Move Over, Make Room

For the first time in a very long time I sat down yesterday-- and stitched; on my brand-new, inherited, vintage Singer 301.  After lovingly oiling her this past weekend, and adding some motor lubricant to the teeth of the gears, she purrs like a kitten and makes a most impeccable stitch. It took me all of, hmmm... let's see, ten seconds to get used to the sewing posture for this one. There is a knee-lever which controls the (mounted inside the cabinet) foot pedal; for the last twenty-plus years I have been sewing on Berninas where the knee lever controls the presser foot up/down. I adjusted quickly to the change. There is a handy little cross piece along the inside bottom of the cabinet on which to comfortably rest my foot. I adore this machine, I have named her Ruth.  When it was time for me to bring her home to live here my husband innocently asked: "where will this machine go?" I answered, immediately, "in the sewing room, of course." "Is there room?" he continued. "I will make room" was my reply.  And I did. I have two other cabinet machines situated in the center of the room.

This picture is from ten years ago, when Mr. Goodneedle built this three-part table for the machines and storage. It is well used and much loved.

Ruth and her first real project since arriving at Chez Goodneedle, a pillow case for Ryan's Case for Smiles.

Ruth entered this space quietly and graciously, she fits nicely right in front of the window and gives me a wonderful view of the bird feeders just beyond the side porch. My other machines haven't been one bit jealous of Ruth's arrival, they have deferred to her senior status; there's been no pushing or shoving for top-dog status. This relationship is one of harmony and cooperation.

The comings and goings just outside the window, at the finch feeder on the other hand, are the exact opposite. These pretty little birds are quite aggressive with one another vying for a place of their own at the table. They could learn a lesson from Ruth if only they just peeked inside, there's room for everyone to coexist peacefully, if they would only wait their turn.

...and we just keep buying seed...

Life is Good!

Loaded, Piped and Serged!

There's a LOT going on in The Strawberry Patch these days... but it's little things, and each one requires sufficient time and attention; to the point that I feel like nothing is being accomplished at all. Ever have days like that? I feel a little bit like a cricket, hopping from one thing, then to the next. My brain must be about the size of a cricket's brain, too... herein lies part of the problem. I have loaded this quilt, pictured, onto Sundance. Simple enough, right? Not really. While attending long arm instructional classes, the week before last, we were given step-by-step loading instructions to facilitate the process for eventual quilt turning. It seemed simple enough, when we were there! It's not the way I've been doing it for months now, and something new always takes me longer. Eventually this new method will become second nature, but for now it's loaded and I'm proud of the way it all lines up. I hope to begin quilting it soon, that would seem like progress to me. But, there's the Zoo Train wallhanging for my grandson. Remember that? It's languished in pieces long enough. After consulting with my daughter a while back (months ago) we decided to sash the entire piece with solid navy blue and pipe around each block (there are 16!) with red to set them off, visually. I can make piping, and insert it straight and square, I just don't do it often enough for it to come easily to me. Detect a pattern here? Uh-huh. I think I know now what had become the roadblock to progress with this project, my hesitation to dive headfirst into the piping. Well, each block has it's piping made now and I'm closing in having them all piped. The rest will be easy, I feel all comfy-cozy with this process, at long last. Then there's the puddle pads... huh? Yep, puddle pads. For Mason's changing table. My daughter paid nearly $10 a piece for these and the edges aren't even finished! They are flannel back and flannel front with a rubber liner, the first time they are washed they fray and ravel like mad. She asked if I would serge around the edges. "Sure" I said, out loud. "Groan" I whispered silently, to myself. I don't use my serger often enough to even remember how to thread the darned thing, and I've had it for close to twenty years! Thank goodness I found it still threaded up from the last time I used it, that way, the simple act of finishing the edge of this only took half the afternoon. It's done, all serged! I guess it's safe to say that this cricket has a very low rate of retention; but for now, it's time to "hop to".

Life is Good!
~chirp~