A Day for Porch Treadling!

This may look simple enough to set up, but let me tell you – I had one dead end after another, and was about to throw my hands up and call it a day.

My thought was to simply pull the treadle machine out on to the front porch from the dining room.

Not  a long haul, but it does involve CARRYING the machine cabinet because you can’t roll those metal wheels over the threshold due to the risk of damaging the wood with the vintage metal wheels.

The machine is on carpet sliders in the house, but by the time you reach the threshold you are going to lose those and have to lift the cabinet to get it up and over anyway.

Were I to have a second person at hand, it wouldn’t be hard, but as I was only one – it went like this:

Slide the machine cabinet with the beautiful gifted Singer VS 2 to the first raised threshold. Remove machine head from cabinet to lighten the load.  Carry the cabinet out the front door and set it on the porch.  Replace sliders as to not damage the porch paint.  Slide into desired location.  Replace machine head – connect belt and get to treadling.

This was my set up.

There is a plug for my iron, so my work space position was determined by the length of the iron cord!  I thought I was raring to go, so I set up to wind a bobbin – only --

Nothing happened.

This machine has sat unused for so long that the bobbin mechanism parts are frozen up.  The wheel won’t turn.

It’s likely a simple fix, like removing it and soaking it overnight in kerosene, but did I have kerosene?  Did I want to get some?  NO.  And I didn’t have another machine head at the retreat house or cabin that would wind this size of long bobbin.  

I was dead in the water before I even began.  Well, RATS!

I could sew on an electric machine – I had the pink atlas in the cabinet in the dining room.

But I wanted to treadle…..fiercely!

I grabbed my keys, drove the 7 miles back to the cabin to grab another machine head – thinking this cabinet was the same size base as the one my 66 redeye sits in.

It takes approximately10 minutes to get from Quiltville Inn to the cabin – 3 minutes to grab my machine, and 10 minutes back again.  But I felt my cool morning hours slipping away as it began to get hotter and hotter, the humidity rising with every passing hour.

I set up HERE, on the back porch ready for some simple string piecing.

Same cabinet, different machine.

And now I am faced with ANOTHER issue – the belt for the VS2  was too long for this machine.  AND the machine didn’t fit very well in the hole, resting instead on the top of the cabinet instead of within it.

At this point I turn the cabinet upside down, remove the drip pan from underneath the hole, hoping that helps the 66 fit better.  This is a VS2 cabinet – the machine holes are different sizes, Singer had not standardized their machine base sizes yet.  Even with the removal of the drip pan, it still didn't fit quite right.

Well Heck.  That machine is just going to have to rest its front edge over the edge of the hole, I’m not carving a bigger hole, and I’m not going back to the cabin for a different cabinet! (*&#@$(*&!

And I had more belts – I cut a new one to length, stored the one for the VS2 in the drawer, and dang it!  This girl was going to sew come heck or high water!

And I did.

With this view in front of me.

(see how the front edge of the machine in sup a bit?)

There were cattle down in the creek area below – I could hear their mooing as I pedaled the machine, finally in my happy place.

And then a couple of thunder boomers and THIS:

I said come Heck or High Water-- and that is just what I got!

Well criminy!

That rain is blowing in from the south, sideways on to the porch!

It was a mad dash to get it all inside – I was actually relishing the thought of a summer rain – but this came on a bit too much, too quickly.  And do you see how far up on to the deck that rain blew in?  But ahhhh -- the cool rain, the wonderful smell.

I trimmed blocks on the kitchen island while the thunder and rain rolled through.

Using the dining room as layout space for this project --

Getting closer!

Who am I kidding?  There are something like 192 blocks still needed for this quilt, and it’s only going to be full size!  But oh, the scraps it is sewing up, and such a fun project to do.

And I eventually DID end up at the Atlas in the dining room with the rain still falling outside.

Furniture rearranging….

I had the hair brained idea that I wanted the two matching beds in this big room, so the 3 beds from bedroom number 1 got moved to bedroom number 2- and the beds in number 2 went back to bedroom number 1.  Am I nuts?  I just thought this was going to look better!

The two beds from bedroom 2 are now in 1…

And just like Goldie Locks, this girl took a NAP, rain still falling, wonderful pinging on the tin roof above.  This bed is an extra long twin, and it will be great to have one for any of the extra tall peeps who come to retreat. This was an awesome nap, my first of hopefully MANY before we turn this house over to retreaters in 2020.

Bed number 3 for this room will go in that opposite corner.

It was 7pm by the time the storm was mostly done – I’m glad I stayed through it, as I didn’t want to drive IN IT.  I spent my evening curled up in my comfy chair still working on a binding, nearly 1/2 way done now.

I got a call from Yellow Freight letting me know my shipment of Quiltville Date Keepers will be in this week. Pencils are to follow at a not too far off date.  I was hoping they’d be available at the same time so folks could get both at one time, but it doesn’t look like it is going to happen that way.

I have a local guild meeting luncheon HERE on Thursday – anxious to meet these ladies and gents and make an acquaintance with local quilters.  Followed by a Dentist appointment on Friday.  I fly to Chicago on Sunday.

I believe I’ll be heading home on Friday after the dentist, swing by Yellow Freight after the dentist, have Saturday home before flying on Sunday – (Yes, this is me making decisions out loud!) And perhaps we can fit in a Quilt Cam Saturday?  Stay tuned and I’ll let you know what time.

We are getting SO CLOSE to releasing this July’s Leader & Ender Challenge – so excited about this one.

Our next Quilty Box gift-away will happen as I leave for Chicago – so stay tuned for that as well, you won’t want to miss it!

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

It's Monday with a brand new week ahead!

Turn your determination up a notch and let's get going!

Make it a good one, folks!