Mini periwinkle quilt misery

is what I was ending up with using this template and a kind of pseudo paper piecing technique with the tutorial.  I even went back and traced around the template on the back, then added correct seam allowances so I would have more accuracy.

                        
It just didn't add up to enough improvement to warrant the additional work.  There is a lovely tutorial by Red Pepper Quilts for the same quilt, using her foundation paper. Unfortunately, it is a slightly different size so I would have to print out and then CUT out all those patterns.  While I was looking at her tutorial again just now, I'm thinking if I followed along her directions to the letter I might get the results I am craving.  I do have about a gazillion of those MSQC triangle papers.  She puts down triangle, diamond, triangle and then presses all in one direction.  MSQC puts the diamond down first, assisted with a smear of glue stick, then left triangle and  right triangle.  Might be less bulk at the kissing diamond points the Red Pepper way.  I'll give it one more shot, darn it! 

*Update, Saturday night shift- Oh, dear.  I'm supposed to be sewing 4 of these pieced triangles together, not two.  Might make a BIG difference.  I'll definitely give it another shot!  I'm still going to incorporate Red Pepper's directions so I can twirl the center intersecting seams on the back.  I love doing that.  The thrill may wear off before these (half gazillion) triangles get made into a quilt. 

I got the 15-91 installed into the cabinet and oiled and the bobbin case arrived.  I tossed an orphan block into a small sandwich and tried out some free motion quilting.  I know every machine feels a little different but this did feel exceptionally "draggy".  The feed dogs do drop, but it felt like they were still influencing the flow.  I took a look at them in action- they appear possibly higher than they should be, and with the sandwich squished down they may be grabbed intermittently by feed dog movement.  I put stitch length at zero and that helped. I decided to give my supreme slider teflon sheet a shot.  This was the first machine of three that I really felt a benefit with it on, but alas!

That gold speckle upper right is some of my antique finish.  It did this on the Singer 201-2 as well. I won't try it again on another black vintage singer. It may do better on the later model machines.  I don't foresee myself getting any of those.  I have a taupe Kenmore from the 60's that suffered no ill effects from the slider, but it was one of the machines that didn't really have an improvement either.  It already did sweet free motion.

The 15-91 is also NOISIER than the 201.  It has a smaller (though still large) harp space.  It does move to the right smoother in free motion than the 201, but I think I've already learned to compensate for this.  I still want to try out free motion embroidery, and specifically free motion embroidery without any foot.  I think this machine will do better at that job than any machine I've ever owned or played on. One day, I'd like to be, in my own style, as good as this guy.

It didn't follow me home

I emailed the seller over two nights about it and got up today after 4 hours of sleep to go get it.  I removed it from the cabinet for transport and didn't put it back in yet.  I know it's kind of nutty- this makes 4 machines in cabinets, total of 6 in my bedroom.  I have one more on the stair landing that is waiting for a 306k stitch regulator (if someone just happens by here and has a parts machine :)).   I spotted this while looking for a machine for someone else and they didn't want it. It kept calling me back to the page.

This is a  Singer 15-91, the "farmer's wife" and very similar to my 201-2 "dressmaker".  I have been loving that 201, the machine that started me on this SMAD thing, BUT!  Reading and reading and reading about these vintage machines had the opinions of several owners saying that the 91 does better free motion because of the oscillating bobbin.  The 201 is considered to be more "deluxe" and has a drop in.  I have free motioned very successfully and enjoyably on the 201, but I have not had good results trying free motion embroidery or thread painting on it.  While hand zigging a hoop under a needle without a foot, it consistently skips stitches as I zig to the left and does better when I zag to the right. Here's a video of some nice technique if you are unfamiliar with this particular skill.  Mostly, it just boils down to I wanted one of these.

