This Mama Got a Brand New Baby!!

Hi y'all!

My Most Recent Acquisition

 Well, she's new only to me.....How new can she be when she was minted about the same time I was (1948 to 1950)?  OK, now I've told the whole world how old I am...LOL!

It started innocently enough on Thursday when some little voice told me to check the antiques section of Craig's List.  I check occasionally but not everyday.  I always click on ads for "vintage sewing machine" just because I love to look at the pics of them.  Lo and behold, the ad opened to a picture of a beautiful perfect little featherweight!  Since the title had included $120 I was doubly gobsmacked to find a FW listed at that price!

Right away I sent a reply to the seller, asking to see the machine.  Apparently there is a problem with replying on Craig's List on our computers.  It says your e-mail was sent and then it says that it wasn't sent.  Just like a computer---infuriating.  I chose to believe the first but apparently the latter was the truth.  My DH told me about this problem a couple of hours later when I told him about the FW for sale.  I tried again, going directly into my e-mail account and copy-pasting the Craig's List code into the e-mail address.  This method worked fine.  But I didn't get a reply from the seller that evening so I figured he had been inundated with eager buyers.

Yesterday, he called me!  Yes, the machine was still for sale and, yes, I could go see it at 7:30!  WOW
DH and I drove over, it wasn't far.

She was a beauty.  But then my heart sank when I saw that there was no bobbin case.  I asked him about it, and he said that all he had was what was with the little FW.  Then I looked in a little box of accessories and found the bobbin case.  WOW, again.

A Great Little Accessory Case Came with It

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the motor ran great.  I told DH in code that I wanted it.  The code is "I think this will do what I want to do with it."  He then had the NERVE to ask if the seller would take $100.  The answer was "Well, I guess so."  I was already getting out the money.

 This morning I spent some time cleaning her, making her shine again.  I put in a new needle, one drop of oil in the race, threaded her up and did a test sew-out.  The stitching was to die-for perfect!  And the sound she made while stitching was a contented, soft, "Tick, tick, tick."

Adhesive Gunk Left Behind

 Here is a project for me, removing all the gunk left behind after I removed the unsightly tape on the machine bed.  After this picture was taken, I took after it with WD-40 and removed about half of it.  More soaking and rubbing should do the trick.

A Successful Sew-Test!

At this point I decided to determine her birthdate.  I turned her over and discovered the oddest thing.
No serial number!  The AJ does give approximate date of manufacture, 1948 to 1950, but the rest of the plate where her unique serial number should be was as smooth as glass, totally blank!   I would love to hear from anybody who has seen this before.

Where Are the Missing Serial Numbers?

I am as happy as a cat in catnip, but I do have one problem.  I'm up to eight sewing machines now and three of them are Featherweights.  Maybe I won't look at Craig's List today.

A Little Bit of This....and a Little Bit of That

That pretty much sums up what I have been doing lately.  And it's been very peaceful and enjoyable.  I'm tying up loose ends and totally loving it.  But before I get too far into that, let me show you the first of several Mothers Day gifts that I received.

Ondie Delivered My Balloon!

I usually rise before anyone else, and when Jerry and Ondie get up, Jerry gives Ondie the command, "Find Mom!"  On Sunday morning, Ondie arrived in my sewing room with a Mothers Day balloon attached to his collar.  Aaawww!   I had to record this with my camera.  Here is another picture of Ondie:

My Perky Ondie

Ondie just turned one year old and he is the delight of my day, everyday.  He has done well in his first beginning odedience class and we will start another set of classes at the park in a few weeks.  He is sharp and knows so may words we have lost count, so don't say anything in front of him unless you want him to know about it!  He started out being Mom's boy, but now he is an adolescent, he seems to be equally devoted to both of us.  Jerry takes him to Lowe's and Home Depot several times a week and he loves going to those places.  He gets petted by adults and children alike and gets doggy treats from his favorite checker.

I put a quilt on the frame this week to be quilted by Emma and Electra.  It is a gorgeously colorful little thing that I am quilting for a customer.  Right now I'm trying to decide on the quilting design.  I picked out a lovely tangerine quilting thread for it.

Don't These Colors Just Pop!

I did get my thrift shop fabrics washed, ironed, and trimmed into strips.

The biggest project that I'm working on is the backing for Lemaster's Old Tobacco Road.  I posted a pic of this back in January that was taken in Bonnie Hunter's class that I took.  I brought the top for Show & Tell.

  If I'm EVER to get it quilted, the first thing it needs is a backing!   So I gathered up lots of strips and pieces of a yard or less to make random rows, punctuated by orphan blocks and leftovers.

An insertion leftover from the top's border

Since the color story of the top is brown, green, yellow and orange, that's what I used on the back.

 

 
Some of these orphan blocks have been in a drawer since the 80's!

Personalized

 

 

 

 

Some of the horizontal strips before being sewn together.

Well, that's been my fun and games.  I think I'll get back to it.

See ya,