15-88 Singer Treadle post #5

Hi Everyone,
Sorry I took a break from my blog but.....MAN O MAN have I been busy. I think you can agree that the holidays are just a very busy time and there are not enough hours in the day sometimes.
Anyway, I hopped a plane to Albuquerque, NM to meet my new Great Granddaughter.

She is just the cutest little bundle of joy and is such a wonderful addition to our family. I love her so much and I hate being so far away from her and my granddaughter, but with today's technology I can video chat with them anytime we wish.
I also had to get a cavity on one of my lower teeth taken care of. Don't you just hate having a tooth ache when it's Christmas time and there are so many goodies around?!?!? Ha Ha!
Then there's work, always busy with that even on days that aren't hectic.
Anyway, today I would like to introduce you to another one of the sewing machines in my arsenal. This one is a Singer 15-88 Treadle machine.  After looking up her serial number on the Singer site, it shows she was made in 1952 and there are 50,000 of these beauties out there from that year.  Very popular!!!

And...yes, I do use her.  I made a cover for the back seat in my truck with her.  Treadling takes a little practice but after a while it really is very easy.  After taking her out for pictures, I think I will do some paper piecing on her.  I don't remember when I got her, maybe 5 years ago......could be 8......but I purchased her at a local auction for somewhere in the vicinity of $30.  $30 can you BELIEVE it?!?!?  ONLY $30????  The wood for the table is messed up, why do people put plants on these tables then over water?  Anyway, someday I will get the wood refinished, but for now I will enjoy sewing on her.

She is in perfect condition and sews like a dream.  Perfect stitches and a great seam.  I did have to clean her up and get her fine tuned.  Now she's a little work horse.  Great for any kind of stitching, but knowing me......quilts, quilts and more quilts.
I have another new addition but it's not a sewing machine.  I've been bugging my husband for years that I want a little VW bug.  Well....now I have one.  Yes, we got it at an auction for a very good price.  A 1973 VW bug.  

This one needs lots of work, it will be striped down, painted, all the repairs made and then I'll have my little 'buggy' I've always wanted.
I hope Santa was as good to you as he was to me.  Happy New Year to all of you out there, take care.
Until next time,
Michelle

Monday December 4 post #4

Well, today is December 4th.  Wow, how this year has flown by!  We had the party for my sewing group the 'Old Dollies' on Saturday.  That was so much fun.  We played some games, the candy cane game, where you had to put a candy cane in your mouth and with the hook end pick up other candy canes and see how many you could put on your plate.  You were not allowed to use your hands.  They put us in teams of two and who ever won would play the winner in the next team and so on.  There was a Christmas tree made out of horse shoes.  It was really cute.  I didn't get a picture and I did not win.  But it was a real fun game. The lady who won it was so happy, she would have done anything to get that little horseshoe tree! 
We also played the 'fat quarter' game.  For those out there who have played this game, you know how fun it is.  You all start out with 3 fat quarters of fabric and by the end of the game they are all in the center but one.  The one who is holding the last fat quarter wins the entire pile in the center.  I didn't win that one either.  Alas......  The girl in our group who doesn't sew won it.  Huh!?!?!?!?!???  She loves to color on fabric with gel pens.  She heat sets them when she's finished and then they can be put into quilts or any project she likes.
We did a gift exchange, White Elephant style where you could steal someone gift.  That is always real fun.  Everyone got a wonderful gift and I'm sure we will play it again next year.
We also had a pot luck.  Yum!!!  Always love those pot lucks.  The only thing is we didn't sew at all, we just had our party in lieu of the monthly sewing get together.  I can't wait until next month when we will all be sewing again.  It was a nice trade off, I always love a good party. 
I do have multiple projects going tho.  I am going to quilt a donation quilt for a local animal rescue called "Res-Que".  A friend put it together and I'm going to put an E2E, (edge-to-edge), all over design of paw prints on it.

I'll finish it up with the binding too.  This will be raffled off so I hope it brings in a bunch of money for the animals who need it.
I've also got a couple of cross stitch projects I can't wait to start.  Here's a couple...

Aren't they just the cutest??? 
I love Christmas time and this year is going to be another wonderful Christmas.  I hope it is for all of you too.
Until later, keep on stitchin,
Michelle

Ornament finished 11/29/17 post #3

Hi,
Well, I really, actually finished my ornament cross stitch project.  I always mean to finish projects it just seems that I start more than finish......
Here it is

I ended up putting a little poly stuffing in it to make it like a little pillow.  I love it and I hope whoever gets it in the ornament exchange loves it too.
Today I don't have much time for blogging, I just wanted to show my finished project and show a 'stitch along' I will be starting in December with Priscilla and Chelsea.  They are on the 'floss tube' you tube network and are a kick to watch.  I love their finished projects.  They are a mother/daughter and very fun to watch.
This is the project

