My new/old Featherweight was purchased in celebration of my milestone birthday this year. I am now the oldest living female in the matriarchal line of my family! Yeah! An accomplishment worth celebrating...along with the marvels of modern medicine and healthier living...thank you Lord. Anyway, back to my fantastic Birthday present from DH...
Here is the story of my Featherweight:
DH started watching on EBay in April and started asking me questions about what I liked about this one and didn't like about that one, etc. for several weeks. In late April he started bidding and lost bids on several along the way. He was perfecting his bidding technique and what he was looking for...lol. On May 4th, he was the winning bidder (by $2.00) for this beautiful cleaned, serviced, and adjusted 1948 FW with a case, foot/controller, 7 feet/attachments and 4 bobbins and the original Manual. It has a little wear to the decals, but she is 65 years old!!! What else is new!!! In honor of my Mother-in-Law, I have named her Garnet.
Here is what I wrote in the QCA thread about why I chose that name:
weezee56:
Donna B, Have you got a name picked out for your new old FW.
Actually I have been giving this some thought. Believe it or not, I am thinking of naming it in honor of my DMIL...Garnet...for her love of fabric and sewing.
I had learned to sew many years before DH and I started dating and then married, but DMIL taught me a great deal about sewing that I had never learned before. She didn't make pieced quilts, but did garments by the hundreds every year for 14 grand’s, her DD and 2 DIL's. She learned on a Singer treadle machine (went to another family member), but had a New Home for daily use by the time I knew her well. But she still used that old treadle machine on occasion! For many years she managed a yardage store at Newberry's at the Portland, OR Lloyd Center (one of the first shopping centers in the NW). I remember her coming home from working all day and sewing until after midnight - night after night. It definitely was her relaxation of choice! I helped her make many “quilts” in the 60’s and 70’s from sheets (F & B)…tying them with yarn and then self-binding. My sons all have their “quilts” made by Grandma that they treasure.
There are others who have influenced my love of fabric and sewing over the years and I have thought about them too, but Garnet wins out, hands down…so this machine will be named “Garnet”. (I honestly do think of her almost every time I sit down at a sewing machine. She passed about 12 years ago at 92 yo and I still miss her!)
So, here is Garnet:
And another view with the original manual:
Now I am buying "accessories", etc for her. This first order including the Nanccy Johnson-Srebro book "Featherweight 221 The Perfect Portable" (a must have reference for FW owners), a small maintenance kit (includes oil, lube, screwdriver, crocus cloth, and fine abrasive wire), 10 bobbins, and 2 replacement lightbulbs. (DH had promptly tried to remove the original in the machine and broke the base.) This order was from www.sewingmachines221sale.com :
Second order was for mainly a sewing guide, but also decided while I was at it to get a replacement felt for the bottom and since it was a very good price, a few more bobbins:
Here is a close up of the sewing guide installed on my FW:
If you are interested in this guide, the name of the website should be clearly visible in this photo above. If not, its www.suncatcher-tx.com
I just found out from Nana that I have this seam-guide on backwards. Being left-handed, that is nothing new, I am always being called back-wards...lol! Apparently, the guide should be turned around with the name facing the back of the machine and the front of the guide even with the front of the machine. I will switch mine around soon...or when I get to it...lol!!!
Bunco Buddy Lindsey is expecting Baby #2 in August 2013 and a Baby Shower was planned for our May Bunco night. Of course, this required a baby quilt. Lindsey and her DH, prefer to not know the sex of their children in advance of the birth...going the old-fashioned way of having the excitement of the unknown.
I purposely chose this large 8-pointed star pattern because a) it is simple and a fairly easy and quick pattern to accomplish and b) it lets the fmq and the fabrics be the stars of the quilts...which I like. This gave me some room to try some "larger" fmq patterns than I normally do (not-stippling) and to do some edge-stitching around the floral designs for fmq practice. This was a very fun quilt to do!
Here is the finished quilt front, back, and then some detail shots:
We have an annual event here in the Methow Valley of North Central Washington State. Basically, a celebration and tribute to our canine pals and often skiing buddies! It is a 6 legged event with 2 skis (hopefully 4 on the dog and 2 on an accompanying person), leash required and no ski poles allowed. Costumes are a big part of this event and are the primary competition with a race among kids 12 & under, 12-18, adults with dogs under 40 #, and adults with dogs over 40#. It is a really fun event - even for the spectators! This year we had a huge crowd of locals and visitors cheering on the dogs and their owners. It was a very fun morning! Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. (Note, you should be able to click and zoom in on these photos for a close-up look.)