So, I've been hankering for one of these for quite some time, and this one came along looking very shiny, in a nice cabinet with "attachments" and the original manual, for a fair price of $75.  It does have the bobbin cover slide plate, the bobbin case is sadly missing.  I've already ordered it and some extra bobbins.  I powered her up and she sounds powerful, clean, quiet and very well machined.  I saw no evidence of wiring decay and it looks like it was regularly serviced.  I got to meet the 96 year old original owner.  She told me she purchased it during WWII and had to pre-order and wait for it to become available, metal rationing.  Nice lady and nice family, and I think they were pleased that I seemed very competent with the machine and intended to use it.

I'm not buying ANYMORE unless it is cheaper than $15.00 or is an excellent treadle in an excellent base.  There is, after all, more fabric to acquire.

A singer 201-2

is a fine machine however, $25,000.00 is a steep price to pay.  Craigslist in Delaware, keeps my herd from growing too quickly.  I'm hoping this price is a typo, but most machines offered there are overpriced, some figure out of a non-sewing (or dusting, never mind tuning up) owner's head.

WELL.  Getting that photo to upload just took about 3 hours over 2 nights.  Until I finally thought to switch from edge to chrome.  Then, pow, thank you again Google!  The block itself, a free 12 inch finished twinkling star was warned to be "a bit challenging" and it was, but I was fairly pleased with the results.  I took my time, which ended up being about a week, and didn't feel bad at all about it.  It's not at all approaching perfection, but it's pleasing and finished. Win Win.

I pieced the block, and have done some mending on my own ''rare and one of a kind" 201.  Mine was supposed to be $20, but the owner ended up just giving it to me.  I had to rewire before it would run, scary but fun and addictive.

Of course it is not treadled, even though it's perched precariously on a treadle cabinet.  I just liked this gifted cabinet so much that I decided to put it to use.  I guess the machine could just fall through to the floor at anytime, it is not screwed in and the top has some splitting wood. I've been using it there for at least a year now and it hasn't even looked like it wants to fall.  I don't want to modify this cabinet in case the right machine comes along for it that CAN be treadled.  The insert area is actually for a 3/4 machine, and not a Singer brand.  I figure that smaller hole is the reason the 201 hasn't landed it's 40 or whatever pounds on my happily sewing feet. I've always liked to live a little dangerously, and now that I'm an old lady night shift worker I have to skirt danger where I can.  

UPDATE 10/25/15  That 201 above is marked down!  To $40.00!  Quite a reduction, I must say.  If it were closer to me.....

shaking my head

A local quilt shop is having a class for coiled fabric baskets- you know, you wrap fabric over a cotton rope and sew it in a coil, pretty and simple- and charging $25.00 for the class!!!  Ok, maybe those ladies go because it's recreational and social and they don't really care about what the class is.  Maybe none of them are drinkers, they'd never go to the bar for drinks (in my book a much better exchange for money).  But good grief!!!

A lot of things about crafting and especially quilting pisses me off.  I called out someone on their facebook page once about their quilt kit.  The quilt was being sold by the month with the fabric etc already in there, pre cut and color coded.  The person just had to get it out of the bag and put a 1/4 inch seam in it and they'd end up with exactly the same quilt as on the picture, a kind of paint by the numbers quilt.  If that isn't bad enough, the COST of the quilt was about 4x what you'd spend if you paid full retail for quality fabric etc.  I am just horrified by the whole deal, the lack of individual input, the price gouging.  The kit maker assured me lots of people liked the kits.  Sigh.

I know I'm cheap, but how can there be so many people happy to over spend on "crafty" CRAP, and so many willing to sell it to them?

Quilting

 
Somewhere around two years ago, I started a quilt from an even-then old sew along hosted by Leila of sewn by Leila.  I got maybe 9 blocks in and paused for a long while. When I returned, most of the tutorials had been removed and are now in available in a book by the blog author.  This one, cactus flower, was still up until I completed it a couple weeks ago, it has since gone.

I relearned about watching out for blended fabrics in my stash.  I'm fairly sure my prints are all 100% cotton, but I still have some too- pretty sea foam green and the solid white in this block.  I should have thrown it out but I'm pretty sure it got neatly folded and placed back on the shelf. The different fabric contents are what caused the wrinkling in the block above.  It went together fine, but a little steam shows pretty quickly the difference in shrinkage of the two fabrics I was considering redoing, but the pattern/tut was gone when I went back.  I like this too much to eliminate it, so it stays.

