Let the Machines OUT!

I was a quilter on the loose yesterday afternoon!

I had a 4:30 appointment that ended around 5pm.  Rush hour was in full force.  So I made a detour.  It was only 3 miles off course, and they were open until 6pm.

I can do A LOT of poking around in a little under an hour if you turn me loose in an antique mall.  The Post office was closed by this time, I’d done all I could do for the day so in I went.

Now, when time is limited, I can make a quick overview of the area and determine in rapid fashion which booths are worth rummaging around in.

ANYTHING that looks like an end table or desk is suspect!

And I can almost see this on the antique mall surveillance cameras as the counter checkout girls watch in amusement:

“She’s here again.”
“Who?”
“The crazy quilter woman who comes in, opens up all the machine cabinets and leaves the machines out in plain view.”
“She does WHAT?  Why?!”

BECAUSE!  Don’t the sellers want to sell their MACHINES?  It’s the machine that makes the cabinet worth the price.  Cabinets without machines are a dime a dozen, but one WITH a beautiful machine?  LET THE MACHINE OUT!

And I did!

Quilter Strikes AGAIN!

My goal in life is to pet the machines, let them know they are still loved and valued, and show future poke-about-ers that HEY!  There is a MACHINE in here!  Sometimes this means I am moving lamps, platters, planters, photos, and yardsale worthy bric-a-brac, but come on!  If you want to sell the machine, LET IT BE SEEN!

Aristocrat!  Show your stuff you 1950s Japanese Import!

If the machine is in a case, I’ll leave the lid behind so the machine can breathe allowing it to show off its beautiful decals and shiny chrome to its best advantage.

Who knows?  THIS could be the impulse buy that turns someone on to the wonder of vintage machine sewing/collecting.

Queen Anne table with a Singer 306!

You can always open the table up to have MORE table space to display your crap lovely merchandise but let the machine out so it can make a note-worthy vintage statement.

I’m still remembering the beautiful Singer 201 I found in Denver in August, blogged and Facebooked about it and someone actually DID go and get it!  THAT makes me happy.

Sometimes there are odd ones like this White!

You can see I checked and the shuttle is still there.  It’s got a crinkly Godzilla finish.  Knee controlled. 

Now I didn’t check the prices on most of these because I wasn’t going to bring them home.  Remember, I only had about 45 minutes to quickly uncover all the machines I could.  I was on a mission!

Oh sweet New Royal! 

But the chain was broken and the machine wouldn’t lift.

Gorgeous cabinet!

What the heck??

1970s decoupage cat!  Okay, you are getting the “weird item of the day” award.  I took some time to look this one over.  It was quite large, and the decoupage was starting to cloud and wear.  But those fabrics!

I remember MOST of these, and some are still in my scrap stash!

No, the cat did NOT come home.

But THIS did:

Hello, 1953 Bernina 117K!

The model 117 K, made in Switzerland, was Bernina’s first zigzag sewing machine.  If I have the story right, Bernina started out as a very small sewing machine company specializing in industrial machines first before deciding to go into the home machine market.  I am THRILLED to find this machine.  I’ve loved all of my Berninas, but wanted something that was all metal, very vintage, flat bed, no computer parts, and something easy for me to maintain myself.  I believe I’ve found it!

It came with a copied manual!  GOOD! 

Because this machine has some odd features.

It takes 287WH round-shank needles, industrial style.  And what is GREAT about this machine, it threads the needle from front to back, not side-ways like other vintage machines. Because of this rotary hook system:

It’s BEHIND and kind of backwards!

It was awkward to get the bobbin in place this morning when I went to set it up.  You have to have the take up lever in the highest position to be able to get the bobbin case on the race just right.  A few tries and I had it.

I was able to wind some bobbins.

Set my seam allowance and do a seam test.

2 2’’ squares sewn with the correct allowance will give you 3 1/2’’ on the ruler.  And it does.  Yahoo. This is a short shank machine, so I was able to swap out the zig-zag foot for a short shank 1/4’’ foot with no guide.  I prefer to use a stationary seam guide on the bed of my machine to run fabric up against.  It doesn’t wiggle, move or go up and down like a guide on a foot. 

Sewing some test pieces!

This is a zig zag machine, and I look forward to playing with that as well, but for now I’m planning on using it for straight seaming.  This machine fits my Singer cabinets.  This is the cabinet for the 400/500 series machines so the hole is a bit wider, but the hinge pins are the same.  If you look at the bobbin winder photo above you’ll see how the electrical plug sticks out just a bit, and having a space at the right end of the machine also gives me a way to feed the cords down to the floor. 

But if I wanted to go cordless?  This machine will also fit my Singer TREADLE cabinets!  Whoowooo!

I’m so excited to be able to show you this machine during Quilt-Cam tonight!  Live at 8pm Eastern on my Quiltville Facebook page.  Archived to my YouTube channel and embedded in the Quilt-Cam post and archived under the Quilt-Cam tab AFTER the fact.  We are moving to winter hours, so until the time changes back in spring, our evening sessions will be starting an hour earlier.

But wait a minute?  Weren’t there QUILTS at the Antique Mall?  Yes!  But  I’m going to parcel them out and share them with our Quote of the Day for each post.  Starting with this one:

Album block quilt top, 1940s.

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Spread the kindness around, and lay it on thick!

No need to be skimpy as the more you give, the more there is to give. The day you make better for someone may be your own!

And remember, the next time you come across a hidden machine – LET IT OUT!

Have a great Tuesday, everyone!


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