much for portable!!! It was the machine I made curtain for our 1st home with!. Thanks for the memory!
    KC

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  7. I bet you and Charlotte will find plenty of fun to get into. Your new machine is darling. But I have a concern, also, as to how you can crank and hold the fabric steady with one hand. I think it will take some praactice. Thank goodness for electricity (or the foot pedal which leaves your hands free on a treadle machine). How is the book progressing?

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  8. The Singer is much prettier than your previous photo, much more practical too. Enjoy time with your friends, both the human type and your new hand-crank type! Well done.

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  9. what a great looking machine and it works as well--bonus! I'm impressed by the lack of chipped paint for an older machine!

    Sounds like a great weekend!! Means you "have" to clean house for guests :) Looks like a local quilting shop hop will be on the agenda or thrift shop hop!

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  10. I had to laugh at your opening. As your blog was loading on my computer my thought was, I hope she's added something new so I don't have to see those snake skins again!
    The crank machine is super. I find it amazing those old machines still work, then again, things were built to last back then.

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  12. Hey Bonnie:

    Congrats on the new machine! I have one exactly like it. It sews beautifully. btw, did you get a manual with it? It's a Singer model 15-98 and the odd thing is that it threads from left to right; (flat side of needle goes to the right).! It's exactly the same model as my 15-88 treadle which threads the opposite way! I'm thinking that's why my machine is so pristine...the needle was in backwards when I got it :-). I use my handcrank machines for paper piecing, not for sewing long strips together. You get such precision for paper piecing and being right handed is not a problem. Enjoy!

    Jacqui in Canada

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  13. Lucky you! What a nice machine. Those are interesting decals. I found a website that shows all the Singer decals and there are SOOOO many! I love 'em all. LOL

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  14. I love your new machine Bonnie. What a great find. Enjoy your quilty time.

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  15. Add me to the snakephobes. If I were you, I'd use my noisiest sewing machine so I wouldn't wonder if every house noise was a snake in the ceiling. As for the hand cranked Singer, what you need is a child to crank, and you can sew merrily away.

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  16. Bonnie...congrats on the awesome scores! These pics sure do beat the snake ones...lol.

    Have a wonderful weekend with your friend!!

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  17. What a great machine, Bonnie, I was thinking that was really late for a hand crank machine but the Amish and those in the midwest might not have had electricity.

    Have fun trying it out. Need to sew slowly.

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  18. I love your "new" machine. I would have guessed they quit making them long before 1941. That may be something to put on my "wish list". However, I have a treadle Singer that sews really well, or will when my husband puts the new belt on. He broke ther other one sewing on something or other. I am also glad when I look at your blog that I don't have to see snake skins. I absolutely dislike snakes - the "h" word I don't use as there is already too much hate in the world.

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  19. I DREAMED about a snake last night - don't know if it was your post (ickkkkyyyy) that could be responsible or the vine I am trying to applique that looks too much like a snake!!! LOL

    But your little machine is a charmer! Have fun

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  20. You find the best buys at the antique malls!

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  21. Thank you, love this picture. Your machine is beautiful to. You people in the East have a wonderful assortment of antiques. Us in the West the pick-ins are few and expensive.

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  22. I am on my way and you had better not have cleaned house for me. I am family remember. Can't wait to play with that new machine. Makes me want to try and find a bargin like that.

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  23. Lovely hand crank! If everything works out, I'll soon have a hand crank, or three!

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