Some Days are Meant for Playing Hooky!

I was cruising Craigslist last night.

I almost ALMOST got off Scott Free ---

You know, I don’t know whether to be happy or SAD when I can’t find anything of interest.  I should be HAPPY that there is nothing that needs to come home with me.  I should get OFF that page and go sew something!

And then I see at the bottom of the page “listings from nearby areas that match your search”.

Oh.  DARN!

What you see here is a serial number, that I just looked up ----It’s for this machine dated 1950:

“Small singer electric machine with accessories case and folding table.  $100.00”

Heart palpitations!

And it was in Roanoke Virginia.  Roanoke, Virginia? That’s 2 hours up the road ---you need to let someone in Roanoke know to go get this!

No.  I “NEED” to go get this.  And I did.

I emailed the seller, the listing said it had only been posted 2 hours previously. And I waited --I thought for sure it would have already been snatched up, but I had an email reply about an hour later.

I told them I’d like to come get it in the morning.  “Do you really want to drive that far?” “Yes, yes I do!”

The case is in great shape, and there are “some” accessories included – in a vintage greeting card box!

I sat down at the machine, and I ran it.  The story goes that the machine belonged to the gentleman's wife's grandmother who bought it in 1950 and lived until she was 99, passing away just recently.  It was her machine and she sewed on it often.  ((My heart is pounding!  A one owner machine!))

Some quick brain math let me know that she was 35 in 1950.  Probably raising young children and fitting in sewing on this machine in between all the other busy jobs a young mom has to fill her days and evenings with.

The grandmother passed away recently in Pennsylvania “on the farm, as they were Mennonites.”  said the gentleman.

“Did she quilt?” I asked.  “Oh yes, she quilted quite a bit in her younger years, she loved to quilt.”  he told me. 

Machine on my dining room table.

The machine shows the normal wear and tear of 64 years of good use and still purrs like the proverbial kitten.  I asked the gentleman what the grandmother’s name was.  “Her name was Mary Jane.”  So Mary Jane this machine will be.

64 years of wear on the table too.

From what I understand the table was folded up and put away when the machine was not in use.  The wood cut out part that covers the opening could not be located, nor would it have been recognizable as a viable piece apart from its table ---but that’s okay with me.

I love that the most worn places are the places where Mary Jane would have often laid her scissors, her pins, her seam ripper, and other tools – but most of all her hands.  I look forward to getting to know this machine by placing my hands where Mary Jane has had hers so very many times over the years.

And just let me say one other thing, gently in closing:

Just as it is not polite to ask a woman her weight or her age, it is not polite to ask a quilter how many machines she owns and why.

Just smile and know that I am a happy caretaker of this gift.

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