Amazing the difference

It is amazing what a difference a few scooches of the ruler will do for the formation of a correct block. With the exquisit assistance of several members from the TreadleOn Onion nation I was able to discover the error of my rulering ways and get on track. With the correct placement of the ruler wa-la... I've now made 3 sets of 24 blocks for the TreadleOn White Sewing Machine Block Exchange.... No 5 blocks are the same... my favorites are ones that will not appear in the exchange because the colors are wrong... they are also made with coffee theme fabrics... It really does turn out a nice block...k

Something's wrong in treadle land!!!

See this is what I get for starting a block exchange early... a result that doesn't match the expected finished picture... Help me!!!

Surprise

"And What To My Wondering Eyes Did Appear???"

Not eight tiny reindeer but a potted purple hyacinth with a friendship card...
You just gotta' love that Sonja.
I forget her exact birthday and she brings me a gift... that is my kind of friend!
I am neglectful an' she is pampering :)
Don't you think she did good....
k

Loon fabric block challenge

Last summer while friend Mari-Lynn was at the cabin we thought up the Loon Fabric block challenge with the idea of making a woodsy quilt for a boy. Ove the last year our church quilting group, Loving Hands Quilters, had made four Barbie quilts, believing that the boys were being shorted we thought that this would be a good way to start a new quilt. Well, the block turn in was pushed back to March... so here are the results so far. I think they are the beginnings of a wonderful outdoor quilt for a fine young man at the shelter. k

Granny Cook's Singer

I got several emails after the last post regarding my making blocks for the Century exchange on my 1908 Singer SM that came to me through my husband's family, folks were curious about what my baby looked like. Well.... since I know that my MIL will not be seeing this post, I thought that I'd go ahead and tell you that I've decided to finish up using the remaining Civil War fabric by making more pinwheels for a recliner quilt for Mom. The quilt will be made on her family treadle, my husband fears that I'll end up making two more so that the sisters will have one as well.... so be it. Anyway, since several folks have asked to see the machine I've taken some quick photos this morning. I would like for my husband to take a couple of pictures over my shoulder while sewing so that mom can see that the machine really is in use. The pictures will be put on fabric and placed on the back of her quilt. k

A Treadlized Procrastinate

As many of you know I am a member of the on line treadle sewing machine group called TreadleOn. One of the nifty things about this group is that it encourages us to not only save orphaned and abused machines but to use them as well, so they have several quilt block exchanges through out the year. The exchanges are posted months in advance but like any self respecting procrastinator I waited to the weekend before the blocks were due to be mailed to begin working on them. I had the fabric, matter of fact, i purchased a bundle of fabrics while in Minnesota this summer... could I find them when the time was due... NO!!!

So anyway, this weekend I started sewing on the Century blocks, these blocks had to be made on a machine that was at least one hundred years old, the fabrics were Civil War reproductions or earlier. All my other TOBE's (TreadleOn Block Exchanges) were done on my handcrank sewing machines, no problems. The machine of my choice for this one came from my husband's family, the machine was his Granny Cook's. My mother in law gave it to me because she knew that I collect old sewing machines and would appreciate it. She'll be thrilled to see the pictures of the family machine back in action.

I started off with the assumption that I'd make one set of blocks, twelve pinwheel blocks... however, once I got the hang of treadling, I'd never done it before, I actually made 24 blocks and had a great time.

The machine suffered a few hours of operator errors, I am taking credit for the problems she was experiencing since she'd been at this sewing stuff a lot longer than me...she's been at it since 1908.... it had to be my fault, don't you think. Once my frustration level got to the breaking point I called in the reinforcements from the TreadleOn list and pleaded for assistance and encouragment. I got a flood of both. With the advice from them and a firm prayer I spun the hand wheel, off we went... making proper stitches.

Here are a couple of photos of my blocks...what do you think...