We've had an extended fall in Colorado. No city snow to speak of, with overnight temperatures just dipping below freezing. Many trees still have their leaves and we are able to enjoy all the fall colors for even longer.
We have details of the activities of several of our members. So let's get started.
Krystal
We enjoyed the visit from a new person last month. Her name is Krystal. She is an art teacher for elementary aged children and enjoys working with printing patterns onto fabric. She uses carved linoleum blocks to print with and she showed us some of the fabrics she has produced this way. She talked a bit about inks and the need for heat setting of the work.
We welcome Krystal and hope she can join us again.
Dianne
Dianne describes a machine that she has had for a while and recently used. She says:
Late in September a New National machine (purchased in 2013) was pulled out to get some exercise. The machine is a vibrating shuttle handcrank, #965210, without a wood base. The New National machines were made by New Home, and use a 20x1 needle. The metal casting's integral base looks elegant to my eyes. A Janome employee dated the machine to 1889, which is also the date on the manual. The machine was spotted on eBay fifteen minutes before the auction expired, so there wasn't much time to mull over the purchase. I'm glad I jumped on it and quickly made a bid! As received the machine needed significant cleaning and rust removal. The Saxonia-type handwheel is unplated steel, so needed lots of help. Chipped paint is obvious in many places, but the overall look is attractive.
In the photos below you will note it came with lots of feet and other accessories, including a buttonhole scissors made by the Boker (Boeker) company of Germany, which apparently dates back to the 17th Century. Also there are two needle packets from Charles Howard & Co of Brockton, Mass. In the lid of the sturdy cardboard accessories box is a Johnston's Ruffler, a large gizmo that befuddles me. Maybe one day I'll attempt to use it.
The mechanism under the bed is very simple... but then everything about this machine is very simple, allowing it to be offered as a less expensive model. Is there a name for the flat coiled spring with the long extension on the face plate? This works very nicely and must have been far less expensive to manufacture than more common tension systems. Some other New Home machines have this spring, as does Ward's Arm and Platform. The leaf tension on top of the arm is another simple but effective solution. Of course, the operator must reach up and pull some thread to the left, through the leaf apparatus to provide thread at the end of a seam, as raising the foot doesn't release the tension. This is not a big deal, and after you've done it a few times it becomes routine. It is interesting that this less expensive and simple machine was so well accessorized.
The New National is easily adjusted to make nice stitches, and was used to sew paper-pieced Economy (square in a square in a square) blocks. Soon I'll have enough of these blocks to make a scrappy quilt pieced on several of these lovely old machines.
... to be continued