The cactus flower made me feel good enough to whip this one out the next day.  It looks a tad bit smaller than the 12 1/2 inches that it should be.  Might have to have a skinny little border before the border.

This one could be titled "Pinterest fail".  I saved the pieces, but even after giving up and sleeping and coming back later I could not get it together.  It is likely there were some errors in the directions- I searched up some other patterns for this size of "card trick" block that had some different measurements.  There was plenty of room for my own error as well.  I had to flip some of my HST's over backwards.  No matter what, I couldn't get the pattern together.  Very frustrating.

I then went to paper piecing.  I figured there is no other method that would give me the accuracy I was craving.  It was kind of painful for me to "waste" all the fabric this method requires me do.

Trying to trim it down prior to piecing resulted in immediate poor results.  I had to unpick this last diamond and recut and sew.  THAT'S waste!

Worth the effort though.

Completed beauty:  Star of Mystery by fresh lemons quilts.  This one got me jazzed enough to google my local quilt shop, see that I could get 20% off if I sewed two NICU gowns/smocks for premmie babies, sew said two smocks and trot down there today.  Very happy with my purchases.

Don't know how long this particular spurt will last, maybe I'll have a complete quilt to QUILT this fall!!! Piecing is not my most favorite part of the process.  All that sticking to the rules you know.  I'm getting ready to try my hand at some improv and see how that goes.  

Check spring replacement for Kenmore 158.900

I couldn't find a tutorial to replace the check spring on my good ole Kenmore model 90.  I have the owner's manual but not a service manual.  I just parked the machine in the cabinet for about a year while I debated whether to buy the entire upper tension assembly or get the spring and try to fix that.  Neither choice is very expensive, so I finally got the spring shipped from an eBay seller for less than $6.00 and experimented successfully.

I took what for me was "lots of pictures' to help if  I needed a memory nudge or even to look for something I hadn't registered at all when I was in the reassembly phase.  I was more interested in getting the job done than photographing so this probably doesn't qualify as a real tutorial.  It could help nudge someone in the right direction though, and might give you an idea whether this is something you would want to attempt on your own (Hint: if you totally screw up, you can eBay purchase the entire assembly for about $15.00. Cheaper than a Craftsy class. Go for it).

Elizabeth at My Sewing Machine Obsession had a lovely tutorial on newer model 158's, which at least clued me in to find the hidden set screw that held the assembly on. On the model 90, I had to open the door, to find it here:

As you might guess, it's in the middle hole, about even with the tension assy, not the holes top or bottom that line up with thread guides.  Once you get that set screw loosened enough (and follow Elizabeth's advice, loosen don't remove to prevent loosing the bitty thing) the assembly just pulls/wiggles out.

Here's the whole assembly out.  I confess I had to take it at least this far before I could  buy a new one because the eBay guys had 2 types that looked similar except for the back posts.  This one, I see now, is a short post.  This is the point where you take note where things line up.  I could see the broke end of the spring poking out with a straight line from top set screw hole through the spring exit point to the arrow that indicates the tension setting in front. I could also see that to get to that spring I had to make that bottom part come off.

 Here it is at the next step.  I didn't take notes, but I believe this happened just with pulling apart. You  can see the slightly dusty tension discs that hold your thread there, good time to give them a thorough cleaning.  I can't get to the spring yet, more disassembly required.  This time, more tiny easily striped screws are involved.

In photo above I'm holding the back section that still holds the spring. One of the two screws is visible next to the diagonal mark on the cutting board.  The two sections were held by those screws via holes indicated by vertical arrows.

