Heavens to Betsy!!

When we arrived last night at the cabin my big plan was to  get Betsy up and running.

I’ve found that I really like the tubing belts better than the leather ones.  They are much more forgiving and provide better traction –remember I wrote about them HERE. ((Info on ordering is there too))

The tubing comes in clear and in yellow – my first order I didn’t realize I was supposed to CHOOSE the color, so I have yellow belting with black writing on it.  It doesn’t matter.  It still works, and that is what I’ve hooked Betsy up with here.

All was going well…she just needed a bobbin wound ---which was easy enough!  But when it came to threading her…OH. BETSY!

This is what her threading diagram looks like:

Just READ that description and see if you don’t wind up shaking your head and going “WHAAAHH!?”

Last night I was so frustrated I gave up.  Even though according to the diagram I had her threaded right..my stitching was looking like this:

Ewww.  Just eww.

I gave up in frustration and went to bed.

But before retiring I used some tri flow lubricant on anywhere I felt was still sticky – including inside of where her stitch length guage is…that bar didn’t feel like it was moving very freely, and even where it would move, the stitch length itself never really changed when I tried to sew….sometimes, things can loosen up if you let them soak a while.

I also dripped some tri flow on anything connected to the feed dogs thinking maybe they weren’t moving very freely to feed the fabric either.

And while I was at it, I used some on the presser foot pressure screw at the top of the machine…it was pretty sticky as well and maybe the pressure on the fabric wasn't quite right from the presser foot side.

This morning…still yuck.  things were moving more freely ---but there were stitch issues ---I adjusted the tension on the shuttle.  It was too loose.  I monkeyed with the tension on that weird tensioner thing ((C  in the diagram above)).  I kept going back and forth, a little here and a little there.

These machines take an odd size needle, but I was told that I could use a standard 15 X 1 and just “scootch” it down a bit so it doesn't go quite to the top of the needle bar.  Okay.  How much is a “scootch?”  Monkey with that also.  About that much.  Okay.  try again…

Guess what?

Betsy’s got her Stitch On!!

There is a life lesson in this, isn't there?  No matter how impossible it seems, go take a nap and come back to it.  Time-outs are necessary.  When emotions are frazzled and hearts are hurting and you don’t know which way to turn, time out.  Rest.  Come back to it.

Thank you, Max Ehrmann!  Who is Max Ehrmann?

Do you know the Desiderata poem?  I have lived by it and loved it from as far back as I can remember:

desiderata - by max ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann c.1920

The line I reflect on the most is this one:

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

And that goes for all of us.  And for what my brother and his family are going through.  Things are unfolding as they should.  And we will love him through it.

My view through the windows at the autumn colored trees and the flag flying off the front porch.

I've decided to make Scrappy Mountain Majesties in plaids for my brother.  It seems fitting.  Definitely masculine, and stitched up in these mountains that I love so dearly.

Have a great afternoon everyone --- Betsy and I will be mighty busy!

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