James Bond up & running

Well, the man himself is up and running. Talk about smooth running.... oh, my.... Granny Cook might have to fight to regain her position. The only snag in just dropping him right in the cabinet was the belt had to be changed.... Granny's belt was about 3 inches too long... Put a new belt on and away we go!!! This will be fun. I'll order one of those needle plates with the seam allowance marks on it and I won't have to use a magnet to mark the 1/4 inch quilt seam. What a deal!!!

Take a look...

James Bond joins the family

Yes, it is true........ James Bond has come to roost at our house...

Debbie A, a friend of mine has blessed us two sewing machines that have been in her family for years. They have come to our home, received the spa treatment and taken their place among the herd. Well, this newest member is a clone of a Singer 15... after his spa treatment his surface is shiny and bright. My hubby helped me take the motor off (setting it aside just in case it might be needed later) and he is re-working the original light so that it can be reattached....

Yes, you guest it....the new machine will be treadled. It is a cute little fellow with a nice green stripe that proudly proclaims that he is a Bond Electric Sewing Machine... how could you not name him JAMES??? Now my question is, if I ever demonstrate treadling with James, will anyone notice that he is supposed to be an electric machine???? He is not in a cabinet yet but I wanted to share his good looks with you.

Batik quilts

To border or not to border that is the question....

While In Minnesota I got caught up in the batik storm, this was due to a guild block exchange, (See it was not my fault). The assignment was to do a batik block, since that was the assignment I wanted to do it the Northwoods way. So I waited till I got to the north country before I even began selecting my batiks...getting all woods theme batiks. I got a yard of this and yard of that, before I knew it I had way more than I needed for my measly two or three blocks that I was to turn in. When the assignment was finished I went full blast cutting out and piecing other blocks... Since arriving back in the hot humid south I've occupied my time inside finishing the blocks and piecing the tops. Yes, they are small but they'll be great baby quilt size...

The modified snowball quilt is 5 blocks by 6 and the half square triangle is 3 by 3 blocks sqaure. I have two pieces of batik large enough to make borders.... but now I'm not so sure I want them...what do you think??? K

Pfaff oil can

Just look at the other cutie I found on vacation.... an old Pfaff sewing machine oil can. Complete with the whole spout... I understand that most of the spouts are found broken off.

TOGA Disappearing 9 Patch

At the TOGA in TN, the first weekend in August I learned how to make the Disappearing 9 Patch block.....what fun. First you make a large 9 patch block (in mine all the fabrics are 5.5 inch pieces of fabric), then you cut the block in half both up and down and side to side... rotate two of the opposite pieces and sew the thing back together..... look at what you get...

Two new treadles join the family

Seems that every summer brings new additions to the treadle family. This summer was not different...
Got a Franklin in a nice parlor cabinet

And a Brunswick in a light weight wood legged cabinet that might become my travel treadle because I can carry it by myself.

Floor show at the Effie Cafe

One of our very most favorite places to go eat while we are at the cabin is the Effie Cafe about 25+ miles north. The town limit sign boasts of 91 residents....

The floor show at the cafe is something to see...

Storms are better in Minnesota

There is just something about hearing that first rumble of thunder or maybe it is more feeling the rumble from far off.... not sure but at the cabin it is hard for a "good" storm to sneak up on you unless you are already asleep, but other wise you can tell they are coming from hours and miles away... At the cabin most of the bad weather comes from the north or west which means that you can see it coming from "way" across the lake and beyond. We had some dandies this summer. The power tends to go out frequently and for long periods of time. Since the water is not city pipe line but rather a well if there is no power there is no water... if the storm looks like one that will kick up a good wind (we had some gusty winds of 40 mph in a number of the storms), which could cause down limbs or trees you tend to make preparations... fill the sinks in the kitchen and bath so that there is utility water (hand washer, toilet flushing etc), have several gallons of drinking water, get the candles and flash lights ready etc...

One storm the power was out for 10+ hrs... good thing I was sewing on a treadle... I was able to sew till there was not enough good natural light, about 9:00pm.

Here are some storm pictures...

I love a good storm

Can you tell that I enjoy a good storm?????

Minnesota Sunsets

WOW....
Just can't get enough of those sunsets over the lake.... here are just a few... hope that you enjoy them as much as I do...

Productive summer

I had a very productive summer...
The East Cobb Quilt Guild evening group is doing buddy blocks (a form of exchange blocks)... My buddies this time were a mother daughter team, the blocks were to have certain colors and a required size...they would become a part of the daughter's new quilt. In the pictures below they are the blocks hanging from the clothes line...

Since I enjoyed making one of the blocks so much I made enough for a quilt top & this was out of scrap fabrics that I found at the cabin. (light colored quilt made from half square triangles)

The other picture is of quilt top number two that was finished from blocks I'd done last year but not assembled. (large bright sections of fabric)

There was a third quilt top made from another set of blocks I'd done in the past but never assembled, this one however didn't get photoed.

Since I had some batick fabrics left over from the buddy blocks I made up a number of modified "snowball" blocks that will be assembled for a charity quilt...

It was a productive summer...
Oh, all of this was done using one of the Singer 66 treadles that we bought last summer at the swap meet in Grand Rapids MN...
k