ginnie6

There's a website and corresponding email list called TreadleOn. I joined the list when I got my first treadle hoping to learn to restore it and use it. TOGA's are held once a year but there are many in different places. The one closest to me was this past weekend. I got to go Friday and Saturday. I did go for half a day last year and everyone was wonderful and helped me get my machine running. This year though I felt like I knew at least a little of what I was doing! :-) I took a quilt top to display and took the classes that were offered. First was a zipper class. Oh you don't know how I have avoided zippers over the years! The girls would find a pattern they liked and if it had a zipper I would make them pick something else out! Edna though showed us how to put zippers in and made it look so easy! Now I'm not afraid to try. Got my trusty handcrank ready to go. Then we did a class on a 4patch block...made 4 cuts on it and it looks so good! That took up most of the day Friday. Oh did I mention lunch? We all had the best lunch at a little local place. I had country fried steak that was so tender, field peas and mashed taters. The big hits though were the fried green beans and the sweet potato fries. Then Saturday was a paper piecing class. I finally get paper piecing! YEAH! I have spent hours trying to get it by studying it online and it just wasn't crystal clear to me! Now a few of us did do some grumbling but we got it. It was a great weekend and I can't wait till next year to go back!