Wednesday, July 28, 2010

What I'm working on...

I have a day off from kid and kitten sitting today so thought I would show you what I'm working on... my Featherweight and also the Singer in a cabinet I found at the local thrift shop.


But first, my helper Jules, checking out the box that the Featherweight came in... to make sure I took everything out, I'm sure.












The Featherweight in all it's tiny glory.  It was born in October 1950.  It sews a beautiful stitch.  I joined a forum so I could ask questions about how to oil and lubricate it, to keep it in good running condition.

And this is the larger Singer machine in a cabinet.  I have a lot of research to do to find out what type of machine it is.  It may be an older machine than the FW is.  But it's in good condition except for the belt, which is replaceable, and sews a really nice stitchline.




So, I'll be on the internet doing research and asking lots of questions to nail down the year and model of this cabinet Singer.

It's going to be fun to sew an entire quilt on one or the other of these old machines.  I sewed my wedding dress on my mother's treadle machine... oh, how I wish I had that one now....

So that's my update about what I will be doing on this overcast morning.  :-))

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Not quilting yet...

There's a reason that I haven't been able to post for the past weeks but where do I start?  I guess I should have said there are many reasons that I haven't posted lately.... first of all being that I have to do whatever I can to help my children when they need help.

Liza went to the SF area to help with her brother's household on June 1st and will return on August 5th, a little earlier than planned.  TYJ  She has had to deal with a lot while there.  Her big dog, Thor, was hit by a car and killed in front of the house.  She and her brother had spent the night calling and searching for him; he was found in the ditch by her brother as he was leaving for work the next morning.  Beautiful Thor was cremated and is coming home to rest with his master, Shawn, who died two years ago.  Liza had a hard time dealing with her guilt about not keeping Thor safe... so that's been one issue.


My other daughter, Laura, was left behind to watch over 2 cats, 2 fish tanks, and 8 chickens as well as one acre of lawn, plants and a garden.  She's had a tough time maintaining all of that in addition to holding down a fulltime job.  It didn't help that she adopted a kitten a few weeks ago who needs day care (which I'm doing) and a raccoon attack on the chickens (Mr. Pants, the white Silkie was taken) which required that she have a new and sturdier chicken house built.  Then there's the temperature.... in the 80's.  Whew!
















My son and his wife have two boys, who aren't old enough to be alone all day so whenever one gets signed up for acting theatre classes and has to be taken on a 35 minute ferry ride, then a 30 minute bus ride every morning to arrive at 9am, I step in to keep the other kid company for the day.  Acting class lasts all this week so I have a small kitten (my big boys aren't too happy about the visitor) and a 9-year old boy to take care of for the week.  Next week they both go to swim camp but they stay over all week so no driving back and forth.  TYJ


Then, next week I fly down to SF to accompany my dd on her drive back north to come home.  At last!  Someone to take care of the chickens, the chicken house, the cats and the fish as well as the garden, lawn and plants.  Hurray!  I can hardly wait.

Managed to take a couple of days in the middle of the month and drive over to see the Pacific ocean which I really miss.  Even though I live on an island, it's in Puget Sound and is miles from the ocean.  The sights were wonderful along the seashore.  It was a fun trip with Laura; we checked out Forks (the vampire town from the movies) and had lunch there.


So that's my sad story.  Busy, busy, busy!  But I'll soon be back relaxing in my comfortable living room, watching my favorite shows (the Tudors starts this week) ...quilting and blogging to my heart's content.... with the help of my 'boys'.

I am still on the hunt for that yellow mustard color fabric to start on my next quilt though... no stopping me on that.