Inspiration from an Antique Crazy Quilt Block

Antique Quilt Block

I picked up this bit of loveliness on esty for just over $7 delivered.   It's a block cut from a larger antique crazy quilt.  I wanted to see it up close and study it ... WOW!

1. The fabrics used are all silks, velvets, taffetas ...  
2. The stitches appear to use a nice thick silky thread with a lovely luster to it.  Also neat to see the stitches on the back.
   
3. Even the back is some kind of fancier fabric with a silky finish.
   
4. Crazy Quilts traditionally had no batting layer.  Just the top and the back, which probably made it easier to do the fancy stitches and embroidery work.

The little crumb / crazy quilt blocks I've been doing with scraps are a different animal entirely!

I am planning to frame it and hang it on the wall for safe-keeping -- out of direct sunlight of course.   

My Collector Friend Karla said that there was a time you could get crazy quilts cheap.  I've only ever seen them starting at $300, no matter the condition.  I was speculating that this etsy seller might have cut up the quilt because parts of it may have been in tatters?  Who knows?  This particular square looks to be in excellent condition -- not worn or deteriorating fabrics.  

If you want to learn more, read The History of the Crazy Quilt from American Patchwork & Quilting or this short piece on Crazy Quilt History: A Vicotorian Fad by Womenfolk..

From Gramma's Kitchen : Egg Beater

 

From Gramma's Kitchen - Made with Love : Vintage Egg Beater

Gramma Matucheski used to make home made eggnog for me and my brother all year long.  

She would mix up eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla and we had a tasty, foamy snack to drink. 

Now, my mom (a Public Health Director for 25 years) would have a bird knowing we were eating raw eggs!  Somehow we survived our childhoods. ;-)

I found this treasure in my friend Karla Seaver's kitchen.  She was kind enough to let me take a photo.  It's been a while since I've played around with PSE and texture layers.  I am in the process of upgrading from PSE10 to PSE14, so I wanted to remind myself that I can still do it, before everything changes in the new version and I get bogged down in frustration ...  Wish me luck!

Here's the processing recipe for the above image :

Layer 1) Background Image

Layer 2) Copy background image for RadLab : Prettyizer - El Captain Crunch - Bullet Tooth

Layer 3) 2 Lil Owls Texture  - Artisan Collection - Big Set 2-1(4)    - Soft Light 82%

Layer 4) Sweet Leaf Alcahol Ink Texture #43 (Mine!) - Soft Light 69%

Layer 5) Kim Klassen Texture Serendipity - Soft Light 72%

Newest Member of the Family : Singer Featherweight

So excited about my new purchase : a classic Singer 221 Featherweight, circa 1941.  Yup, with the Egyptian Scroll endplate, which means it's from the pre-WWII era.  ;-)   It's so cute!

I'd seen them before at sew-ins for the Quilt Guild, but pricing at that time was out of my range.  Someone had one at Quilt Camp in November, and I fell in love all over again.

Read more about them at Cheeky Congiscenti's blog post.

I learned to sew on a portable Singer Genie.  And I remember "running" [no thread] Great Gramma's old Singer Treadle when I was a kid.  It's been a long time since I had a Singer in my care.

With a new needle, new thread (including a newly wound bobbin), oil and lube, it sews like a dream!  Yahoo!  You gotta love these purely mechanical sewing machines.  With a little care and maintenance, they will sew for many years.  I don't have that same confidence in my newer computerized machines.  Although I do appreciate what they do for me here and now!

It's also neat that Singer provides a database so that you can date your particular machine by the serial number.  You also can tell what factory it came from.  Kind of like having a birth certificate, but not.   This one is dated at 1941.

If you're interested in getting one, these days, eBay makes it very easy to find them.  Still, this book will be very helpful to anyone interested in Featherweights, including where to find them, and their care and feeding, as well as trouble-shooting basic and common problems after they've been neglected and poorly stored for years and years.  

I got my copy from my local public library, but you could certainly purchase a copy, too.  

I have a couple of jobs in mind for my new baby, too!

1886 Treadle Sewing Machine

I made a purchase this weekend : an antique treadle sewing machine in a 5-drawer cabinet. Nostalgia got the best of me. I've been thinking about Great Gramma's old machine that was around when I was a kid, but has since disappeared. That machine was the neatest thing to me as a kid :
* The treasures in the drawers (including Juicy Fruit Gum)
* Various and very strange feet
* The Treadle, moving parts
* The machine appearing and disappearing into the cabinet--like MAGIC

I'm not the only one fascinated with the mechanisms of this machinery : Oliver has also taken an interest in helping me oil and polish it. He also thinks it's pretty cool to open the lid and see that machine appear and retreat--not to mention working the treadle!

Sue Breier (The It's-a-Wrap Lady) is in my Quilt Guild. She just bought a Featherwight. She happened to mention to me that one of the local antique stores had an old treadle machine ... So I went to take a look, went home and slept on it, tried to figure out where I'd put it in our packed house. I went back the next day to purchase it. Sometimes, you just have to ask yourself, "Would I feel bad about letting this get away?" Yes, I decided ... I wanted to have a treadle in my life again.

I don't expect to actually use this old machine. I've got it too good with the modern sewing machines with auto tension, etc. I suspect, I'd be pretty frustrated with this puppy as a working sewing machine (Yeah--ask me about it when the lights go out!) It does need a drive belt, but other than that, the parts seem to be in decent working order, running smoothly. Maybe I'll try a small project--just to say that I did it!

At first, I thought it might be a Singer (They were everywhere, right?), but I need to do a little more research on the make and model. Although it had most of a manual, it was missing a few pages. Though it has beautiful decals, there doesn't seem to be a manuafacturer on it where the "Singer" always sits across the top ... Is this a copy of the Singer VS#2?

Nice decals around the base ... This is the view from the top

It's a beauty! Anybody know what I've got?
Here's what I know so far (testament to watching Antiques Road Show and History Detectives on PBS) :
National Sewing Company used to make generic machines that anyone could slap a brand onto (Sears, Montgomery Ward, etc.) That might explain why there is a noticeable LACK of a label or decal across the top.

The removable bobbin plate cover says "Patented November 30, 1886" but it doesn't say by who ...
Under the bobbin plate is what may be a serial number : 1287755
It seems to be a vibrating shuttle #2 type of machine. It has a long bobbin.

If you know anything about this machine, please leave a comment ...