In the kids, 12 & U:
(Didn't get the name of this little girl's costume)
I caught this picture just before the chicken crashed (boy in blue's dog decided to visit the chicken's dog and the poor chicken took a little tumble! He got right back up and finished the parade!!!
This is "Robin" and his trusty side kick:
In the adult category, here was "Wild Bill" (and part of his dog...sorry)
And this is Princess Lea... (I have to tell a little story about Princess Lea. First of all, I was the cashier for the event sponsored by the Methow Valley Nordic Club with all proceeds going to our County Animal Welfare Programs. Princess Lea arrived (not yet in her costume) to register, but did not have the small entry fee. She apparently thought the event was free (it is for kids under 12, but adults pay a small fee). Lea kind of stops to think and then says that she has gone to too much trouble to put this costume together to not enter now. She says I will be back in a minute with the fee...AND SHE WAS!!! It was a GREAT costume, but not quite great enough...so keep watching!
And this is a local valley quilter (Lynette) who does beautiful work, but sadly I haven't convinced her to join QCA yet! She was a swiss yodeling skier! ( I LOVE her knitted leggings!!!)
This costume was a "puffin":
In the front is, I believe, a "fairy" and behind her the nun's costume title was " heaven and heck" (the dog was dressed as the devil):
This was little red riding hood and the wolf:
On the left, the black lab and owner were "a wolf in sheep's clothing":
(and look to the next picture for the next skier/dog combo)
This combo won the grand prize (the Golden Poodle Award) for the best costume of the year!
They were Bing Crosby (in his fishing outfit, complete with pipe and fishing pole) and his dog is dressed up as a salmon!
It was absolutely perfect...a really great costume! Everyone loved it!
Princess Lea came in 2nd in the costume category. I don't remember who was third...and I may not have gotten a picture of that entry.
And I should add, that I only got pictures of less than half of all the entries...but definitely the ones I liked the best.
It was really a fun morning. Hope all you animal lovers enjoy the pictures!
This was a thank you gift to friends for letting us use their beach cabin on the Oregon Coast, Summer 2012.
Mini-Log Cabin fish blocks done with help from Judy E (Enumclaw, WA) at the QCA Leavenworth Retreat Oct 2012. The following pictures are from the Retreat with the blocks in progress.
First Block done! Yeaa!!!
Full credit goes to Judy E (behind me and to the left):
Two blocks done and selecting the "seaweed" fabric for block # 3:
And all 3 done and on the design wall:
That is as far as it got at the retreat. Then it was a search for the perfect beach related fabric for the set-in triangles. Beach related fabric is NOT easy to find in Eastern Washington State! So, decided this was a very good excuse to make our short trip into New England into a Quilty Shop Hop also...looking for beach fabric. We (really I) had hoped to make it to Keepsake Quilting, but that just wasn't going to happen (just too far away from where we were), so I had to settle for the few shops in the area of eastern Connecticut and Massachusetts. Luckily, I found the perfect fabric!
I used a scallop motif on my embroidery module for the quilting in the set-in triangles; FMQ stippling around the motifs. Stitch in the ditch for the rest of the quilt to let the fish blocks stand out on their own.
All in all, I am very happy with it and hope our friends will enjoy it. I learned a lot from Judy E making these mini-log cabin blocks! Will I do them again? Not for awhile, but you never know. (In fact, I actually made four 1/4 inch log mini-mini-blocks as corner-stones for sashings, but decided that idea was making the wall-hanging too wide for the space for this. So, they are going into the orphan block tub for now...lol!) Thanks again Judy E!!!
I attended a 2-day intensive machine embroidery workshop at the Quilting Bee in Spokane, WA on November 14, 15, 2012 - taught by Claudia Dinnell. Claudia proved to be an extraordinary teacher with a knack for simplifying instructions and teaching a very diversified group of skill levels at one time. Our class had 22 students, and she handled this group beautifully with patience and skill every moment of the two days. I also found that she is an excellent designer and digitizer of machine embroidery work. Her designs are extremely well planned with logical starts and stops, very minimal jumps, and well organized and choreographed placement guides...making multiple hoopings easier than I had every before imagined. I would recommend any machine embroiderer attend one of her workshops - even the most experienced will come away with many new tips an tricks!
