This is spring in Wilkes County, North Carolina!
Take a look at that blue blue sky, the dogwood blooming pink and the halo of green at the upper most reaches of tree branches.
Isn’t it glorious?
THIS, my friends, is the reason that my allergies are in hyper drive, my eyes watering, sticky, itchy lids threatening to become glued tightly shut over night thanks to all of the pollen.
Spring is wonderful – I’ve been longing for it for months, but I somehow forgot THIS part.
Sadie and I took a little detour on our way home. There was an antique shop that is RARELY open. At least when I go by they are always closed, but today they WERE open, and I picked up this little lady:
$35.00 later she was in my car and we were heading out. The wiring looked suspect, but I had planned to treadle this machine anyway, so for the price, and believing I was going to ditch the wiring, off we went. More on this story in a bit…
This is also Wilkes County, North Carolina.
Wilkesboro to be exact!
Isn’t this just idyllic? I don’t know what it is about old houses, but I just love looking at them and dreaming what life has been lived here over the past many decades, if not a century or more.
Hello Wisteria!
You smell wonderful. But you are still making my eyes water!
Sadie and I made a stop here for the very first time!
Doesn’t this look great?
She had been in the car for a while, and the day was too pretty to let pass without exploring these wonderful paved pathways. Best part about it? NO HILLS!
Pretty, huh? See the spring green on the trees?
Those leaves will be completely unfurled by the time I am back here.
Green in the tree tops!
Redbuds! My favorite!
Back to the little Necchi, the wiring IS bad. Upon unloading her at home, I took drastic measures-the motor has been removed and all wires pulled. But when I went to put it in the treadle cabinet, it seems that all hinge pins are not created equal, and the holes in the base of the Necchi are too small for the standard Singer hinge pins. There will need to be some boring out of the holes if this is going to fit, so that is now on a back burner because I ran out of time! I just need a machine shop and I can get them to drill the holes a bit bigger for me.
There is always the option of having the motor rewired. The cord end on it is melted, like someone plugged the motor into the socket for the light, a bad no-no on these two socket vintage cords.
As this posts I am on my way to Chicago. Where spring has not yet quite arrived and my eyes will get a break.
We left the house at 4am to get me to the airport by 4:30am for check in. THERE WILL be a nap as soon as I reach the hotel!
I am excited to meet the retreaters who have come from far and near for the Cocoon. Many are staying over and including the International Quilt Show of Chicago in their itineraries. I envy them! The show starts on Thursday, and we wind up on Thursday, and I fly to Wichita on Friday.
Before I leave you I do want to let you know of some new goodies in the Quiltville Store!
Scrap Quilt Secrets by Diane Knott!
List: $29.95 on sale for $28.00
Strip Your Stash by Gudrun Erla
List $24.95 on sale for $24.00
Quilts for Scrap Lovers by Judy Gauthier
List: $26.95 on sale for $26.00
You can find these and many other goodies by clicking the Shop tab at the top of the blog! Remember, all orders over $75.00 ship free in the USA by using the coupon code Free75 at checkout. Only available to USA addresses, and you must use the coupon code to get the free shipping.
Quiltville Quote of the Day!
I think the trick is to be open to the wonders of any experience from the beginning! Don't wait until it's over having to look back to find the silver lining! 😃
Vintage nine patch and star quilt found by Irene in Kentucky.
Vintage nine patch and star quilt found by Irene in Kentucky.
Happy Sunday, everyone!
9 comments:
My hubby has a machine shop. come on down. you would be very welcomed.
Oh, I LOVE that pale, pale green in the trees! And I loved hearing that you're almost on your way to Wichita! See you on the 11th!
We are a week or two behind you here in MD. Our redbud is starting to turn pink and the willows are showing their green! So you didn't get the Simplex, but got a beautiful Necchi instead!! She's lovely. My dad gifted my mom a brand new Necchi in the 50s and I learned to sew on it. It was a top of the line machine in a limed oak cabinet, mom's pride and joy! She made us matching yellow sister Easter dresses on it among many other things, costumes, etc. All the fancy stitches were manual, kind of like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time, especially for me because I'm a lefty! My sister has mom's machine, so she's still in the family and always will be!! Enjoy your new machine. I will be looking forward to seeing you making quilts with her!
That is the brand sewing machine I learned on as a kid, but my model is a little different than yours, with other bells & whistles. Could mine be from a few years earlier? I have one spindle, a gold Good Housekeeping seal, and a bobbin winder on the wheel. My machine was originally in a wooden cabinet with a knee pedal. My mother gave away the cabinet but I insisted she keep the machine (she was going to trash it!). It now decorates my sewing room. It needs a new paint job - the paint is flaking on its bed.
Have fun with yours, when you eventually get it running. They are absolute workhorses, heavy as anvils, and I don't remember my mother's ever needing any repairs other than the usual cleaning & oiling.
I had a sinus problem (also have seasonal allergies, especially to spring pollen). After several years of just putting up with it, I finally consulted an ENT specialist. After sinus scans determined nothing physically wrong, she gave me a prescription for fluticasone nasal spray. It is available OTC as Flonase. IT IS MIRACULOUS. I would never have thought a nasal spray could make me feel so much better. If you have not tried it, you might give it a shot. I can tell you that I no longer wake up head congestion/pain every day, and it helps with eye symptoms too. It IS a steroid, but the dr. said it is not harmful.
9/32" drill bit. (I've done two BUs and absolutely love them!)
Oh, I drilled them myself. Just go slowly and let the drill bit do it's job.
I grew up learning to sew on a portable 1948 Necchi machine and loved it! Mom NEVER had any difficulty with it in all the years she used it . Finally upgraded to another brand of machine in 1975 -- wish she'd kept that Necchi! It didn't do any fancy stitches and had a buttonholer with cams attachment -- not sure it even had zig zag though don't know how else a machine can make buttonholes. We seweed EVERYTHING on that workhorse! You can also help the allergies by increading your Vit C intake (I use Walgreen's 1000 unit chewables, and take 2 a couple times a day --- plus drink LOTS of clear liquid, cut the milk, cheese and eggs from your diet as these =thicken mucuous. Flonase is good as well as Claritin/Clarinex. Come down to Florida in a month or so -- we will have lots of pine pollens to make life interesting then. We've already been through Oak, Pear, Azalea and some other trees so far this year. I'm just "allergic to Florida, period") Saline nasal mist is good to thin stuff out too ...
Kar
Bonnie,
Could you remove the singer sewing machine head from the cabinet
Then put a wooden platform over the the hole after cutting out for the belt
That way you can use this machine at a comfortable height for you.
As is about time you have a right height for you treadle
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