Singer 301A --- Thank You Mister

As you may recall, Mister purchased a Singer 301A for my birthday and he has spent the last few days out in the yard working on cleaning and restoring it.  There has been a beautiful breeze out and our spring is amazing for Texas.  I cannot stress enough how much I appreciate the effort he has put forth on my behalf.  It is so nice to be treated so special.  The following picture is one of the before shots and you can see the discoloring on the metal.

He worked and worked and worked for 3 days to clean not only the exterior, but to totally disassemble it and clean each of the mechanisms inside.

The results are amazing and other than a small scratch that happened during shipping, it is perfect.

What do you think?  I am so happy to have it - now we can get my regular machine worked on and I don't have to stop sewing in the meantime.

The greatest part:  IT WORKS!  So fun to take the first few stitches.  After just a small tension adjustment, everything is perfect.  I could not be more happy.  It's kinda fun to sew outside as well.  Now I am on the hunt for a treadle so that I can do just that.  Gotta love these vintage machines.

A New Iron Tote

I returned from grocery shopping to find Mister outside working on the measurements for a new quilted iron tote/portable ironing pad that I can use at meetings, classes, and workshops.  I guess that means I have to get busy as well.  We had picked out the fabrics awhile back and I love the bright colors.

As soon as he finished, I set to work making the sandwich and then hand binding it.  Attaching the handles last leaves me with my finished project.  Now, I only hope that it fits the iron.  Yay!

Sewing For the Girls

There have been multiple projects going on around the house the past month.  It seems as though they have all come together this past week.  Mister finished the quilt frame, we both finished the tea set, and I finished the matching outfits for Elena, Zyra, and Malea.  Whew.  We have certainly spent a great deal of time in the studio lately.  This doesn't mean that there aren't still a ton of things we are in the middle of, BUT ---- we did finish a few.

Tea Time for Miss Elena

Many years ago (oh, let's say 20) a ceramic shop in Billings was going out of business and I bought quite a bit of the greenware.  I boxed it up and put it away for a time when my children were grown and had families and homes of their own.  Then, about 5 years ago, many changes happened in my life and I had to go through my stash and purge.  I was able to keep a few of the pieces of greenware and put them away hoping for a chance to put them to use still.  Finally, one of my chances arrived.  My granddaughter, Elena, is all girl and loves to have tea parties with her dolls.  She is turning 4 this year and so I decided it was time to give her something special - a handmade tea set.  So, I dug out the greenware and started in on it.

First step was to clean it, smoothing out all the raw edges and mold marks.  Then, off to Trinity Ceramic Supply, a local shop that makes their own glazes.  With underglazes in tow, I set to work putting the color directly onto the greenware.

This was a new technique to me but I loved working with the product and was excited to see my project come to life.   I loved how they turned out -- next step was off to the kiln for the first firing.  At this point, my daughter let me know that the party was an "Alice in Wonderland Tea Party" and I could not believe my luck.  I have the perfect gift.

Yay!  First firing went well!  No cracks and the glaze worked just as I had hoped.  Now to clear glaze for the final firing.  Again, I was nervous as I had been an abundant glazer in the past and did not want a repeat of past experiences.  No runs please!  Back to the kiln and wait the 4 days to pick it up.  I was so scared -- please let it all have worked.  When I walked into BPERS to collect my project, it was all sitting out on display.  It was perfect!  The owner said she searched for problems and couldn't find a single one.  Oh my -- I was doing the happy dance.

Now I had the dilemma of how to get it to Montana for the party and at the same time provide a storage place for the tea set so that it didn't have as great a chance as breaking once Miss Elena owns it.  It just so happens that there is a Tuesday Morning within walking distance from the house.  A quick trip down and I had found the perfect box.  Another YAY!  During a recent cleaning of the studio, I had come across 4 foam seat cushions that were almost a perfect fit for the box and now it was Mister's turn on the project.

He had to make the foam fit just right by slicing off one end of the square on all four cushions.  Next, cut out all the shapes so that the pieces locked in place and yet were protected.
After 4 hours, he had a finished project.  Hopefully the next time we tackle something like this, it will go a little quicker since we have a small idea of how to go about it.

Here is our finished product -- all boxed and ready to be hand carried by me onto the plane.  Isn't it oh so cool?

And just so you can see the box -- isn't it pretty?  I love how the colors went so well -- it was a lucky shopping day.

OH - in case you didn't notice --- the studio cleaning took place during this project.  LOL -- that is why the room looks different.  Upper picture is also pre spilt glaze -- in the lower picture you can see where it stained the rug.  Yep, not everything went perfectly.

My New Quilt Frame -- Thanks Mister!!

We are both moving into quilt mode around here.  We have books, magazines, new sewing machines, and fabric everywhere!  Mister has been building my new quilt frame this week and as I was sewing in the studio, he was working away in the yard.  I did hear a few words that I won't print here, but he kept after it and the finished project is awesome.

Next, we had to completely rearrange the den to fit the frame in the house -- yep, that bugger is long.  Once we had it in the house, it was time to learn how to put a quilt on.  Fortunately, I had finished a top and it was ready to go on the frame.  After many tries and a small temper flare-up by me, we got it.  Once again, it will go much quicker the next time.  Now to start poking holes in my fingers.

Yarn Shopping and Errands

Mister and I were out running errands and I wanted to pick up some yarn to make a few scarves so we stopped off at my fav yarn spot, Holley's Yarn Shoppe.  While there I saw this very cool item.  It takes the coils of yarn and rolls them into a ball.  Dang it was sweet.  And double dang -- I remember sitting and holding my arms apart with the yarn around them while it was hand wrapped into a ball.  I am pretty sure this is NOT modern technology, but it is way more advanced than what I was used to.  Too cool.

Time Sewing with Cass

Cassie's grandmother is turning 80 and all the grand and great-grandchildren are making a small quilt as a gift for her.  Each one is to do something that "Grandma would like" and since Cass has been out of town working for the past week she is behind the eight ball on getting it done by the deadline.  I pitched in to help and also give myself some fun Momma/Daughter time.

We took over my sewing room and Mister kept us supplied with patterns, food, and drinks while we worked.  He was great at finding patterns online that we could work with easily.  Grandma loves flowers and so we settled on a pansy and a violet.  Once we finished creating the applique flowers and had them ironed in place, it was time to blanket stitch all the way around.

We moved into the office in the house to sit back and do the finish work a little more comfortably while still being able to visit and hear all about her time in Austin during SXSW.  She always has so many funny stories to tell - airports are a gold mine for those.

We think the squares turned out well -- how about you?