If the spring doesn't pull out fairly easy, you may have to loosen the screws still in your last remaining piece.  I believe there were two of the large size indicated in pic above, and three more that are really really small. Something like 3 threads wrap around those almost flat babies.  Oh, and they are kind of soft and look like the little slot would love to rip up so it can't be used anymore.  Careful not to over tighten when putting back in, and it is nice if you have a screwdriver that actually fits them. Once the spring was out I simply did everything in reverse until it was reassembled.  I did wonder where to set the numbers in relation to the arrow for pushing back into the machine heat and at first had my lowest tension reading as kind of negative 5.  I took it back out and set the arrow on 0 for a happy ending.  Then I just checked tension by stitching and adjusted the bottom slightly.

A little cleaning and oiling for the heck of it.  I stopped to admire the features on this machine.

The machine is from the very early 60's and is all metal.  I don't really love the colors but I do dig the lines of it.  The bobbin winder is ole-timey but neatly tucked under the door by the hand wheel and works very nicely, thank you.

My granddaughter asked me if that widow was the miles counter.  It delighted me because this era did make machines that resembled cars.  It's actually to set zig zag width. She does take cams (which I don't have) for decorative stitches, but does a basic zig zag without having to open and install.  The round knob to the side of the zig zag width widow will decenter the needle to the left or right.  Yup, that feature is nothing new, something I took for granted with any zig zag, though I believe it's a feature 'basic' machines might not have now.

The feed dog up/down selector is very accessible, and the machine does beautiful free motion embroidery and quilting.  I admit I wouldn't want to wrestle with a large quilt in that small throat space, but it did some beautiful small pieces for me.  It has a remarkably un-fussy tension.  Matter of fact, it took light to mid-weight fabrics without issue even with the broken spring. I just thought the time would come when I'd need the check spring to do it's intended job with some slippery or speciao fabric or thread. The machine also has a presser foot pressure adjustment dial and I don't know what all other features that may impress, it was just a good solid machine.

Made in Japan. See the J-A4 stamped in there?  Japan rocked machine making for American names like Kenmore, Wards, etc for many years.

After cleaning, oiling, and fine tuning I did a quick little sewing project just to show her some love.

Grandbaby jammies, shocking choice I know.  I was very aware of how s-l-o-w this machine sews in comparison to my singer 201-2, and even the 401-A.  This was one of the reasons my (11 year old) granddaughter loved it though.  She feels more in control on it.  It's still strong as only machines from that era seem to be.  And the button- holer, sigh!  It makes the button holes of my dreams, really really nice and really easy.  It's almost worth keeping the machine on hand for those sweet buttonholes alone!  Though the one I have for the 201 is close competition.  

These beat out every other button hole system I ever had on (all newer, including top of the line computerized machine of the 90's) any other machine.  A joy for both ease and professional appearance.  I sewed my holes for more than 20 years without one of these, and can't stress how much I love these since discovery.  Why did manufacturers stop making these, when they work so darn well?????

All in all, a long post because I'm glad to have this one back in the herd!

Been sewing for the babies

and littles and have NO pictures.  I did a rush job on a ruffled romper and shoes and two bonnets that had to travel up to NYC and didn't take any photos.  I just finished a circle skirt for the dance school -attending 4 year old.  Matter of fact, I also made a maxi skirt and matching halter top for the 11 year old and didn't photograph that either.  They all turned out fairly well, I just wasn't in the mood to get out the camera.  I was seriously tempted with the hem of the circle skirt done with the narrow hem foot.  Maybe because it's almost all bias hem on a circle skirt, but it looked better than any other hem I've ever done with that foot.

Which got me wondering:

 

WHY does a foot as intricate as the flat-felled or narrow hemmer cost $5 or $10 dollars online for a generic foot, but all these ruler toe  manufacturers feel ok charging $80 for a circular foot.  Ok, maybe they can call it a niche and claim they want to ensure they get paid for development and casting some kind of mold, whatever they have to do to make them.  But STILL.  Especially when I can get a good quality free motion foot for $15 or so.  I just would like one that put me 1/4 inch away from a ruler edge no matter what part of the foot I was banking on the ruler.  It could be an acrylic toe, I'd have no complaints.  I feel it's dishonest to charge that much.  My opinion.