and Yay!

I am being thrilled by ole Ethyl!  After I fixed the bobbin winder and the zig zag, it seemed likely that I'd be able to do pretty much what I wanted on her- as long as the darning foot gave me success.  Well, it came, and it too needed modification.  I had to bend down the top bar so my needle bar would catch it and make it "hop".  But it was easy, and a complete success!

It is different from my broken Kenmore.  It's supposed to be better to sew on a flat surface, but I have been very used to compensating with my machine on top of the table.  I have to push the quilt around differently.  For some reason I'm straining my shoulders more and had to swivel my chair up quite a bit.  I miss not being able to turn the machine to an angle and I can't quite wedge my legs under this table door to work at that angle.  The foot and machine response are different.  Add up all of that and it was like I was very new to free motion again, and clumsy at it.  I don't think it will take long to get a groove on this machine though.

 

I just did a little bit of practice on an old pillow case stuffed with batting, and it WILL take some practice but I think the rulers are going to be GREAT!  Very easy to move the quilt and stitch, I just need to get expert at eyeballing where to place the ruler.

 

One really great thing about the machine- of course there is no needle down feature- but it seems to stop in the down position 90% of the time anyway.  My broke Kenmore did not do this.  I could put the needle down with a button to draw up bobbin thread or make a turn, but you couldn't set it to stop there.  It always stopped UP. 

 

So, I've pretty much stopped craving a $4,000 machine.  I am thinking, maybe one more vintage?  A new back up to my back up?  I cleaned up Ethyl inside and out and oiled everything, we are both humming as we sew.  With oil and use, the zig zag and bobbin winder no longer need nudges and operate smoothly.