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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

And Her Name Is…..

Marilyn!

How could it be anything ELSE but Marilyn if her birthdate is in the 60’s? We aren’t quite sure yet, but everything points to it being somewhere between 1955 and 1968. I’ve got a serial number, I just can’t find a data base.

But I can tell you that Marilyn is SO HAPPY to be sewing! I took her out of her beat up old wooden case and set her into my table top extension table. I cleaned her well, oiled her up good….and you should see this tension on her zig zag when I let ‘er rip!

I put green bobbin thread, and lavender top thread, and you can’t see any purple dots on the green side, or green dots on the purple side even when sewing in zig zag. Nice even tension --what a GOOD GIRL!

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I’ve sewn a couple bow ties on her for practice. It’s a bit different getting used to that needle not being center, but it’s nothing a few layers of well placed tape can’t cure! My blocks turned out right at 3.5”, right where I need them to be. I want to use the regular foot that came WITH her, as this foot was made for this machine to ride these feed dogs the way it is supposed to. A 1/4” foot would completely miss that second right hand set of feed dogs….Oh, I’m having fun with this! ((Don't you love the refection of the quilt on the wall in her chrome bobbin cover plate?))

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Atta girl, Marilyn!

And it’s terrible to say so, but I’m kind of thinking of going back for her Sister, BARBIE – who is still waiting to be adopted ---she is straight stitch only, with the needle centered ---and OH SO CUTE TOO! What’s a girl to do with too many pink machines?

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Oh, I loved her TOO, but do I dare?!!! LOL!

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Did I tell you that this Modern Princess is wearing a CROWN!?

Someone better stop me before I wander back to go get her -----

39 comments:

  1. Go for it! I'm sure hubby will "have" to have some new golf toy or tool soon. :p

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  2. Anonymous2:16 PM EDT

    I love the looks of Marilyn. And I think you should go straight back NOW and get her sister. Life is short you know. Have fun.
    Maryella

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  3. I'm so glad to hear she stitches well! She is a beauty...

    BTW...Fran who shared table space with us at Hickory Knob so many years ago says Hi!

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  4. Bonnie,

    Even my sewing/quilting friends ask... "You have HOW many sewing machines?" Marilyn is a keeper!

    Carol-Sue

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  5. Anonymous2:19 PM EDT

    How could her name be anything but Marilyn with those smooth lines and oh so sexy curves????? She's a beauty. I wish I could stumble onto lovelies like that! And the quilts you rescued? Wow! Even though they aren't "scrappy" they sure are pretty! Off to do tax prep- I'd rather do anything but that! Joy in Wasilla AK

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  6. Go get Barbie! The sisters shouldn't be separated and you'd give her such a good home.

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  7. I agree. You "NEED" her!

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  8. Ohh, poor Barbie is lonely. Hurry, go get her. Poor, lonely Barbie.

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  9. Thanks for naming your newest machine after me...and I was born in the 60's too! :) She is a beauty for sure!

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  10. If you get Barbie (and I think you should), you'll have to be on the lookout for Ken! Would that be Ken, as in a 1950s/60s KENmore? After all, what's Barbie without Ken?

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  11. Bonnie that almost looks like a Left handers foot! come to think about it my Grams machine was the same way~ I wouldn't wait for sister too long now that you have announced where she is living! Call the store and put it on HOLD ON TO YOUR SEAM RIPPER~! before she finds legs and walks to a new home that isn't yours!
    ;-)

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  12. One can NEVER have too many pink machines_ am so jealous! (Marilyn- I was born the same day she died!)

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  13. Ahhh..Bonnie...Go get Barbie....

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  14. Hi, You sure have been keeing me company here. I'm still out in AZ helping my niece with her new baby. I love all your new finds. I think you should go back and get her sister. She looks like at Modern "Milly" to me. Went to an antique mall out here and I sure could make a mint selling stuff out here. We definitely have better finds in the east. I guess people just threw out there stuff on the way out west. lol

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  15. Now Bonnie you MARCH right back to that store and get Marilyn's sister. You know siblings should not be seperated! And they go so well together. DID YOU HEAR ME YOUNG LADY (you are younger than me, lol) MARCH!

    Sandy in TN
    http://sandybeachsewing.blogspot.com

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  16. Have never commented before, but this time I just had to. Bonnie, you make my day brighter - just keep doin' what you do!

