My grandfather turned my step-grandmother's machine from a treadle to an electric one.
I don't know why I asked, but I asked if it could be converted back. Grandpa Hat said yes, so I kept my eye on that machine for a couple of decades, even though sewing was not what I did at the time (well, I had sewed a couple of maternity tops on that machine, but other than that, I was no seamstress, and certainly not a quilter! <g>)
When Grandma Ethlyn died, the machine stayed at the house until Grandpa Hat had to go to assisted living.
I told my mother I wanted the machine, but Grandma Ethlyn had a daughter and she received the machine, which was a really GOOD plan. I made sure that Shirley was told that the machine was valuable and versatile and could be converted back to a treadle (this was in the 90s).
A decade later, my mom calls from the beach and says: Your sisterinlaw is having a garage sale and has a treadle BASE she is selling for $5!
I told her: BUY IT!
don't even know what I will ever do with it, but <g> it gives me options.
anyway,
mine is not a tale of losing anything important to me, so that is a good thing, but the whole topic has put me in mind of what my father told me when I was growing up:
No one can shoot you for asking, but they can say "no" ... if you never ask, you will never know ...
Bottom line, these machines, wonderful as they are, are just THINGS!
I'm glad I never had any sisters .... LOL