A bin?
A bucket?
A barrel?
A basement full?
We had such a great time string piecing with wild and reckless abandon yesterday –Just a SUPER day!
And see this shiny black 301A long-bed?
"***Everyone Ooooh, And Aaaaahhhh – All together now!****
There, got that over with! Such a pretty pretty machine!
We also had some tried and true vintage Berninas along with us for the ride…..how many of you remember THESE from Home Ec class in school?
This girl is so old, she doesn’t even have a free arm!
Model 817 --- still made in Switzerland.
She sewed so precisely, and so quietly!
She was joined by THIS little model:
I don’t remember the model number on this one, but it was only 3/4 sized machine ---and a real workhorse!
We had several featherweights purring along too ----what a lovely sound when they are all humming together!
Check out the photos below for the riotous colors that came together:
Today we are going to DO IT AGAIN ---with Bricks in the Barnyard from Scraps & Shirttails II!
It’s my last teaching day in Texas – we’ve been going strong for a week --- it’s flown by so fast and we’ve enjoyed every minute of it, even if the weather has proved it to be the coldest January I’ve ever spent in Texas!
Have a great Saturday, everyone!
Woo Hoo . . . TONS of room to groove and let those strings fly!! Now I want to make this quilt too. I know there are plenty of scraps to start all your projects . . . time to go prepare my papers!! LOL
ReplyDeleteLooks like everybody made sure to pull out their vintage machines for the 'queen of the vintage machines'! They know you'll appreciate them. Loved the slide show---looks like a nice big rooms, lots of happy women, and some great work was done!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bonnie! I love seeing those old machines. I'm amazed at how many of them look brand new. I guess many people who received sewing machines did not like to sew.
ReplyDeleteIs the Virginia bound pattern one from String Fling? It's the only one of your books I don't have yet, but it looks like a great, easy pattern to put a dent in my bag of uneven strips.
Virginia Bound is in Scraps and Shirttails. It starts on page 18, and it includes the template for paper piecing the sections.
Delete-Bobbi
Looks like you had a great time ! what a fun time :)
ReplyDeleteJan/FL
Thanks Bonnie for sharing those beautiful machines, especially the old Ninas.
ReplyDeleteLots of beautiful string blocks, but I especially love the ones made from shirts!
ReplyDeleteWe used Singer Touch 'n Sews in Home Ec. They were all the rage at the time--or so they told us. : )
My vintage Bernina is too heavy to take anywhere!!
LOVE all the different colors of strips the gals used! The pink ones look like a little girl's birthday party! So glad to see the old machines being used!
ReplyDeleteBeen setting aside shirt collars, cuffs, trimmings, etc. for a while, so looking forward to turning them into one of these quilts sometime soon. Love seeing the different blocks from this pattern!
ReplyDeleteI love this pattern, but do not have enough "natural" strings to make it. (I've been making a basket weave quilt which has used up almost my entire stash of strips.) So I guess I'll either have to cut up some deliberate strings or else make more regular quilts first to generate more of the "natural" ones.
ReplyDeleteWhile looking at the slide show, I got to wondering how many people in the class were using "natural" strings and how many were cutting up strings just for this project.
Anyone care to comment?
"Natural" strings...hahaha!
DeleteIs this pattern in the first Scraps & Shirttails? I just love the ones made from recycled shirts. Great wonky plaids &stripes.
ReplyDeleteYou are obviously younger than me. We had old black Singers in my home ec class.
ReplyDeleteOh those are so nice! love the string blocks. I will ahve to do one soon, the strings from Easy street have taken over my sewing counter!
ReplyDeleteWhat is a free arm? You said one of the Berninas was so old that she didn't have one, but I'm not sure what it is.
ReplyDeleteto amidthismoment
DeleteThe free arm is like the one on the tan Bernina--#11 in the slide show, I think. It is the "skinny" arm that allows one to sew on small around items like sleeves, etc. unlike the wide flat bed of a machine.
My Bernina 801 made in Switzerland too, looks just like the two in your post. It is sitting on the table now and I sew on it regularly - its a real workhorse. It is free arm and super heavy, so I don't take it anywhere! I bought it in 1980 and paid an arm & a leg for it, but ist been worth every cent I spent. As for learning to sew - I learnt on a Singer treadle. It was heaven when I finally badgered my mum into buying an electric machine. It was a Singer too, but goodness knows what model number.
ReplyDeleteI only have my Bernina 830 that was their 50th anniversary machine. This was the only thing that I owned when I married my husband 29 years ago. It still works just as it did back in 1982. I have sewed many things on this machine my Wedding dress and my daughter’s veil. Would love a new one (the 1008 as it is not so computerized) but alas this holds to many memories and works well.
ReplyDeleteClasses on Jan. 4 & 5 were so much fun! Met lots of sweet ladies and had a blast working on our quilts. Thank you, Bonnie, for teaching us so many tips and new techniques. I had such a great time and learned so much!
ReplyDeleteHope you are back next Jan. This makes 2 years in a row for me to take your Jan. classes. On a row now, looking forward to 2014 classes.
Thank you.
Teresa without an "h" Ha!!