Courtney
Courtney has been busy, as he tells us in his report this month.
This month has mostly been a trip back into time to the 1970s for me. I finished piecing and basting my "States of Matter" quilt and thought I would do the quilting a bit different than usual. For the solid portion and the border, I thought I would use straight line quilting. For the liquid portion, I thought I would use a serpentine stitch and for the gas portion a multi-step zigzag. Since I usually use just a straight stitch machine, I did not foresee the problems I would have. Most zigzag machines do not have a serpentine and a multi-step zigzag, They only have one or the other. While perusing the web I saw an Elna which had both. In 1978, Connie bought an Elna Air Electronic SP which she now keeps for backup in a far corner of the closet. I pulled it out and yes indeed it did have all three stitches. However, Connie and I have been married a very long time and to make it longer I thought I better not use it on one of my projects. But then I remembered I have an Elna Air SU made about 1979 or 1980. When I checked, the SU only had the serpentine stitch, but the SU will make a wide variety of stitches by inserting cams. I have a few of the Elna cams and did find a multi-step zigzag. I started in cleaning up the SU and even made a special base that would fit the cutout for my sewing machine table. Things came to a screeching halt when I found I could not set the bottom tension. The machine had been sitting too long and the screw was too firmly tightened. Then I remembered I also have an Elna Star SU which takes the same cams. I pulled it out, checked that it was making a good stitch, and then cleaned it up. It did a great job. I had forgotten how smooth and easy the Elnas are to work with. What a joy to sew on
Just as I finished quilting my quilt, some friends in New Mexico said that they were cleaning out a storage shed and came across an old dirty machine. The sent me a picture and asked if I wanted it free of charge. I of course said yes. Connie and Cordelia, our daughter, were just leaving on a road trip down to New Mexico (Cordelia called it the pig tour because of the frequent stops for junk food.) They picked it up and brought it back to Colorado. It was a dirty old Bernina 830 record from about 1972. It was just the machine and foot control, no case or feet. Our friends had wiped off much of the dirt and I cleaned off some more. The inside of the machine was quite clean and even though the machine was quite stiff, with a bit of lubrication, the machine was soon running and sounding like a Bernina. The 1970s was about the time companies started to use plastic on their machines. On the back of the Bernina is a decorative bit of plastic which also holds the spool pins. The internal mechanism which allows the spool pins to move up and down was broken. I have an old Bernina 831 which is missing a motor, so I switched back panels so that I had a machine on which everything worked. I dug up an old Bernina fiberboard case and some Bernina 530 feet. The only important thing I did not have was the sewing platform it originally came with. I went to the shop and found so old plastic and cut a small table that slips around the machine. The legs are made from old pill bottles which were just the right size. They make for legs that easily clip on and off. I think I is looking rather nice now.
This last week was history fest at Centennial village here in Greeley. Twice a year in the Spring and Fall, fourth graders come and learn how things used to be. They get to see a blacksmith forge a nail. The kids get to taste beans from a real chuck wagon and have a lesson in a one room schoolhouse. I take a number of my antique sewing machines and talk about how we used to get clothes before Walmart. I pass around squares and have the kids sign their names. I then make a quilt with the squares. The theme for the quilt this week was dinosaurs. A triceratops skull (named Pops) found in Weld county has just been returned from the Denver Museum where it was studied and refurbished. Pops just went back on display at the county administration building a couple of weeks ago. The quilts usually have themes from a 100 to 150 years ago but this time we are going back millions of years ago! During the week we have about 2500 fourth graders. I think the kids enjoy themselves, I know I have a great time.
Until next month,
Courtney
Dianne
Dianne didn't have anything to present this month, but sent along the following note:
Hi,
Crazy & busy month, so I have nothing to report about. I should be home on the 6th. Maybe.
Dianne
In Closing
We enjoy posting the work of our varied members as their generous contributions allow. We want to thank them for their effort. And thank you for reading.