Denver has been having some strange weather. March 14th the high was in the 70s, but woke up to snow on Sunday. Denver broke many high temperature records in March which included some all time highs for March with a couple of days at 85° and then on the 25th was 87°. On the 30th, Denver hit 80° which made it the 8th day of temperatures of 80° or over in March. Typically, March is the snowiest month.
Enough weather, probably many enjoying the summer like weather as only got one report this month.
Courtney
Courtney has been busy putting together various both old and new pieces to make a working machine.
Most of my time recently has been working on drive trains for my Civil War project. Last spring I bought an old rusty looking Willcox and Gibbs machine. When it arrived I found out exactly how old it was, 1863. This gave me the idea of trying to sew a Civil War quilt with a Civil War machine. I had to do some research on what an actual civil war quilt was like.
The U.S. Sanitary Commission (forerunner of the Red Cross) asked for quilts of a specific size about 50 inches wide and 7 feet long. Rather long and skinny, but this was because they were going to be used on cots, not beds. A normal bed quilt would be hanging on the ground and getting in the way. During the war, the Sanitary Commission received about 250,000 quilts. Apparently only about 20 are known to still exist and half of these were “Pot Holder” quilts. A mid 19th century version of a modern Quilt As You Go. Women of a particular group would make pot holder squares of a particular, size completely pieced, quilted and bound. The pot holders would be brought together, and then the bindings would be sewn together to make the quilt. So, I have decided on a pot holder quilt. I have never tried a pot holder quilt but came across 27 old log cabin squares which I am going to practice on. (see pics)
Earlier I reported on the 3-D printed hand crank I had found online and the base I made for it. It turned out great. But recently I have been working on a treadle since I already had an 1859 W&G machine. I had cut the wood for the small trestle table, and It was sitting down in the basement. The top was made about 15 years ago to fit on top of a W&G treadle while I was refinishing the real top. I found an old W&G drive wheel online cheap but when it arrived it had gotten broken in shipment, so I tried some JB Weld and it seems to be holding so far. It was patented in 1857. The foot plate was from an old treadle I already had, so the only thing left was a pitman (the lever which connects the foot plate to the drive wheel and makes it spin.) My drive wheel only had an old broken part of the original pitman. My plan was to try and put something together out of wood, but a good friend has a metal lathe and decided to try and make one of metal. It has finally all come together. I kept using an old broken W&G machine I was given a few years ago while trying all the building of the hand crank and treadle so I would not accidentally harm my Civil War machines. It is even sewing nicely now. I guess I have no more excuses for putting things off!
The treadle has turned out so well I am thinking on taking it to History Fest next month. History Fest is put on by our local museum at Centennial Village here in Greeley. For a week 4th graders visit the village and get to wash clothes on a board, eat real beans from a chuck wagon, watch a blacksmith forge a nail, and of course get to hear the history of sewing machines. I also have them sign their names to squares which I make into a quilt. Each quilt has a different theme. This spring the theme is the 250th birthday of the United States and the 150th birthday of Colorado. So my Civil War machine may still have a couple of quilts in her!
Courtney
In Closing
Thank you for reading. We will post next month. There is a strong possibility we may have an in-person meeting.