So, here are a few pictures to show you this workshop:
Here is our instructor, Claudia Dinnell (a very warm, friendly, easy to listen to speaker):
I attended the workshop with a friend, Lisa C from Tonasket, WA. Here is Lisa:
The Quilting Bee in Spokane had the largest Classroom setting I have ever seen. Take a look:
Here is the front of my beautiful Bernina 830 LE:
(known around my house as "Princess B")
The following Pictures are of Claudia's quilts on display (made from her embroidery/quilting designs):
This is "Over the meadow and through the woods...":
This is (I believe) called "Pledge of Allegiance":
This quilt was my favorite! I just loved the snowmen sayings on this quilt!!! (zoom in for a laugh)
An for you Halloween lovers, one of the cutest Pumpkins I have ever seen:
Claudia also teaches a digitizing class using Bernina V6 Software. This is the quilt she uses in that class:
(Everyone designs one for their own family.)
This combination applique/machine embroidery quilt was absolutely stunning. I loved it!
And this, was stupendous!!! The quilt is called "Claudia's Baltimore" :
Next is the Quilt we were working on for this workshop, called "Twas the Night..." - and wouldn't you know, I didn't get a good full shot of the finished quilt (its the one laying on the table)!
I may have neglected to get a full picture of the quilt, but I did get lots of pictures of the FMQ detail:
Claudia does not profess to be an expert FM quilter, but I liked many of the designs she used for different areas of this quilt.
Next, a few quilts from some of Claudia's students (who had been in previous classes with her):
And last but certainly not least, are my QCA friends who joined me for lunch in Spokane:
(From L to R: Donna B, Gini, Jacey, & Patti)
Day Three at the Oregon Coast for us! This morning, we decided to do something a little different and went for a short hike in the Culver City Wetland Preserve. Culver City was an early coastal settlement that became part of Taft early in the 20th century. It was a fishing village at the mouth of the Siletz River and amazingly, this plot of land was never developed into canneries and/or home sites. This little gem is only about 3 blocks from the cottage where we stayed! It is a mix of salt marsh wetlands and higher areas with spruce trees and native rhododendrons that are over 15 feet tall. Here are a few pictures:
Here are some spruce branches draped in moss in the early morning sunlight:
Here is DH looking up at a tall native rhodie:
Here is a shot looking straight up through the rhododendrons toward the top of a towering spruce tree high above:
These wetlands wouldn't be complete without a few "shrooms":
And lastly, one of the spruce giants of this special place:
Unfortunately, our dog-sitter had an emergency and we needed to leave a day earlier than expected and had to make a quick trip home. It was very windy in Eastern Washington as we were headed home and all the wind turbines were whirling away. This is the first time we have seen them all turning at the same time. It was almost twilight when we took this picture of a few turbines along I-90 heading east toward Vantage and George, Washington (yes, that is the correct name).
Hope you have enjoyed the pictures and a little snippet of the Oregon Coast.
In spite of warnings of an incoming storm, we lucked out and awoke to another day of beautiful blue skies and pleasant temperatures. The wind did come up a little today, but after all, it is the Oregon Coast...LOL! Today, we drove south along the coast stopping at a few viewpoints and going for a walk on Agate Beach. And, we saw gray whales...if from a distance. If you have never been to the Oregon Coast, it has spectacular scenery with lowland areas with wetlands and marshes for many sea-birds and other wildlife. And then there are these spectacular headlands with lighthouses and fantastic views. Sorry, but we didn't take any pictures of the lighthouses! I guess it comes from being an Oregon native and growing up with this scenery. Unfortunately, we sometimes forget how special it really is and don't take picture. How sad!!! However, we are always amazed at the geology of the coastline, so we do have a few pictures showing the massive upheavels of the cascadia subduction zone. Millions of years ago, this area was thrust upward above the sea by the push of the pacific plate under this coastline. It is hard to imagine, but the evidence is everywhere around us! Something new to us was all the Tsunami warning signs now on the coast highway. After the Japan disaster, it seems all low-lying areas around the Pacific are now very aware of how fragile the coastline really is and the possibility of the same thing happening here. So, on to the pictures! This first group of pictures was taken from Cape Foulweather - which was one of the first landmarks on the Oregon Coast identified and named by British explorer, Captain Cook in 1778 during a huge storm. It is one of the large "head-lands" (rock promintories) visible far out to sea on this coastline.
