While Ice Storms Rage ---

It started raining ice last evening as darkness fell.

Roads are treacherous –and I listened to the ice crystals pound the house through fitful sleep all through the night – finally pulling myself out of bed at 5:30 am.

It looks like there is snow on the ground – but it’s all ice pellets.

My internet is down also, so I am typing on my laptop, barely hanging on to the signal coming from the hotspot on my cell phone, a hot mug of tea at the ready.  What a doozy of a winter 2014 has been!

I am supposed to have Shamu, my van worked on today – routine maintenance, but there is no way I’ll be able to drive there by 10am, so as as soon as they are open, I’ll call and reschedule for maybe later this afternoon if this stuff is going to clear up.

There is also no way that Tonya is leaving this morning for Augusta, Ga!  Not until the ice storm passes….Dang! I guess she’ll have to stay and sew some more!

See these three black and yellow tubs?  Guess what arrived home?  My QUILTS from my new book, More Adventures with Leaders & Enders!  YAY!!

Everything is going on schedule with the printing.  I leave on the 11th for the wilds of Kentucky, and I hope to have the website ready to accept pre-orders by the time I head out that morning ---I’ll work on that this weekend, so be watching for that post.  I’ll  be giving you a trunk show of what quilts are in the new book!

I want to share with you a lovely story from Norma and her beautiful machine named Ruby!

She writes:

Dear Bonnie,
I'm new to your site - I love what I see, and reading your posts inspires me! Your site combines two loves of mine - reading and sewing!
 
I read what you posted about the lovely Singer treadle gifted to you, and it inspired me. I have a neighbor who brings me "lost" sewing machines when he finds them. He brought me one in an old case. I opened the case, and could have cried for the condition of the machine. She was an oldie, I think she may have been a treadle that someone electrified - then left sit in a very damp place. I could not face the destruction of the machine, so I closed the case and put her under my cutting table.
 
When I read about your "new" treadle, I went out in my shop and pulled out the case, and brought Ruby out in daylight again. I removed her light and her motor, the motor has completely bare wires so until I get that taken care of, I can't try running it.

Her front slide plate had been opened about 1/2", and rusted solid in that position. So I carefully bumped the slide plates loose with hammer and screwdriver, being careful not to ding them.

Ruby's whole underside and the corners of her bed were blooming with orange rust. I spent all morning carefully wire-brushing rust from Ruby's undies, took out her feed dog- it was solid with lint and gunk.

 I carefully cleaned and brushed for hours, even her mechanism inside her head was rust-covered.I carefully disassembled and cleaned her tension, it was filthy! 

I had other plans for the afternoon - so it was evening before I got back to Ruby. I continued cleaning, then oiled her up - that's when I found that Ruby - along with the scrolls and flowers in her decals- has several unicorns in the design!
 
I have never seen unicorns on a sewing machine before! I went to move her to a different side of my cutting table where the light is better to take pics, and it dawned on me (duh!) that after all the cleaning and oiling, I could actually try sewing on her! (Silly me!)

Ruby has a shuttle bobbin. I threaded her up, got a piece of fabric, and that lovely abused girl stitched perfectly the first time! I was ecstatic!!! I have no idea what company made Ruby, but on her front slide plate is "Patented June 29, 1897". 

Do any of your followers have any info on where Ruby came from? She does have a serial # on the back of her base.

 And here is a picture of one of the lovely unicorns that were hiding in plain sight the entire time I worked on her!

Here is a pic of her bed decals, see the unicorn bottom left:

 

 
Now I have another treadle sewing machine head to clean up; a machine in a cabinet that is very sad that was given to me by a friend who moved away; and my grandma's old electric in its cabinet to clean and get to know.

Thank you so much for the inspiration! Rainy weather always makes me want to stay home and sew, happy stitching! 
 
Norma

I am hoping some of my readers ((Allison, are you out there?)) can help Norma identify her Ruby machine.  Isn't she a beauty?!
 
Now wish me luck as I use the two little bars on my phone to try to upload this post and get it posted via laptop ---it seems the homes all around us are without power, so I am really glad that we at least have power on!  The hubster is up and starting a fire in the living room fireplace just in case our power goes out next.
 
And if it does, I’ll be introducing Tonya to the joys of string piecing by hand crank!
 
Stay warm everyone ----


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