quiltmom04

My grandmother died suddenly about 3 weeks after we were married. When we arrived at her house to go through her things, the ladies from the church showed up and said that she had promised them her treadle that my grandfather had electrified. We knew she was part of the quilt group, so we let it go. Later, when we were thinking more clearly, we realized they probably just wanted a machine, not necessarily THAT machine. We should have just bought one for them. But, the machine was gone. So, I bought a treadle at antique store, and I pretend it's Gram's. I fiqure it must have belonged to someone's grandma, so I'm giving it the home it was looking for!

justme

Glad it was brought up............it just nudges me to ask my mom for my grandmothers before it's gone. Lesson well received, if you don't ask you will never know. Thanks Bevanger!

Debbie1

Bev, I'm glad you posted this here, I wouldn't have read it otherwise. I know all about sisters and what they're capable of. I'm so sorry you didn't get your Grandma's sewing machine but it sounds like you have wonderful memories!

Extreme Quilter

I'm glad someone clarified "PDA" otherwise, I wouldn't have known what the fuss was all about.

Sorry to hear about your plight and understand perfectly how relationships can unravel over something like this.

laparshall

It makes me wonder what ever happened to my Great Grandma's Treadle. My love of quilting came from those days when I was a child watching her and being totally amazed at how she made that thing go. Who knows what ever happened to that machine, probably one of my aunts got it. I would love to have it, but I wouldn't approach that bee's nest for love nor money though. I am sorry Bev for that you missed out on getting such a great piece of your quilting history though.

Jeannie

I have learned if you do not ask they may never know. Most people do not value an old machine or old quilt like we do! And that is okay.

craftmama

I am usually just a "background viewer", but I had to remark on this post. Bev, It is so nice to see that so many "friends" are here with words of encouragment. I'm sorry you didn't receive the machine, but it helps the rest of us realize that we need to speak up and ask for something if it really means that much to us. Hope you're feeling better. Sending you a BIG SOUTH FLORIDA "SUNNY HUG" :)

weezie

You HAVE to make your wishes known. Even then you may not get the item or items, but then you don't have to "beat yourself up" as well as the relative who never gave a thought to ask you if you wanted the item before giving or selling it. I left home as soon as I got out of high school. I would have gone as a toddler, but had no job skills then. I joined the military and only took what we were permitted to have with us. All I ever got of anything I left behind fit into a small cardboard box. In later years, while I was visiting my folks, my mother offered me some family heirlooms and I gladly accepted. They were things I really wanted. However, I couldn't take them with me when I left to go home at the time. When I came back to get them, she had sold them at the auction because she forgot she had given them to me. I take no blame for that so I don't beat myself up about it, but it still tics me off as inexcusable Mom behavior. My husband's story is much the same. When he joined the military, his mother gave everything of his away, including his bed, which he had planned to sleep in when he came home on leave.

Item #2: What the heck does it matter to which section of this quilting board a thread is posted??? Read it or don't read it, your choice!

k3n

Oh, so sorry Bev what a terrible loss for you, sending you hugs. :D

omak

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