It's a Country Cottage Needle works project called "Forest Snowfall".
It looks fun and not that hard to do.  I should complete this one.......if I just keep plugging away on them at night when I sit in my comfy chair.........if I don't fall asleep.  Well, sometimes 'you gotta do what you gotta do'.
I'm currently quilting some tree skirts on my long arm machine.  There are two of them and belong to a customer and are SUPER cute.

the design is an all over edge-to-edge I got from Urban Elementz called Prancer.
Love it!!!
Have a great day,
Michelle

Cross stitch ornament 11/28/17 post #2

Good Morning,
I have been doing a little bit of cross stitching at night.  The Old Dollies are getting together this Saturday and there is an ornament exchange.  I am working on a cross stitch for my ornament.
This one was very easy and fast. 

I found the pattern in this magazine.  I really liked it, there's a ton of ornament cross stitch patterns in here. 

Today I will finish putting it all together and show what it looks like tomorrow.   Even though ours is a quilting group many of us just sew on whatever we want to bring.  I believe cross stitch is also another favorite of some of the ladies too.
On to my sewing machines.  I started sewing, I believe when I was 7 or 8 years old on my mother's Singer 185K.  A little green machine that I loved very much.  I remember wanting to sew on her all the time but if my mom couldn't stand over me and watch me she didn't want me using it.  She told me 'your going to hurt yourself'.  You know how mom's can be.....anyway, my mom worked the second shift at the hospital and my dad was home with us kids.  My dad didn't have a problem letting me sew when mom was at work.  He would take the machine out for me and let me go....weeeeeee!!!  I learned a lot about that machine.  I would fix what I needed to.  At that point it was just figuring out why my thread was all bunched up underneath the fabric or why it wouldn't stitch right and replacing the needle.  But I did it.  About a year ago I found this little beauty at an auction and had to have her...

She is the spittin image of the one I learned on.  She is a little work horse.  I haven't named her as some people do.  I have so many machines and I'm real bad at remembering names so I just haven't named any of them.  It's so fun to sew on the older vintage machines.  They were made to do a straight stitch only and for quilting that is such a good thing for those 1/4" seam allowances.  That's why many people like the Singer Featherweights, they only weigh 11 pounds.  This Singer 185K  machine is a 3/4 size machine of the full size Singers but it weighs a ton.  Okay, 30 pounds, but that is a lot especially for a little kid.  Even now it's still heavy, but I love her.
All the machines I purchase I take apart, clean, replace what needs replacing and put them back together again.  My husband is an electrician so if I ever get stumped on the electrical he helps me out and changes the wiring if I can't do it.  This really helps! But most of the time I do it as I have really learned a lot about all my machines.  So that's my introduction to the first of many of my sewing machines.  The Singer 185k.
Anyway, I better go for today.  I need to finish up that ornament and I have customers quilts that need to be finished.  Aaaaahhhhh.......did I say that I LOVE my job?
Have a wonderful Tuesday and I will be back soon.
Happy Stitchin,
Michelle

The Scrappy Bee Michelle post #1 11/27/17

Hi,
My name is Michelle and I am a wife, sister, daughter, aunt, mother, grand mother and very recently became a great grand mother.  I am a quilter, an embroiderer by machine and hand.  I cross stitch and I am a tole painter.  Sometimes I have a lot to say, ok.....most of the time I have a lot to say and sometimes I don't have much to say.  This blog will be about my work, quilting.  I am a professional Long Arm Quilter.  I have been quilting for close to thirty years and got my first long arm machine in 2014.
I love it!!!  In 2016 I upgraded to a new machine, my Gammill Classic Plus.  Shortly after that I started my business here in Reno, NV called 'The Scrappy Bee Quilting Services'.
I belong to a group of quilters here in Reno and we call ourselves 'The Old Dollies'.  We are a fun group and meet once a month at my studio to visit, eat and sew the day away.  It's so much fun and I love all the wonderful ladies in our group.
I also LOVE sewing machines.  I have a healthy collection, some may call me crazy but I love collecting them.  I clean them, tune them, replace any parts that need replacing and use them each occasionally.  I will be introducing them to you as my blog progresses.  I believe I have.....hummmmm......40 machines here in my studio.  Crazy HUH?!?  I believe I have at least 6 or 7 more at home.  I told you, I LOVE my sewing machine.  I don't love any one over the other,  I don't have a preferred brand, I love them all.  I have been collecting them for many years.

I also love my dogs and my birds.  I have a bunch of Mini Schnauzers and an African Grey and a Double Yellow Headed Amazon.  There is never a dull moment in my house.
I have a few things I am currently working on and can't wait to share my progress with you.
Thank you for reading my blog, if you've stuck with me this far.  🙂
I will be posting when time allows, and to share my current projects.
Have a Wonderful day and "Keep On Stitchin".
Michelle