Auction day today, and my purchase came in under $3. Plus, I finished binding a quilt, so it was time well spent if not money spent! :)

Some prices (pretty big crowd): Vintage quilts, ranged from $30 to $100. JP Coats thread cabinet $1300 (do these people check Ebay :eek:). Vintage portable machine (15 clone?? I missed it at the preview!) sold for $15. A 1930s Singer 15 straight leg treadle, refinished (and not that well), plain black, went for $150.

I tend to go for the sad pieces that say "rescue me," so I picked up a ratty little orphaned oak dining chair for $2.50. Needs upholstery at the least, a new finish at the most, but it had good bones. :)

Sharon, is that you behind the quilt? Should have showed yourself along with the quilt. BTW very nice quilt any child would be proud to own it.

Sharon,
Another cheery quilt from you! I learned about the Linus Connection from your postings; plus, treadling a Singer 201. :)

OMG! You hand painted the squares! I thought it was a piece of fabric that you tacked or glued onto the side.
I want one for that future basement of mine. Makes for a cute item to sell. You did an excellent job.

~blush~ Thanks Monica and everyone! It was fun...time consuming and I hated it when it was finished, still not sure I like it very much, but the 201 is back in it for now. :)

Please help me and don't shoot me. There is a charity auction next week that I am donating 2, possibly 3, vintage sewing machines to for their cause. The money raised will help with spay/neuter costs of cats and dogs for people who cannot afford the full price at at vet's office. I have already donated a very nice tall wine rack and am working on some 15 minute table runners in addition to the wine rack. I want to donate one of my Singers in a cabinet plus 1 -2 others in the bentwood boxes. My problem is that I do not have any keys for the boxes to any of the machines but I have a 66 and a 99 that I could easily donate and not even miss. My cabinet macines are another 66 which has all the goodies, as much as I remember, plus a matching chair or a 15-91 (I think.) Minus the 99, they all need cleaning and going over and DH is willing to help me cuz he saw the size of the herd last weekend and kinda flipped out over the number of machines I have just in "his" garage. Do y'all have any suggestions as to which you'd prefer to see as an auction item? Thanks in advance for any thoughts or ideas. ~ Chris
P.S. This donation will NOT leave me short on machines.

Chris, why would we shoot you? Silly girl, you're making a generous donation to a VERY worthy cause! I like seeing a cabinet machine with the stool/chair that has goodies.... and I think it doesn't matter that the bentwoods don't have keys, they can get those on ebay. Just make sure that someone has a screwdriver the day of the auction so they can be shown.
You're awesome!

Chris, I wouldn't shoot you either. We are donating a machine to the Senior Center in our town. They have been making quilts for burn out victims and only have one machine. Now if you were to say you were going to dump one maybe you would get shot. lol
Also found a new place to go sew with the older ladies in the town and my older ladies.

That sounds like a very good cause! I think the bentwood cases have a nice eye appeal. The 99s have the "cuteness" factor going for them because they are smaller (at least for me). Hope they bring in lots of bidders. :)

Ladies, Thank you all that replied. Glad I'm not getting shot. As to the bentwood cases, all came open so no need to worry about the screwdriver. I am on the fence about which cabinet machine gets to go. I may have to remove a few accessories and then the 66 can go. DH is thrilled some will be going to new home - he would like to see several cabinets go. There will be antiquers there and have the W&W #9 plus a White in a treadle also in rough shape and I just don't want to let those ladies go yet. Cannot figure out if those 2 would even bring anything in and really on a fence about them. DH and DDs would love to see the herd thinned but I want to be cautious about the thinning rather than willy-nilly. Truly, my problem is too many versus too few to choose from and I do know it's a worthwhile charity.
My vintage ladies would never go to a dump from my hands - different story about DDs and DH's hands although I think younger DD would keep a couple of the vintage ladies.