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  17. Anonymous3:04 PM EDT

    My name is Marilyn and I was born in 1949. Your new machine is beautiful but Marilyn was not a name given very often to those born in the 60's. The popularity of the name Marilyn (in the US) peaked in the 1930s, and then began a fairly precipitous decline with a leveling off in the 1940s and into the 1950s. After that, its popularity plummeted as Marilyn Monroe's fame grew.

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  18. yes... yes .... YES. Go for it Bonnie. A girl can never have too many sewing machines. By the way Marilyn looks like she is wearing the hot pink dress she wore when she sang "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend".

    Terry

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  19. Go on, you know you want to!! :)

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  20. Anonymous4:26 PM EDT

    Bonnie...You are a riot -- such enthusiasm for life and machines. Thank you for letting us take a peak at life behind your 'pink-colored' glasses.
    Mary A

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  21. Anonymous4:33 PM EDT

    I'm nothing but jealous! And my best friend's name is Marilyn.

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  22. I think that you need to go for it!!! There is nothing like these older machines. I have a Singer 301A that I bought off someone and I'm so happy with it that when my girlfriend found a cabinet for it at an estate sale another 301A came with it. Now I have two and I just love them!!

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  23. Anonymous5:05 PM EDT

    GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  24. Anonymous5:27 PM EDT

    What a neat fitting name! You already have a great looking sewing machine collection, what's one more? Go get Barbie and add her to the family! :)
    Heather
    velvet_23@hotmail.com

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  25. If the price is right for the "Modern" machine, get it. You can own it (her) for a while and if the love fades, you can find a new home for her.

    There may be a speciality market for machines that have been owned by The Famous Quilter Bonnie K. Hunter.

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  26. Marilyn as in Marilyn Monroe? That movie Niagara was on TV on Sunday. And she had a deep pink dress on in that record playing scene.
    And go get Barbie...you have room and she deserves you too!
    XOXOXO Subee

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  27. Push o matic?!! Don't walk, Run!!!!

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  28. Alberta Diane7:10 PM EDT

    Quick, go back and get Barbie!! She needs a loving and nurturing home too.

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  29. Shouldn't siblings be kept together whenever possible?

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  30. Hi Bonnie

    With your love of these classic machines, I am sure you know several of the websites that have information on them, but I couldn't resist trying to help. I found http://www.sewusa.com/Sewing_Machine_Threading_Diagrams.htm which offers a PDF manual for $10.00 and threading diagrams for free. I hope they have Marilyn's model. I am still working on trying to find a site that would help "date" her.

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    1. Thank you for this information!! I also have a lipstick rose pink Morse but she is just a straight stitcher. As soon as I find her from the move I will order a manual for her. I hate to tell you how little I paid for her ... I would have paid more because I just couldn't let a machine escape me that was that color.

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  31. barbie? Really? She looks like a Thoroughly Moderm MILLIE to me

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  32. If you don't want Barbie, maybe I do...where is she located? Hehe

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  33. Anonymous9:12 PM EDT

    Bonnie, how could you leave her behind!! A few 'extra' pink sewing machines certainly never hurt anyone.. Go back she is calling to you... She is sew perfect for you!

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  34. Thanks for giving us an appreciation for these good old machines. Years and years ago my mother traded her Featherweight in for a modern plastic thing from Sears. Ouch!

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  35. One can never have enough vintage machines. Go get her sister before I do LOL

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  36. I love both machines!

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  37. Hey, Bonnie. I think I've had this issue, too. See the zig zag picture in the center top? Above it, there is a section with a screw head on the left and on the right. One is the needle setting and the other sets the zig-zag width. If you loosen and move the screw on the left toward the right, it should move your needle position to the right, closer to center. Right now, it's fully at the left to give you full width of the zig zag. Try moving it over and I think the needle will move. You'll have to move it back to make a wide zig zag in future, but it should let you center the needle for regular piecing. At least my old one did. Lane

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  38. HI Bonnie, I was just reading about Marilyn. I have her twin sister 😃 Same color and everything. I inherited her from my aunt. I call her "The Purple Monster" because when I first started quilting (2004) I use to drag her to classes, ugh! What a workout! My 24 year old granddaughter made me promise I'll leave her "The Purple Monster" when I die 😊

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