In this picture, you can easily see the upward tilting of the shoreline to the north of Cape Foulweather.
Here you will see a small whale-watching boat and I hope (with zooming in) you will be able to see the grey whale to the right and in front of the boat:
This is the view to the north along the coastline with the numerous resorts and beach homes:
The coastline is an ever-changing landscape and Agate Beach was no exception. When we were children, it was a narrow beach of pebbles where agates could easily be found. Today it is a wide (1/4 mile) beach with loose, dry sand that makes for difficult walking to get to the firm sand near the surf. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures of this beach. But, I did manage to take a picture of the "souvenier" I was drooling over that I did not get!!! We found this gallery that these amazing kinetic sculptures on display (I should have guessed, since it was a gallery...LOL). The next morning we stopped by to check on the prices...sigh! I am sure they are priced appropriately, but were way out of my price-range. The little one (like a pine tree) in the foreground was what I was hoping would be around $300...but it was $600!!!!! YIKES!!!! The price range was from $500 - $3,000! So, I drooled a little while and went home without a kinetic sculpture. They sure were neat though:
Here are a few more pictures from the little beach cabin we were using.
DH on the laptop at one end of the front room:
This is the original bedroom (note the darling vintage quilt and linens):
and two pictures of the kitchen:
Now, the 2nd bedroom and bathroom "combination" take a little explaining! In the original garage area of the cottage, our friend's parent's added this 2nd bedroom and incorporated the bathroom fixtures into the same room. That's right, the sink and commode are right next to the bed (the ultimate in convenience during the night...LOL) and the shower is in one corner. Since it was just the two of us, it wasn't a problem but I don't think it would work for more unless it was within a very close family! BUT, the best thing in this room is the adorable vintage butterfly quilt on this bed along with more hand-embroidered linens!
With all its little quirks, this was a very homey little beach cottage and we loved staying here! We were very thankful for the generosity of our good friends!
We just returned from a trip to Oregon - including 2 days at Lincoln City on the Oregon Coast. Some good friends offered us the use of their beach cabin (built by Grandfather in the 1920's) and it was a quaint little cabin that made a great home base for our daily adventures. The cabin is located in the village of Taft (now a part of Lincoln City) near the mouth of the Siletz River - where it enters the Pacific Ocean. The weather was wonderful - clear days in the low 70's and little wind! On the first day, we took a walk along the mouth of the river and then north along the beach for about 3 miles and then back. Here are a few pictures:
This is the beach cabin where we stayed.
Here are a group of sea lions basking in the sun along the Siletz River. If you look closely you can see two heads sticking out of the water (they like to cool off every once in a while).
It was such a beautiful day, that there were sections of the beach that were more crowded than usual - especially when we would be near a resort:
This section of the beach has neat rock formations with lots of tidal pools containing a lot of sea-life even when the tide is out (which it was at this time). Here are some pictures of the rocks and tidal pools:
Here are another set of rocks that are not accessible - even at low tide:
And here are some tidal pools - with sea anemone, starfish and mussels:
There are lots of starfish in this picture! Can you find them???
Here is a picture of one of the tidal pools and a good shot of the mussels on the rocks. I would have to say that the mussels in Oregon are recovering nicely. When we were younger and living in Oregon, you would never see mussels of this size!
This is a nice shot of the tide coming in over the rocks:
Note, the boat in the background is a whale-watching boat...looking for grey whales migrating along the Oregon shoreline.
(The next day, we saw a whale from one of the headlands, so keep watching for those pictures!)
I had to show you this picture of the driftwood washed up on the shoreline during the winter and DH going back to find his jacket in all of this. Somehow he managed to locate it! Good sport that he is, he was helping me find a small piece of driftwood that would work as a hanger for a beachy wall quilt.
It was a beautiful day with shirtsleeve weather and hardly any wind! Who could ask for more!!!