antique attachments

I recently obtained an assortment of antique sewing machine attachments that were supposed to work with the machines I bought.   They don't.   The box that some came in had a patent date of 1930 and the sewing machines I bought were made in the 1950's.

But my trusty Singer man, Ted, had some knowledge and ideas about what the parts were used for:

This box has a patent date stamp of February 13, 1930

We determined that this "rack" in the box was actually a bobbin holder

These are various sized rolled hem attachments

This is a ruffler

These appear to be an assortment of guides

We laughed looking at the top item... thinking it looked a lot like a golfing divot remover, but decided that it might be a feed dog cover.  The bottom is a faceplate cover.

rolled hem foot

This unknown gadget was patented Aug 7 1883

This unknown gadget was patented Aug 20 1881, Jan 17, 1882 and Jan 17 1882   It is also stamped with the words Davis  Advance to the right of those two holes

This is an assortment of miscellaneous unidentified parts and pieces

Acquisitions

Meet Alena... my newest acquisition:

 

She is an Alden's Model 139 made in Tokyo Japan 1949-1953

She is a DeLuxe model with a knee pedal.

She is in good working condition... except for that belt that was  cracked and broke in transit.

 ***UPDATE***

 Ted ... my repairman... came by today and took a look at Alena.  I thought it was just a slow running machine... turns out there was the equivalent of a spool of thread wrapped around the shaft and bobbin shaft too!  Once that thread was removed he showed me how to oil her and she purrs like a kitten.  She has a very nice zig zag stitch too!  She is a High Left Shank machine (the needle is way left) so getting a quarter inch seam for quilting may be difficult.  Ted is going to try and locate a guide attachment that will screw into one of those holes on the base. 

I am very happy with my purchase!

On The Way Home Part 3...sewing machines

There were a variety of sewing machines available in the antique malls I browsed through.

 These hand crank toy sewing machines were made for the little girl who wanted to sew along with Mom.

 This was labeled as a hand crank toy sewing  machine also,  with a made by singer label, but I couldn't find any kind of model number on it.

This Junior Miss came complete with box and instruction book!

This is an old Edison Super De-Luxe Precision made in Japan. I love the label.. guaranteed by The Manufacturer and Authorized Dealers!  It had missing parts and frayed wiring and was covered in dust and cobwebs....EEEWWWW

I love the carved woodwork on this Singer table and the beautiful gold stenciling on the sewing machine.  At first look, I thought it was a treadle, but it came complete with a Radiante motor. It was probably worth every penny they were asking for, but I had to think real hard before walking away without this one. 

Here is another singer in much simpler table.

 These next items came home with me because I felt they were unique and interesting.



 I found this simple wooden box on a shelf and opened it up to find an assortment of attachments.  I have to take it to my Singer man and see if he can identify what any of it was used for.  Maybe I can use them with my treadle.  There is a carved stamp in the middle of the box top that reads "Patented February 13 1930"  I'm not positive about the year though. 

 

Here is a Free-Westinghouse .  This is definitely not the featherweight I was looking for...it is very heavy! The current owner was there filling her booth with additional items and offered me a deep discount to take it off her hands. She plugged it in and showed me that it runs; the light has it's own separate plug.  It came with a box full of attachments that the owner had no idea what they were used for.  This machine is unique to me too because it has a Bullet Bobbin (see it on the lower left hand side of the box).  I've heard mention of one before... now I know what it looks like and this too must be taken to my Singer man to have him teach me how to use it!  I think that's a bobbin winder on the front right of the machine. I believe I need to add a belt from the big wheel on the right to a smaller one on the front to make it run.

Quilt Storage

I'm just sharing this link... how to fold and store quilts

http://annfahl.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-to-fold-and-store-quilts.html

 

Now I'm off to fold and store mine!

On The Way Home... Part 2....Oddities

I stopped at a pair of side-by-side antique malls on my way from Williamsburg when I needed a break from driving in the pouring rain.  I wandered through hundreds of booths... hoping to find a featherweight.  None were available, but I did spy some interesting items.  A peek into the past and how things were done.

There was an entire booth dedicated to thread... some cones of thread .... spindles that used to hold thread!

But look at the variety of spindles that thread had come wrapped on!  There were hundreds of them.  Short with flat ends that I've seen painted and decorated to be used as candle stands. 

 Short and squat.... what's with the variety of paint drippings?  Long and thin with just a small base to stand on.  I wonder what the color coding on the ends meant?

 These shelves held spindles that were a combination of wood with metal threads on them; And a bucket full of orange pointed spindles stood nearby.

 

I wonder what all these different types were used for?  How many quilts or garments were sewn with the threads they contained?

 There was a booth dedicated to nothing but bottles... coke bottles, beer bottles, liquor bottles.  You name it, it was probably here.  Another booth was dedicated to tin lunchboxes (some plastic too).  How many of us carried our lunches to school in one of these?  I had one just like that school bus!

I remember being excited when I got my first portable turntable and playing records on it. They were 45s... small and yellow.   Or jumping for hours on end on a pogo stick in the driveway.   These days, that folding scooter would have a motor on it.  It's no wonder we are overweight... this country needs more pogo sticks!

