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Saturday, January 05, 2013

Virginia Bound, Please!

Got a bunch of scraps?  Got a box of strings?

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?

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This girl is so old, she doesn’t even have a free arm!

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Model 817 --- still made in Switzerland.
She sewed so precisely, and so quietly!

She was joined by THIS little model:

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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!

19 comments:

  1. 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

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  2. Looks 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!

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  3. Thank 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.
    Is 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.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:21 PM EST

      Virginia Bound is in Scraps and Shirttails. It starts on page 18, and it includes the template for paper piecing the sections.

      -Bobbi

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  4. Looks like you had a great time ! what a fun time :)

    Jan/FL

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  5. Thanks Bonnie for sharing those beautiful machines, especially the old Ninas.

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  6. Lots of beautiful string blocks, but I especially love the ones made from shirts!
    We 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!!

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  7. 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!

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  8. Been 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!

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  9. I 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.

    While 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?

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  10. Is this pattern in the first Scraps & Shirttails? I just love the ones made from recycled shirts. Great wonky plaids &stripes.

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  11. You are obviously younger than me. We had old black Singers in my home ec class.

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  12. Oh 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!

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  13. Anonymous4:18 PM EST

    What 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.

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    Replies
    1. to amidthismoment
      The 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.

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  14. 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.

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  15. Anonymous7:08 PM EST

    I 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.

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  16. Classes 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!
    Hope 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!!

    ReplyDelete

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