Yesterday was the Possum Town Quilt guild Sit-and-Sew day. We will be hosting the MQA (Mississippi Quilter's Association) gathering in October. Today's Sit-and-Sew was dedicated to making goody bags.
Sit-and-Sews usually involves gathering up all my sewing supplies... scissors, rulers, mats, rotary cutter, fabric, patterns, books... and any other items needed for the project. It all adds up and pretty soon it sometimes feels like maybe I'm moving out.
I have a wonderful Viking Emerald 116 sewing machine that I have loved from the moment I ran a piece of fabric under the presser foot. I love it so much that I took it with me the last time I visited my mom and dad in Colorado. Packing it up to take with me is very convenient, just cover it with the plastic casing and carry it away with the handle. Easy! .... And how it was left behind when I got into the car and drove home will forever be a mystery to me!
I was blessed that the PTQ guild lent me a machine until I might get my Viking back. However, things don't work out the way we plan. A trip back to CO for a visit hasn't manifested and I don't dare have my Viking sent thru the mail.... and so I started searching for an inexpensive sewing machine.
Hahaha! I don't know what I was expecting! After looking at several stores, financially it would be cheaper to go pick up my machine in CO and bonus visit with my parents :)!
And then, I walked into Robins Sewing Shop and mentioned my predicament and that I wanted a cheap used sewing machine. She gave me a doubtful look and sat me at this Sears Kenmore sewing machine someone had just brought in for a trade and quoted $50. (Maybe they just wanted to sell it quick because it wasn't a Bernina.) With the look she had given me, I thought maybe it skipped stitches or had a loud knocking sound when stitching or some questionable performance. I didn't have much hope...
I took the sample fabric from the clerk, and lowered the presser foot, pressed my foot on the foot pedal.... It stitched much faster then I expected, but the stitching was even... straight... good tension... no bunching on back... no skipping... only straight and zigzag stitching, but that's all I need anyway...
..... best of all, it is much quieter than the one i was borrowing (my daughter had asked me not to sew after she went to bed because the noise from PTQ machine kept her awake).
Now the $50 machine sits in my sewing room and I can sew into the wee morning hours whenever I want :)!!
I have completed a few projects on this machine. This is the machine I've been free-motion quilting on. I think it's fantastic!
It's a VERY sturdy piece of machinery! (that translates to "It's VERY HEAVY)
.... not something you would want to be toting in and out of the car, up and down stairs, on and off a table... definitely not for sit and sew days.
And so, my Heartbeat got me a 1950s Featherweight for our anniversary in January.
I have named her Miss. Belle (short for Mississippi Belle), here's the original post A slight detour...
Miss. Belle is much easier to tote to a Sit and Sew. Yesterday was the first time for us to really sit down and start getting to know each other. Oh what fun! She looks quite dainty but she doesn't act like it! She likes to get the job done and done well :).
There were 10 of us with our machines, at least two at the ironing boards and another 4 or 5 inserting ribbons... We completed 70+ fat quarter bags in about 90 minutes. We only stopped because we ran out of fabric. Looks like only 80 more to go, then we'll start on the next item to put into our goody bags :).
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