I learned to type on a similar typewriter.  If you typed too unevenly or quickly the keys would get all jammed up and you would have to untangle them.  We graduated to the electric typewriters my senior year and it was an adjustment to just press a return button to get to the next line. 

There was a variety of irons too.  These may have been some of the first electric ones... the brand name was Universal... just flat and hot... no steam.... and they were heavy too... nothing like what we have today. The ladies really had to work to press out those wrinkles.

 This one is called the Enterprise! LOL!  It's a flat iron.. an almost solid chunk of heavy metal.  I'm guessing that you would heat it up on the top of your stove then attach some kind of handle where that tag string is, lift and press.   I didn't get a clear picture but there were other solid cast iron ones with the handles all molded in one piece.



 How about this one... a charcoal iron!  Open it up, but in your hot coals in and press!

This is a gas iron!  I guess you would attach a hose from some gas source (a propane tank?) to that connector on the right and press those wrinkles away!

There are days when I would like to step back to simpler times, but I sure do enjoy my modern conveniences!

Come back this weekend for my next post on the variety of sewing machines I found... and see what I brought home!

 HM

TOTALS July 2012

ooops... this is late.  As I was preparing my next post I noticed I hadn't posted my totals for last month.

WORK COMPLETED IN JULY
.....05.....customer tops quilted (YTD 64)
.....00.....customer quilts bound (YTD 11)
.....00.....cheddar bowties blocks hand-pieced (YTD 81)
.....00.....cheddar bowtie rows stitched (YTD 9)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 1 hourglass blocks made (YTD 21)
.....07.....Orca Bay Step 2  3.5in string blocks made (YTD15 )
....120....Orca Bay Step 3 HSTs
.....00.....flimsy completed waiting to be quilted  (YTD 6)
.....00.....quilted flimsy (YTD 1)... Improv Block Swap
.....13.....mini-cell-phone purses (YTD 13)

I completed all  9 blocks for the Quiltmaker Party Block Swap, plus I made one extra for me.

I also finished de-boning and cutting up my Goodwill Shirt fabrics in preparation for the 3 classes I will be taking with Bonnie Hunter in Williamsburg, VA.

I have commited to setting up a booth to sell mini-cell-phone purses at a fundraising event for the local children's museum and was busy choosing, cutting and stitching.  I have 13 completed with another 40+ cut and ready to sew.

I was happy to not have a lot of customer work at the beginning of the month so as to allow me to prepare for my other activites.  But, as the month came to a close, I had multiple calls and now have 20 customer quilts lined up to work on next month.

My Flimsy's waiting to be quilted:
  Christmas Swap 
  Scotts Squares
  Reproduction Snowball
  Baltimore Album
  Scrap Mania 
  Amelia Jelly Roll Race
  Basket Sampler Wall Hanging (Pat Sloan design)
  Charm Square Wall Hanging (Pat Sloan design) 
 and one top I picked up while browsing antique malls.



GOALS FOR AUGUST
1.  I will continue to work on my cheddar bow-tie project as time allows.
2.  I have another 40 or sew mini purses to make for the children's museum fundraiser
3.  I would like to get started on quilting my flimsys
3.  I must make final decisions and choices for items to be made to sell at Santa's Workshop in November.

On The Way Home, But First.... Part 1 quilts

Classes were done, cars were packed and I had a long drive home... but this was going to be a two-part drive.  Leaving Williamsburg around 6pm and driving 600+ miles straight through would have me arriving home in the wee hours.  After 4 days of sewing and late nights I was tired and found a room to lay my head after about 200 miles.  The next morning was dreary, but I had another 400+ miles to go to get home. I was heading into storms and heavy rain driving through the mountains of southern Virginia.  So, when it was time for a break I looked for an interesting place to stop.  I discovered a pair of antique malls with hundreds of vendors each and pulled over to explore. I am also searching for a Featherweight.  I have been wanting one for a while, and Mom recently expressed interest in owning one also,  but haven't had any luck finding one yet.  Both malls were filled with a vast array of  quilts and tops, most hand stitched, in a variety of patterns and fabrics, and a several sewing machines (but alas, no featherweight) .  There were many interesting-to-me  and unique items, remaining relics of days gone by,  but they will be for tomorrow's post...except for just this one:

A real feed sack!  I've seen the fabrics before, but never an actual sack.  I can only imagine how excited women would be to go to the grain store with their husbands in search of just the right sack fabric for their project! LOL!

log cabin

red baskets on white

9 patch

Grandmothers Flower Garden

large 9patch

quarter fan

feedsack squares

I thought this one was quite unique and intriguing.  I'm thinking it might be some kind of wedding ring variation, but I cannot figure how it was put together.

Churndash

simple red and white

Pieced baskets

look at the quilted in flower on these baskets!

dresden plate

I loved the blend of grays and magentas and reds in this string quilt!

feedsack stars

9patch on point

I love how the maker put most of the lighter churndash blocks in the middle and bordered them with the darker blocks.  I think she may have switched the blocks on the bottom left.. see how the lighter one is in the border.

lone star

Pieced baskets

Pig

I still have my doll just like this one!

dresden plate pillow

one-eyed quilted bear